What’s the best way to breathe?
CrowdScience
BBC
4.8 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 21 June 2019
⏱️ 31 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Breathing is automatic: awake or asleep, running or resting, our bodies unconsciously make sure we get enough oxygen to function. But - unlike other bodily functions such as heart rate and digestion - it’s not hard to control our breathing consciously. If you’ve ever been to an exercise, meditation or yoga class, you’re probably familiar with instructions about how and when to breathe.
It was one of these instructions - “breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth” - that prompted CrowdScience listener Judi to wonder if this really was the best way to breathe during her exercise class. Is there good evidence to support the benefits of different breathing techniques - whether through the nose or mouth, fast or slow, noisy or quiet? And is consciously controlling your breath more about improving psychological focus, or optimising body mechanics?
Sports scientist Mitch Lomax takes us through the biology, chemistry and physics of breathing, and shows us how to train our respiratory muscles. We meet yoga guru Hansa Yogendra in India, where the study of pranayama - literally “breath control” in Sanskrit - is thousands of years old; and find out what scientists have discovered about the effects of these ancient techniques on the body and mind.
Presenter: Anand Jagatia. Producer: Cathy Edwards
(Photo: A woman jogging outside, wearing sports clothes on a blue sky background. Credit: Getty Images)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Take some time for yourself with soothing classical music from the mindful mix, the Science of |
| 0:07.0 | Happiness Podcast. |
| 0:08.0 | For the last 20 years I've dedicated my career to exploring the science of living a happier more meaningful life and I want |
| 0:14.4 | to share that science with you. |
| 0:16.1 | And just one thing, deep calm with Michael Mosley. |
| 0:19.4 | I want to help you tap in to your hidden relaxation response system and open the door to that |
| 0:25.4 | calmer place within. Listen on BBC sounds. Okay so you breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth so it's |
| 0:38.8 | Is that right? That's you're a better breather than I am. |
| 0:45.0 | This is crowd science from the BBC World Service. |
| 0:50.0 | I'm Annan Jagatier and this is our listener Judy showing me how she |
| 0:54.0 | breathes at the gym. We are the program that investigates your science questions and |
| 0:59.8 | Judy wanted to ask us this. |
| 1:02.0 | Hi crowd science I'm Judy Heights from San Diego in the USA, |
| 1:06.0 | and my question is, |
| 1:08.0 | what is the best way to breathe during exercise? |
| 1:11.0 | Now, I just want you to pause for a second whatever you're doing and focus on your |
| 1:17.0 | breath. Is it fast or slow? How loud is it? Perhaps you're breathing quite hard if you're listening to this at the gym, |
| 1:25.0 | which is exactly where Judy was when she was struck by her question. |
| 1:29.0 | I do aqua fit, which is basically calisthenics in the pool and no one tells you how to breathe at all |
| 1:36.8 | For weight training. I'm told to breathe in through my nose and out through my mouth. Do you just do that because you've been told or does it help your performance? |
| 1:45.0 | I don't know. I do what I'm told because I don't know much about weights so I don't think I've ever done it a different way. |
| 1:51.0 | I could try that next time I go to the gym. |
... |
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