Breathing during Exercise – Some Tips

Breathing is one of the important aspects when you are exercising. Though breathing is natural to life, your personal trainer will tell you that when working out you have to pay special attention to how you breathe.

Many people in an attempt to fully concentrate on the body movements actually forget to breathe. Sometimes they breathe slower, deeper, or too fast. Even breathing in and out as required in some exercises is not done correctly. Given below are some important breathing tips to follow when working out:

When you are doing strenuous exercises

Strenuous exercises result in the body requiring more oxygen and the breathing rate becomes faster. If you hold your breath during strength training it will limit the amount of oxygen that gets delivered to the brain and could cause fainting, dizziness, rise in your blood pressure and many other such complications.

So when doing strength training you should just breathe naturally. Your personal trainer may advise that you should exhale when you exert more during the exercise, and during the easier part, you should inhale. If you follow this advice you will not make the mistake of holding your breath.

The after-stretches

Once you complete your workout you should breathe fully and freely. This will help you to relax your body and return it to a state of rest. It also helps to remove by- product waste of the exercises and improve your flexibility. A personal trainer will advise you to take relaxed diaphragmatic and deep breaths rather than taking shallow breaths, or holding the breath altogether.

Using the art of pilates

Breathing correctly while working out is most important as emphasized by Joseph Pilates who developed his own exercises for mind and body. Emphasis should be on ribcage or lateral breathing which is different from diaphragmatic breathing as explained above.

When your abdomen muscles are engaged, you will inhale through your nose and your belly will not rise. At the same time air will fill your lungs and they expand into the back laterally; this makes your belly stay flat and tight.

When you exhale, with slightly open mouth you need to push the air out slowly and forcefully. Your personal trainer might also guide you with this way of breathing as it will keep the abdominal muscles engaged and help you to perform the Pilates workout more easily and with more control.

When doing aerobics

For any aerobic exercise such as biking, running, walking etc. the rule is to take deep breaths. Some people breathe through their mouth as it provides them with more oxygen. This method of diaphragmatic breathing is good for cardio activities. A personal trainer will tell you that this method of breathing is totally in contrast with shallow breathing from the chest, which one does while resting. Diaphragmatic breathing can be done as follows:

  • You need to relax your abdominals and pull them in tightly.
  • Then take a deep breath so that your belly rises and drops when you breathe in and out.
  • Practice this technique so that your body gets the oxygen it requires during workouts.

How to Choose a Personal Trainer Course?

Of late personal fitness training has become a viable career option as the profession has the potential to offer both fame and money. The possibilities are endless with more and more people becoming health-conscious but you should make an informed choice if you want to succeed as a personal fitness trainer.
The crucial aspect that would underpin your future career is obviously the right fitness trainer course. Without completing certified personal trainer courses you practically stand no chance of success as few clients would spend their money on an amateur.
Importance of Enrolling For Personal Trainer Courses
Anybody with a passion for fitness and healthy living can become a personal fitness trainer. With some knowledge gained through experience you can start off by training informally. However, friends and neighbours may benefit from your passion but your career certainly won’t. For that you will need to complete personal trainer courses that are accredited and certified by national and international fitness associations.
Certified courses project you as a true professional who has the right kind of knowledge, training and experience to help people reach their fitness goal safely and in a timely manner.
Professional courses also empower you to advise your clients with their diet and nutrition, sleep and rest patterns and general lifestyle. In short, professional courses and certifications endow you with prestige and authority so that clients take you seriously and your career moves ahead along the right track.
Selecting a Personal Trainer Institute
There are several reputable institutes that offer personal trainer courses for future trainers. It is important that you enroll at the right institute as there are several fake organizations that lure the unsuspecting with glitzy ads and promises galore.
However, most of these have neither the infrastructure nor the faculty strength or accreditation to make their courses worthwhile. So before enrolling, always check the antecedents of the institute and its reputation. Visit the website and check for accreditations. Browse the students’ section for experiences of real-life students (both past and present).
Most top-notch institutes will offer a diverse range of courses with specialization facilities apart from the basic modules. They will also offer both online and offline facilities and training facilities for would-be fitness trainers.
Selecting your Course
The basic part of the training would require you to complete the foundation course. This would include modules on human physiology, different categories of exercise such as flexibility; strength training; stretching and weight training and so on.
It would also include modules on human diet and nutrition, importance of appropriate rest and sleep patterns and how to deal with emergency medical situations. In other words, once you complete the basic training you would be competent to help clients reach their fitness goals, modify their diet and rest patterns and generally learn how to lead a healthy lifestyle.
You would also be able to do CPR and other minor precautions in case of emergency situations.
Choosing a Specialization
Once you complete the basics, boost your competence with a few specializations. These would help you to carve a niche for yourself in the highly competitive fitness training market. Most top-rated institutes offer a host of specializations which you can choose from depending on your aptitude and market demand.