Breathing
SF Giants Breath Specialist - Harvey Martin
Founder of The MindStrong Project and former pitcher in the Milwaukee Brewers organization. He has consulted at every level of College Athletics and trained professional athletes in MLB, NFL and NHL. Outside of sports he hosts a podcasts and conducts seminars with business organizations and teams optimizing human performance centered around the importance of breathing and mindset.
Harvey’s breathing techniques teach athletes to manage their behaviors, simplify decisions and control reaction under pressure to optimize the highest competitive edge. Which teaches performers how to shift their mental and physical state in the moment.
Breathing Program Focus
Mechanics
Principal #1 - Diaphragm is primary mover
Breathing Styles:
1. Optimal: Horizontal (Lateral movement just below chest) = Elite Mover
2. Hybrid (Mix between upper chest and lower ribs) = Average Mover
3. Least Optimal: Vertical (Upper chest/Shoulders) = Poor Mover(Least Optimal)
Why do we need a strong diaphragm? It controls your respiration and how much air you can access. Most people breathe between 18,000–22,000 breaths per day, yet most are only able to access 10% of their entire diaphragmatic range meaning poor endurance and poor recovery because the diaphragm isn’t as strong as it should be. This is due to lifestyle and breathing mechanics where the diaphragm becomes lazy and doesn’t function optimally. This impacts how quick you can recovery after a swing, an inning pitching, or a ball hit to the outfield.
How do you strengthen the diaphragm? You can start practicing your mechanical work by squeezing the bottom ribs with your hands and feeling the diaphragm contract into your hands. This should be a lateral movement and visually you shouldn’t see any movement in the upper chest during the inhalation. Ideally the breath should be horizontal and felt 360 degrees around the spine. As you feel this muscle develop and evolve you will be able to feel the center of the body work from the inside out.
Diagram of Diaphragm (Visual)
Simple practices:
1. Squeeze the bottom ribs with one or both hands. Breathe slowly in as you feel the ribs expand horizontally into your pressure. No movement in the upper chest.
2. Sit up against a wall. Breathe slowly and feel your back ribs gently moving into the wall.
3. Lay on your back with your feet on the floor. Place a light resistance on your belly (5-10lbs). Keep your lower back on the ground while you breathe in slowly. This shouldn’t be a belly breath. The weight is to acknowledge breathing laterally and feeling the diaphragm moving instead of using the belly to breathe. Lower back should be pressed into the ground.
Key Concepts:
1. The inhale is used for bracing. Think Power (Lifting, Swinging, Throwing)
2. The exhale is used for thinking. Think Strategy (In game decision making, Calming down, Recovering)
2. Energy Management
Principle # 1 - Nose vs Mouth
The mouth is only designed for speaking, eating, and drinking. It is the primary part of the digestive system. Mouth breathing is fast, shallow and in the upper chest. Breathing this way triggers the sympathetic nervous system (Fight or Flight). It is your body’s mechanism to cope with high-stress situations and hard physical activity. Our mind uses this feedback loop to build our perception of the moment. The mouth is used to burn fuel quickly and save us from intense situations.
Nose breathing is slow, deep and into the belly. This triggers the parasympathetic nervous system (rest and digest). This turns mind and body to feel relaxed and lowers heart rate. Our mind will perceive the moment as calm and controlled when breathing through the nose. We conserve energy and feel more sustainable.
Key Concepts:
1. Nose Breathing = Aerobic (Sustainable Energy/Less Power)
2. Mouth Breathing = Anaerobic (Quick Energy/More Power)
3. Nose breathing at all times unless (Talking, eating, competing)
Gear System - Inhale/Exhale
Which gear are you in? Treat your breathing like a car engine. Only use fuel when you need to. Gear 1 = Low Fuel usage. Gear 5 = High Fuel usage.
1. Nose/nose = low aerobic (Most of day in this gear)
2. Power nose/nose = high aerobic (Light movement)
3. Power nose/Power nose= aerobic/anaerobic threshold
4. Nose/Mouth = Low Anaerobic
5. Mouth/Mouth = High Anaerobic
3. Mind
Principal #1 - Build to Avoid
Get comfortable being uncomfortable
Your mind is built on what is known as the negativity bias. This bias is a natural state of survival that keeps your thinking in places of avoidance with four main triggers:
1.) Uncertainty
2.) Change
3.) Attention
4.) Struggle
When building awareness, pay close attention to why you're stressed out. What are the events going on around you that are grabbing your attention?
Ask yourself, what in life are you avoiding right now within those four triggers. As you are able to become more aware of your thinking. Get out of your mind and into your body. This is where breathing comes in. Breathing is the language of the body and the remote control to the brain. By using the breath your mind turns back into logical thinking. When the mind is logical we are able to see things as they are. In these states of being, our performance improves both mentally and physically.
Ways to slow down
In game Breathing:
Calm = Extend Exhales (Nose or Mouth)
1. Lowers heart rate
2. Turns on decision making
3. Opens up visual field
4. Activates motor skills
Example Exercises:
1. 3 second inhale - Pause - 6 second exhale
2. 4 second inhale - Pause - 7 second exhale
*Ways to practice this outside of sport can be done using a modality to trigger fast breathing. Example being a cold shower or cold tub. This will force faster breathing. Training an extended exhale trains the nervous system how to respond to stress quicker.
Out of game breathing:
Cadence Breathing = Control Nervous System (More Clarity in mind)
1. Controls the autonomic nervous system
2. Aids in recovery
3. Increases blood circulation
Example Exercises and Progressions:
3 second inhale - 3 second exhale
4 second inhale - 4 second exhale
5 second inhale - 5 second exhale
(Pause between inhale and exhale)
*Goal should be to breathe 5 second in and 5 seconds out. (6 breaths per minute)
If breathing is ever stressful in cadence breathing. It is not working!
*Go as long as you can on each inhale or exhale (some MindStrong athletes can do 15 seconds in, 15 seconds out)
Principal #2 - Understand the Triggers of the Body
Understand the mind by knowing the body
The body sends us feedback loops of what is going on in the moment. If you can learn what the feedback loops are telling you then you control the moment. Performance happens in the moment. Get into the body to become aware. The body's senses are our feedback loops of what is going on around us. (Breath, Vision, Hearing, Balance, Feel)
Primary feedback loop = Breath
Secondary feedback loop = Vision
1.) Breath:
Inhale = Move
· Inhale = Better Mechanics
· Inhale = Raises Heart Rate
· Inhale = Braces Spine (Improved Movement)
Exhale = Think
· Exhale= Blows of Carbon Dioxide (Waste Product). This allows us to use oxygen.
· Exhale = Lowers Heart Rate
· Exhale = Better Decisions, Calming Effect
2.) Vision:
Narrow = Focused/Alert
· Pitching
· Hitting
· Action taking place
Broad = Calm/Relaxed
· In between pitches
· Dugout
· Pre-Post game (Re-fuel)
How to use your Feedback Loops for Increased Performance:
You can use your feedback loops to your advantage. Tune in and out of your senses throughout the day allowing you to better comprehend the moment. In games you will only need micro adaptations. Check in and out when needed. Outside of games, spend greater lengths of time adapting:
1. Watch a sunrise or sunset
2. View large fields, bodies of water, mountain ranges
3. Focus on your breathing and slow your body down
The more in touch you are with your senses the faster the body communicates to the mind what is happening in the moment. This is the competitive edge of performing in the present.
In game examples:
1. Tired and Need more fuel. Breathe 100% and exhale 50% out for 20 breaths. Hold the final exhale for 30 seconds. (Best to do before game or before entering game)
2. Anxious and Nervous - Need to calm down. Breathe in through the nose for 3/4 seconds. Pause and exhale through the mouth for 6/7 seconds.
3. In the dugout. Don't burn fuel. Nasal breathe and periodically view out behind center field so your vision has a broad focus. Body will relax while doing this.
Body Scan Guided Audio Files
Breathing Series Audio Files
Breath Program Video Links
Additional Breathing Resources
Articles:
Breathing mechanics and hypoxic training
4 ways meditation changes the brain
Could nasal breathing improve athletic performance?
Mouth Breathing and the Dentist
Breathing through the nose aids memory storage
Mouth breathing: symptoms, complications, and treatments
Respiration modulates olfactory memory consolidation in humans
