WHY breath training improves performance
One of the biggest reasons why breath training programs improve performance, is they often improve blood flow delivery to your working muscles during both training and competition.
Here’s something many people don’t realise:
Your breathing muscles—like the diaphragm and the muscles that expand your rib cage—demand a lot of energy. In fact, at near-maximal effort, they can use up to 10% of your total cardiac output. Just like your legs or arms, they need blood and oxygen to keep working. And when push comes to shove, your body prioritises them over your quads, glutes, or arm muscles when exercising.
Why?
Because breathing is survival. If your breathing muscles tire, your body will automatically redirect energy and blood flow to keep them going. This response is known as the Respiratory Metabo-reflex.
What’s Happening Behind the Scenes
When a muscle gets tired, it releases chemical signals. Sensors in your body pick this up and send the message to your brain. The brain then fires off a signal through your nervous system, telling blood vessels in your limbs to constrict. That means less blood—and less energy—for the very muscles you’re relying on to cycle, run, or swim.
It’s basically your breathing muscles saying:
"I need help—send resources my way!"
What This Means for Performance
A fascinating study back in 1997 looked at how this plays out in elite cyclists. They had three conditions:
Normal breathing (NORM)
Breathing made harder (HARD)
Breathing made easier (EASY), using a ventilator to push air in
Here’s what they found:
In the EASY group, where breathing effort was reduced by 63%, blood flow to the quads increased by 0.8 L/min—and performance improved.
In the HARD group, where breathing effort rose by 28%, leg blood flow dropped by 1.3 L/min—and performance suffered.
In short: the easier it is to breathe, the more blood goes to your working muscles improving performance. So one of your focus areas needs to be making breathing easier.
Beyond Muscles: Breath and the Nervous System
The study also found that making breathing harder spiked norepinephrine levels and blood pressure, triggering a stronger “fight or flight” sympathetic response. This shows how closely breathing is tied to our nervous system and overall physiology.
So, breath training isn’t just about muscles—it’s about influencing your body’s entire response to stress and effort.
The Takeaway
Breath is a powerful tool. By training your breathing system, you not only make exercise easier—you also unlock better control over your body and mind.
When you make breathing easier, everything else becomes easier too.
