Sports and the Importance of Increased Oxygen Levels
How to and the Benefits
by Oyalola Lateef
Breathing seems so simple. It happens almost without effort, except when you have issues like nasal congestion and sinus congestion. Besides being a basic factor in order to sustain a healthy body, better breathing can actually enhance an athlete’s performance in sports and optimizing breathing can help athletes take in increased levels of oxygen, a crucial fuel our body needs for respiration and life sustenance.
Whether you are a professional athlete or a sports hobbyist, practicing optimum breathing can help you to increase the oxygen level in your blood. Increasing oxygen levels in your blood, can increase your energy level, and optimizing energy levels can result in improved performance.
In this article, we will show you the importance of breathing properly. Also, we will show you some fast and easy steps to improve your breathing.
What is Optimum Breathing?
Breathing is the process which allows oxygen to reach all of the cells in our body. During this process, carbon dioxide is expelled as a waste product. This process, which involves our respiratory system, starts at the nose. Our nose takes in air from the environment and that travels on into our lungs where oxygen is exchanged for carbon dioxide, carrying the oxygen on to the cells.
Breathing happens naturally without notice. Therefore, one of the signs of optimal breathing is that it should be easy and stress-free. For your breathing to be considered optimum, it should also meet these conditions.
Breathing via the nose
The average number of breaths for adults is 10-16, per minute
Normal breathing should be easy and without pain
Optimum breathing is usually silent.
Why is Optimum Breathing so Important for athletes?
The following are some of the reasons why optimum breathing is beneficial, especially for athletes.
Increase Energy Levels
Most people are unaware that the breathing process helps generate 90% of our energy. The oxygen that we inhale during breathing is also what our body uses to break down our food. It is when our body breaks down our food that we obtain energy for our activities. So, in order to increase energy levels from your food, you need to increase oxygen levels in the bloodstream by breathing better.
Improve Performance
The human organs (heart, lungs, and muscle) require a certain amount of oxygen during every physical activity. A high oxygen level translates into optimal performance, preventing lag and dizziness, making optimum breathing crucial to an athlete's performance. Also, optimum breathing helps to prevent the buildup of lactic acid in the muscles during intense activity. This lactic acid is why athletes often feel muscle pain and soreness, during or after exercising.
Health Benefits
The amount of oxygen your body utilizes at a particular time can determine performance, as well as benefit to your health. Our body depends on oxygen, and it is only through oxygen that we gain strength, and our entire body functions properly. For example, the lungs have a greater amount of oxygen capacity, with an improved heart rate.
How to Increase Optimum Breathing
Now that you know the importance of breathing, below, are ways to enhance your sports performance:
Reducing Nasal Congestion
One of the ways to optimize your breathing is to remove the constraints that prevent you from increasing oxygen intake. Most often, sinus congestion can block the nasal passages, limiting air intake through the nose, making it difficult to breathe in air, as well as, keeping the ears open, preventing muffled hearing. As an athlete who wants to perform well, your first line of action is to remove congestion from your nose and ears. To help alleviate ear congestion and nasal congestion, sinusitis, and that stuffy ear feeling, you may want to try using Pressureze Nasal Mist. This nasal spray is all natural and preservative-free and. it does not leave you with any side effects or bad taste.
Get Some Fresh Air
For proper breathing, your lungs need quality air. Fresh air works like magic giving your body the energy it needs to function. So, make sure that you stay in a properly ventilated space. Also, always open your windows to allow fresh air into the room.
Exercise Regularly
Aerobic exercises can help you increase your lung capacity. When your lung capacity increases, oxygen levels can increase, as well. Experts also recommend diaphragmatic (belly) and Pursed Lip Breathing Exercises. Practicing these exercises 5 to 10 minutes every day should improve lung efficiency.
Avoid Smoking
Smoking can destroy alveoli, the tiny air sacs in the lungs, necessary for normal breathing. To optimize oxygen intake in each breathe you take, consider giving up smoking and increasing your oxygen levels, increasing your performance and over-all health.