Archive for July, 2014

Oxygen is important to sustaining life so it is natural that in order for something to grow (whether gaining muscle or losing weight) you need oxygen. When doing exercises, people know they should breather properly but never really bother to learn why it is important thus they continue to breathe normally. If you have ever used a heart monitor while running on a machine, you will see your estimated heartbeat. On that machine, you should also see a chart that will tell you the proper range you should be in. If you are drastically above that rate then I can guarantee you that you are breathing incorrectly. When you breathe properly, you will be able to run longer and focus more. Why? Breathing pushes out the carbon dioxide in your body and the oxygen enriches your cells oxygenating your blood. It is like a burst of energy actually. Also if you notice that faint feeling while running it is more than likely do to your breathing. You are over working your body if you are not breathing correctly. So try this while running, Breathe in during the first 3 steps of your run and exhale on the last 2 steps. Literally breathe like this, left, right, left, exhale right, left. It will be hard at first but you will see how easy it is. You will be in control of your breathing and not your breathing in control of you.
Breathing is important also during weight lifting and intense cardio exercises like jumping jacks and core routines. When lifting or pushing the weight, you should breathe in before you lift or push the weight and exhale when you lift or push that weight. Think of it as driving. When you want the car to move, you pull it out of park and press the gas pedal to make the car move. When you want to move some weight, especially heavy weight, you take a nice deep breath and blow it out when lifting or pushing.
Just think back to when you are doing house work like moving furniture. You probably never thought about it but you took a deep breath and exhaled on the pushing of that heavy couch or dresser didn’t you?
Last tip that you probably never thought about, proper oxygen balance in the body will help you lose weight. Water and Oxygen work together to burn fat. In order for this to happen you need to be doing some form of physical activity and an increase in your water intake has to happen. You thought it was going to be easy huh, just drink water and sit there. LOL, no you have to do some form of physical activity to oxygenate your body. Your body wants to get rid of things but it will hold on to any form of water if it doesn’t have anything to excrete. So hydrate yourself properly with water and get to moving. Help your body use its fat as an energy source.