Holding my breath...

[Jarlo Ilano]

I "realized" tonight in class that one of the causes of my poor endurance has been my unconscious breath holding. I haven't been doing it for a while but tonight was a little harder contact, and with a little bit of me being distracted, and a little bit of my partner hitting me fast and well (God bless him! :lol: ), I found myself getting out of the exchanges with the realization that I had been holding my breath. This had been quite common for me previously. A friend of mine was appalled as she watched me lift weights in college. Apparently I had neglected to take even one breath in the set I was doing. Ha! :lol:

Anyway, I thought I had been doing well and not doing this as much. But tonight's session was a good wake up call that I wasn't. Also, I know that I tend to clench down hard on my mouthpiece, especially in the clinch and when I know I'm going to be taken down.

Intellectually, I am actively "trying" to not do this. Somehow, I think this might not be the best course of action!

Does anyone have specific tools that they recommend?

Thanks!

[Scott Sonnon]

Jarlo,

There are no tricks, just conditioning. Work on Shock Absorption so you exhale with each action. You must practice exhalation on each impact as well. It's the only way to counter-condition the defensive bracing connected with breath retention. You'll see an immediate increase in your fluid performance.

[Jarlo Ilano]

Thank you Coach. I will keep working on it.

[Yancy]

I have the same problem. I'm in pretty good condition but I get gassed quickly during stand up sparring. Lately I've been working on the heavy bag and really concentrating on exhaling when I strike. It seems to be helping as I am getting less gassed when I spar.

Yancy

[Scott Sonnon]

To hard-wire it, you need to work on exhaling while receiving blows as well.