DON'T WASTE YOUR BREATH!

Inhale, exhale – two actions you rarely have to think about. But could altering the way you breathe improve your cycling performance? Rob Kemp finds out

- Rob Kemp

After two pandemic stricken years of mask-wearing, ventilating and protecting our respiratory systems from a lethal threat in the air, it seems an appropriate time to focus on how breathing affects the way we ride. The coaching community is divided over the claims surrounding 'belly breathing' and 'nasal breathing'. So what's the truth? Can you train yourself to breathe better?

Advocates of breathing drills insist that they yield clear advantages, while sceptics question the value of focusing on techniques that they suspect offer only the most marginal of gains. At the University of Kent's exercise respiratory clinic, Professor John Dickinson points to consistent evidence that cyclists who improve their breathing efficiency can and do see their efforts translate into an improvement in performance. “An efficient breathing pattern reduces the work of the respiratory muscles," explains Dickinson. By treating the common breathing problems cyclists suffer, the professor has found the most effective methods to help cyclists breathe more efficiently.

Obstructions ahead

"An efficient breather uses about 10% of their total energy consumption on their breathing. In someone who breathes inefficiently, that goes up to around 18%," explains Dickinson. Aside from recognised expiratory ailments such as asthma, there are common 'nonrespiratory disease' conditions that cyclists suffer with. "These aren't anything wrong with the lungs per se," says Dickinson.

"It's more down to the way the cyclist breathes and subsequent disordered breathing patterns."

The most common condition is exercise-induced laryngeal obstruction (EILO). You might have experienced this yourself, or have ridden with somebody who suffers from it.