NOSE BREATHING IN TENNIS: Why Breathing Like a Racehorse Improves Performance
NOSE BREATHING IN TENNIS: Why Breathing Like a Racehorse Improves Performance By Paul Dale | www.3amtenis.com Looking for ways to recover and regulate stress? Have you ever watched a racehorse trying to catch its breath at the end of a race? Its nostrils flare as it takes in air, but its mouth remains closed. It can be exhausted from a race and desperate for oxygen, but it never opens its mouth. A dog will pant with its mouth open while running, but a dog also uses its mouth to sweat. The horse, like humans, sweats through the skin. This is a fundamental similarity between humans and the horse. Unfortunately, over time and due to a lack of understanding, humans have lost the art of nose-breathing. For a long time, athletes and recreational runners have been told to push themselves hard during exercise, to the point where they must open their mouths and gasp for oxygen. But is this gasping for oxygen the natural way we should breathe when exercising? Does p...