Breathing for recovery: how to switch off after training

Getting your breath back between efforts

During interval sessions and conditioning classes, how you recover between rounds matters. A few simple habits help.

• Keep moving. Walk around rather than collapsing on the floor.
• Try leaning forward with hands on your knees. Some research suggests this position helps you recover your breath slightly faster than standing tall with hands on your head, probably because it makes it easier for the diaphragm to work.
• Lengthen the exhale. Once the worst of the panting has passed, deliberately slow the out-breath.
• Move to nasal breathing as soon as you comfortably can. It is a good sign that your heart rate is coming down.

Between hard sets of lifting, the same ideas apply on a smaller scale. Use the first part of your rest to bring your breathing down, and take a few slow breaths before you set up for the next set. Rushing back under the bar while still gasping makes it harder to brace well.

For race-specific breathing during running and stations, our guide to HYROX breathing goes into more detail, and our guide to breathing during exercise covers the basics for beginners.

A three-minute post-session routine

After an evening session, this simple routine is a good bridge between training and the rest of your night. After a hard Engine or Lycan Shred class at Lycan Strength, for example, it gives your heart rate time to settle before you drive home.

1. Lie on your back with your calves resting on a bench or your legs up a wall.
2. Place one hand on your chest and one on your belly.
3. Breathe in gently through your nose for about four seconds, letting your belly rise more than your chest.
4. Breathe out slowly through your nose or pursed lips for about six to eight seconds.
5. Continue for two to five minutes. If counting feels stressful, just make each exhale a little longer than the inhale.

Other techniques worth knowing

Different techniques suit different people and situations. None is magic, and the best one is the one you will actually use.

• Box breathing: in for four seconds, hold for four, out for four, hold for four. The structure suits people who like something to focus on.
• The physiological sigh: two inhales through the nose, the second a small top-up, followed by a long, slow exhale through the mouth. One to three of these can take the edge off a stressful moment quickly.
• Extended exhale: simply breathe out for roughly twice as long as you breathe in. Easy to do anywhere, including in bed.
• Humming or a slow count on the out-breath: a gentle way to lengthen the exhale without watching a clock.

If you are new to this, start with the extended exhale. It needs no counting and no holds, and you can do it anywhere. Once it feels natural, try the others and keep whichever suits you. A couple of minutes most days is more useful than an occasional long session.

Breathing before bed and in stressful moments

Many people who train hard struggle to switch off at night, particularly after evening sessions or busy days. Five minutes of slow breathing once you are in bed, with the lights off, is a simple addition to a wind-down routine. It gives a racing mind something neutral to focus on.

Some people find that focusing on their breath makes them slightly anxious at first. That usually fades with practice. If it does not, simply relax your shoulders and jaw, and let the breath find its own slower rhythm without counting.

The same techniques help during the day. A minute of slow breathing before a difficult meeting, after a tense phone call or in traffic keeps stress from piling up. Stress from work and life draws on the same recovery budget as training, which our guide to stress and recovery explains in more detail.

Breathing for recovery is different from breathing for lifting. Under a heavy bar, you want a big breath and a firm brace, not relaxation. Our guide to bracing and breathing covers that side.

Cautions and when to get checked

Slow breathing is safe for almost everyone. Some styles of breathwork, though, involve fast, forceful breathing or long breath-holds, and these can cause dizziness, tingling and fainting. Never practise breath-holds in or near water, where passing out can be fatal. If you have a diagnosed breathing condition such as asthma or COPD, ask your GP or asthma nurse which techniques suit you.

If breathlessness during exercise feels out of proportion, or you notice wheezing, a tight chest or a persistent cough, see your GP, as it may be asthma or another treatable condition. Chest pain, sudden severe breathlessness or fainting need urgent help: call 999.