[Philmont]: Propper Breathing Methods

I'm just throwing this one out there curious if anyone else has tried it.
As a disclaimer, my last biology class was 10th grade high school and my
degree is in engineering, so I don't know squat about physiology.

Many of you are familiar with using the lockstep method and the catapilar
methods of hiking. I never really considered propper breathing while hiking
though. As I am crossing over from backpacking to cycling, I ran across an
article on propper breathing while cycling. I am curious if this can cross
over to hiking/backpacking.

The article explains that as you ride you take long deep breaths sucking air
in and out through an open mouth. When you exhale, you clench your abs and
suck in your gut forcing your diaphram up to sqeeze your lungs. As you
inhale, you loosen your abs abs and push your gut out making more room for
your diaphram to come down and open up your lungs. Spending more time on the
exhale can help get more of those wastes out making more room for Oxygen to
be carried by your blood. The article also explains that 15 big deep
breaths before tackling an obstacle such as a steep hill helps clear the
Carbon Dioxide from your system so you can carry more Oxygen.

The method works for me while riding as it increased my avg speed by about
.5 MPH. While I was out in the Philmont region last week, I did a dayhike
in Cimarron Canyon. I have always considered myself a slow hiker but when I
tried this, I was at the front of the line exerting the same effort I
normally do when lagging behind.

I will admit that it can tire your abs, or atleast it does for me when I'm
doing it propperly. It also demands more concentration. I'm not advocating
speed hiking, it just seems to increase my power output. This may make it
easier for those who struggle to keep up with the others.

During my summers as a Ranger, I found that while at a rest stop taking deep
breaths and holding them for atleast 1 second allowed me to catch my breath
faster than those around me. Don't hold your breath too long our you may
pass out ;)

So, has anyone ever tried anything like this before?

Jason
><>
Retired Ranger

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Received on Mon Jul 21 15:52:42 2003