Breathing is a simple thing.

To most people this statement would seem funny. Or might ask, “What’s the need to ask this simple question?”

Okay, then breathing in physical exercise. Whenever you exercise you need to focus on your breathing. I’ve been doing an online gym app and constantly the instructors are saying, “remember to breath. If your not breathing I don’t know how you are doing it.” Again this seems to be knowledge that everyone knows.

But here is how this simple phrase becomes tricky. I constantly catch myself holding my breath. Doing abs, running, cardio, even stretching. When I think back to my younger years it has always been the same.

As some of you know I was a competitive swimmer for about 15 years. Swimming is a sport that defies all other instructors rules about breathing. Our phrase we always said was, “Breathing is overrated.”

So here I am trying to exercise and better myself and I can’t break the no breathing habit while exercising. I used to be able to streamline underwater for both 50 yards and 50 meters without breathing. Also sprinting those distances for competitive swimming events with only one breath.

I finished my exercise session for the day and I was dying. Not because of being inflexible, not because I am sadly out of shape, just because I caught myself several times holding my breath.

Since I am no longer a swimmer I need to change my ways and become a normal human being. I’ll check back with you all in a few years; either I will be a better breather or I will be still stuck with my habit.

So all I can say is breathe when the teachers say to. But if you were a swimmer, don’t worry you are not alone.