Too often, when I'm doing HIIT workouts, I constantly catch myself holding my breath throughout each exercise. And while I didn't think much of this habit in the past, I've come to realize that the way you breathe during any workout — but especially high-intensity interval training (HIIT) — can actually make a huge difference in terms of the quality of your sweat session. Even amidst all of the inevitable panting and sweating that'll happen in these intense workouts, following the right breathing techniques during HIIT exercises can help take your workout to the next level — and, you know, make sure you're not giving up after doing all of about three burpees.
"Breathing properly during HIIT training is a game-changer and will enable you to be fresh enough to go for a few more rounds as opposed to collapsing and taxing out early," Lisa Niren, an ACE-certified personal trainer and head instructor at Studio, tells Elite Daily over email. See what I mean? It's all in the breath, fam. That's because, according to Leah Kalemba, a fitness instructor for Evolve Personal Training, Fighthouse MMA, and Moveir Dance Studio, breathing oxygenates your body on a cellular level and boosts blood circulation, which is basically a fancy, scientific way to describe how the proper inhales and exhales can ultimately sustain your energy and prevent unnecessary physical stress during a workout.
"Shallow, rapid breathing expends more carbon dioxide from your system," Kalemba tells Elite Daily in an email, "[which creates] an imbalance that constricts your blood vessels, tires you out faster, and can even make you dizzy." And I'm sure you don't need me to tell you that the last thing you want to feel during a HIIT circuit is lightheaded and fatigued.
But aside from the physical ways in which breathing affects your workout, Kalemba says there's a mental aspect to it, too: Focused breathing, she explains, can bring you into a meditative state, clearing your head for the challenge and purging any negative thoughts that may be holding you back from giving your workout your absolute all.
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