Optimized Breathing Tactics- to improve your climbing or bouldering.

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. – Hilary Cooper

Different breathing techniques help me find the right tension throughout a route, and could be the difference between grabbing the finishing jug or watching your fingers open up before you have the chance to clip the chains. To control the butterflies or to manage a nasty pump while on a jug half way up a route, I try to find the deep breath that reaches all the way down to my gut.

Over the winter I spent a lot of time working with Justen Sjong, a great climbing coach in Boulder, CO.  We spent a lot of time discussing breathing, he was able to put clear words on many of the thoughts I’ve had in my own head over the years. What follows is a little of what he talked about.

There is a melody of four different breathing techniques that come into play while rock climbing.

1. The deep belly breath
2. Forceful exhalation.
3. Scream breath.
4. No breath.

1. The belly breath. Before stepping of the ground I often start inhaling and exhaling audibly and deeply to oxygenate my body. While recovering midway or on easier sections on a route I try to find back to that breath, if only for a short moment.

I try to establish a rhythm of breathing through each move. At first, this required conscious attention, but with practice it starts happening automatically.

2. Forceful exhalation. The hard sections of a route often require a more forceful exhalation. That helps tighten the core muscles, providing me with more stability in my movement. Exhaling with force helps me reach further — if I hold my breath, I sometimes can’t quite get to my intended hold, or I  loose my momentum.

3. Scream breath. Yelling during hard moves is well known practice in many martial arts and can be a helpful tool for climbers as well. I find that yelling when I’m doing powerful moves helps me dig deep. Also, hearing my own voice drowns out my fears and doubts.

4. No breath. On moves that are balancy and insecure it is often beneficial to hold my breath. This gives me stability and also empathizes the importance of learning to juggle between breathing techniques throughout a rock climb.

Have fun!