Using your Belly to run Better

No, this is not some late night infomercial about how you can turn that unwanted belly fat into some special, secret weapon for running faster.

I was reading a book called Voice Power by Renee Grant-Williams and she reminded me about the wonderful benefits of belly breathing or in scientific lingo –diaphragmatic breathing. I learned how to belly breathe while studying Tai Chi Chuan many years ago as part of its martial art and chi gong training.  If you believe in Chinese Medicine, Belly breathing will do great things like massage your internal organs and move the intra-abdominal cavity fluids around. But for those of your interested in the benefits to your running, here you go:

1.       Strengthen your abdominal muscles. Contrary to popular belief, making your belly go in/out will not make it bigger, but actually firm it. It is what you eat that makes it bigger! Martial artists use this in order to “neutralize” any punches/kicks to the stomach area.

2.       Changes your breathing from the upper body huff-N-puff method to a slower more controlled style of breathing. Most beginning runner, I included, make the mistake of huffing and puffing and wonder why we feel so fatigued and why people can hear us a block away.

3.       Changes your balance. When you can lower your breathing to belly area, your sense of balance will improve greatly. I have experimented with this while running on trails and can attest to its effectiveness.

So, if you can find a Martial Arts instructor, Voice teacher or someone familiar with belly breathing, take a few lessons and watch how it improves your running.