2024-05-04 15:00:00
Walking is almost medicine in itself because it can rebalance our entire body, but part of the benefits are lost if we breathe poorly. Falling into this mistake is more common than you think because we usually don’t pay attention to our breathing when we walk. “Increasingly, we tend to cover more things in the shortest possible time,” explains Markel Pérez, head of the IMQ group’s sports medicine unit, “and attending to many different stimuli causes us to forget something as important as breathing. We turn breathing into a mechanical act.”
The solution is to get used to taking care of it by directing your attention to it. Exactly that one mindful walk or Afghan teaches us to synchronize step and breath. When we achieve this, the whole body appreciates it and the cells get more oxygen.
Get started with conscious walking
Not breathing properly causes us to tire earlier, even when the walk is not done at a smooth pace.
The respiratory muscles It wears out before the calf muscles, especially if the walk lasts half an hour (or longer) and is done at a good speed. When the respiratory muscles work too hard, our brain – specifically the sympathetic nervous system, which unconsciously regulates many functions in the body – causes the veins to contract and less blood reaches the muscles. That is what is known as respiratory metabolic reflex. It does this to preserve breathing, which is one of the most important functions, but the consequence is that we quickly become exhausted.
Conscious walking it ends rivalry between breathing and muscle resistance because it makes both systems work in a coordinated manner.
Consists in synchronize air intake and exhaust with the steps, which we explain in the box on the right. So that you don’t have a hard time, it’s a good idea that – in the same way that you warm up your muscles by going slower at first or doing warm-up exercises – you should practice your breathing before you start. This way your brain will be prepared.
Walk in place, without moving, and at the same time inhale slowly (better through the nose) and bring the air to the stomach, to mobilize the diaphragm. Do not throw it out immediately, do it – also slowly – following counting to 7. Repeat this lunging exercise for at least 2 minutes. If you usually have low blood pressure, it is preferable to go with a partner the first few times, in case your breathing causes it to drop further.
Inhale, hold, exhale
Conscious walking is based on 8-beat breathing. It is trapped air in a slow and controlled manner while they give 3 steps; in it room rose Hold your breath. The air is also expelled slowly (through the nose or mouth) during the next 3 steps; and you hope to take one more step (a controlled apnea is complete) before breathing once more.
Choose a quiet environment
Especially in the first few days, you don’t need anything to distract you and put all your attention on how you breathe and how your breathing matches your progress and with the steps you take. Therefore, the route you choose takes on special relevance.
- Better in a green environment without traffic. The fact that it’s a less traveled route will help you have the concentration you need, and will also help one of the great benefits of this type of trip happen earlier: relaxation, because it’s known to slow you down. heartbeat.
- Organize the route on flat terrain without any problems. Even when you are walking through a forest, you should make sure that there are not too many rocky sections on the route because you will be more aware of your footing than your breathing.
Its benefits
“Unlike other automatic physiological processes, such as heartbeat, we are able to control breathing and make it a conscious exercise,” points out Markel Pérez. And he adds: “Thanks to that, we achieve improvements in physical health and sports performance since then we make the heart and lungs work in a coordinated way“. It must be taken into account that if we walk fast, the respiratory muscles can use 16% of cardiac output, and this leads to more fatigue for the heart.
The act of holding your breath, even if only for a few seconds, stimulates the vagus nerve. In this way, the heart beats more slowly which, as we have said, can go faster than desired if we are not yet too trained or have good physical resistance.
In addition, helps us relax, even despite physical exertion. Partly it occurs because of the same activation of the vagus nerve, but also because breathing is slower, we breathe fewer times a minute. All this helps to reduce cortisol, the stress hormone and blood pressure.
When you do fewer inspirations per minutewe take in more air every time it comes in, which makes the body better oxygenated, which means that all the body’s tissues and organs get more food and can stay in better condition.
Can it slow down aging? Whether we look more or less young depends on many factors, including our daily habits and the genetic inheritance we receive. But the type of breathing we do also affects. It has an impact, especially when we do physical activity, since it can oxidize the body’s tissues earlier.
If we get used to breathing slowly and deeply, as conscious walking suggests, we reduce that oxidation, that aging, associated with vigorous physical activity. It has been proven to specifically reduce a biomarker related to aging, MDA or malondialdehyde.
Walk without getting tired
Matching our breathing to our steps also achieves another great benefit, even for daily life:
Gain stamina. Since the body – and the heart – don’t have to work as hard, we can go further without feeling tired. In fact, the Afghan people, who were the first to use this 8-step breathing technique, might walk for long days without feeling tired.
Therefore, it is not unreasonable to suggest walk for an hour or an hour and a half (even two) once the technique is learned. The further you go – always according to each person’s abilities – the more health parameters you can improve (glucose control, cholesterol level, blood pressure…).
A longer walk makes it possible to walk at an acceptable pace (if you spend little time, you should increase the intensity to burn more calories). As if that wasn’t enough, studies have shown it Walking longer distances reduces the risk of heart disease at all ages and fitness levels. Those who have a serious heart or respiratory condition should in any case talk to their doctor first.
It also improves circulation
Timing the entry and exit of air with your footsteps achieves…
Stimulates the passage of blood through veins and arteries. According to Markel Pérez, “these small controlled apneas have circulatory benefits because when the body is deprived of oxygen for a very limited time, it implements certain adaptations to make the most of the oxygen available to it.” With each movement of the leg muscles, the pumping of blood to the heart improves.
Help once morest varicose veins
See strengthen the valves on the legs. These gates or valves located in the calves or calves are responsible for sending blood back to the heart. When they weaken, circulation deteriorates and varicose veins appear or become chronic. Going for a long ride (on flat terrain) can cause these valves to resist.
Improves concentration
Learning to breathe this way when walking has more than just physical benefits. In addition to helping us put stress behind us, it can contribute to improve concentration and make us more patient people. And the technique is not mastered overnight; It will be persistence and concentration that will enable us to learn to develop it.
Improves metabolism and facilitates weight loss
“Disciplines such as pilates, yoga and mindfulness, among others, have breath control as one of their foundations. Breathing in and out consciously and calmly promotes a state of well-being and calm.. The opposite, heavy breathing, leads us to states of anxiety or stress. And when we are tense or stressed, our body reduces its physiological capabilities to improve defensive capabilities. The relaxation achieved directly by conscious breathing is a consequence of a predominance of the parasympathetic pathway of the autonomic nervous system,” explains Markel Pérez.
But the benefits are not limited to the respiratory tract, nor are they based solely on calming the mind.
“In addition to the improvements already achieved with physical exercise, the association of both processes comes into being, that is, performing physical exercise while breathing calmly and deeply. This synchronization helps regulate hormones such as cortisol, the stress hormone. The state of relaxation and greater mental focus achieved with this type of walking, in addition to freeing us from daily tensions, improves our metabolic function. The body becomes more efficient. Therefore, they can improve functions as important as digestion and even achieve greater weight loss“, Add.
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