If you want to improve your athletic performance, this article is for you

Train more — or first take a closer look at your breathing?

You think about your next session, the demands on your body and the moment when you need to stay focused. This article puts another question at the centre: what role does breathing play in your preparation?

Using Richie Norton and Wim Hof as examples, the text introduces the website’s breathing topics. It provides a starting point for distinguishing the approaches presented there.

How do I avoid a high risk of injury?

How can I train more and harder?

How can I let go of thoughts during a match and concentrate on winning?

Here is the secret technique

Former rugby player Richie Norton found a new approach to movement and breathing work after injuries. His story shows how a sporting setback can lead to a new purpose.

Wim Hof, known as the “Iceman”, combines extraordinary physical achievements with breathing work, concentration and cold exposure. His methods have also prompted scientific research.

Why are breathing exercises so important?

Targeted respiratory muscle training can strengthen the breathing muscles and, depending on the training method, support sporting performance.

Conscious breathing brings attention into the here and now, a valuable ability for athletes.

Specific breathing methods are also studied for their effects on stress and inflammatory responses. Kox and colleagues demonstrated related changes in healthy volunteers in an experimental endotoxin model.

Calm breathing routines can help reduce tension and allow you to gather yourself again.

A calming evening routine can support switching off and preparing for restorative sleep.

For long-term vitality, breathing work can form part of an active daily life that includes movement, sleep and recovery.

Preventive health encompasses many areas of life; here, breathing work focuses on regulation, wellbeing and training.

In “Your energy”, we present breathing exercises used by Wim Hof, Anthony Robbins and the Navy SEALs, among others.

Getting to know your breathing expands your training toolkit. Explore this often overlooked potential and discover how it fits your sport and daily life.

“Breathing is our life force. Without it, survival is impossible. The more attention we give to breathing, the healthier and happier we will be, physically and mentally,” said Richie Norton.