If you’re like most cyclists, hills are a real limiter. You do fine on the flats but on steep stuff your lungs scream. You gasp for breath and soon slow to a crawl.
Get help from the technique known as belly breathing.
If you look at profiles of pro riders on their bikes, they often seem to have big stomachs. What you’re seeing is their diaphragms expanded like bullfrogs in full voice. It looks odd but it’s the efficient way to breathe when you’re going hard.
Here’s how to get that bullfrog lung capacity:
—Practice off the bike. Lie on your back with a book on your stomach. Breathe in slowly and fully. Instead of swelling your chest, expand your diaphragm near the bottom of your rib cage. The book should move toward the ceiling. Then exhale steadily to lower it.
Most people think that breathing deep means puffing their chest like a drill sergeant. But breathing is fuller as well as more efficient if you use diaphragm muscles.
—Practice on the bike. During a ride, increase your intensity to about 85% of max. Breathe steadily and rhythmically with your diaphragm. When you do it right, your thighs will almost touch your torso at the top of each pedal stroke. If you start panting, ease off until deep breathing is possible again.
The goal is to make diaphragm breathing automatic. Think about it, especially when climbing, until shallow, less-efficient chest breathing is a thing of the past. Other riders will wonder how someone with such an ample girth can go up hills so well.
Tip! Especially on climbs, emphasize your out-breaths. If you force air from your lungs you won’t even have to think about breathing in. Air exchange will be more complete, providing more oxygen to your muscles.
This technique will also stop you from slipping into panting mode. It helps you find a rhythm for breathing and pedaling. Try a firm exhale on one pedal stroke followed by passive inhales on the next two strokes. A regular breathing pattern will aid your pacing on long climbs.
Some riders make a whooshing sound when they forcefully breathe out. Others grunt like a pig. It sounds funny, but auditory feedback like this helps you do it right, especially as you’re learning.
This REALLY works, at least for me. It comes in handy on long fast pulls to get the HR down a few BPM’s so I can last a bit longer. You seem to be able to get more air in and more waste air out.
When I first heard of this technique decades ago I checked myself and realized I had already been doing it naturally!
I’ve done this for years. It works. A baby naturally belly breathes. Somewhere along the way as we got older we quit. I also do some serious deep breaths as I approach a climb, maybe 10. In the heat of battle sometimes I lag behind my breathing, sort of forget, then I wake up and do 8 to 10 mega deep breaths and I am in the game again. it is little things like this that may only be 1-2% difference, but all those small things add up. All the best!
The forceful exhale is the key here. You don’t need to think about the inhale. If you find yourself panting, pause slightly, & remind yourself to exhale & empty your lungs. I will purposely exhale audibly through my mouth to control & regulate breathing. It might feel odd at first, but you will soon feel “clean” air throughout your lungs. You have to empty your lungs to get a good deep clean oxygenated next breath.
Another way to get air is to breathe into your back lungs, which are 2/3 of the lung capacity. It can be useful at first just to imagine the back filling with air. Then in time you can begin to feel them filling more. It’s also more practical as you are already bent over.