Breathing exercises help with weight loss and reducing excess fat.
Breathing exercises are a form of exercise that focuses more on breathing to promote relaxation. Promising research suggests that regularly practicing breathing exercises may help with weight loss and body fat reduction.
Breathing exercises have been used to enhance health in Eastern cultures for thousands of years. In recent years, several studies have found that these exercises can help reduce stress levels and improve attention and mental well-being.
Furthermore, some proponents of this popular exercise method even claim that incorporating breathing exercises into your routine can aid in weight loss and boost fat burning.
Alternate nostril breathing is a common exercise in yoga. Photo: Adobe Stock
What are breathing exercises?
Breathing exercises are a simple practice that involves minimizing external distractions and paying more attention to your breath.
Studies suggest that breathing exercises may offer several potential health benefits, including reduced anxiety, improved attention span, and enhanced sleep quality.
According tographlineThere are many types of breathing exercises, including:
- Deep breathing: This breathing exercise involves taking a deep breath, holding it for a few seconds, and then exhaling slowly.
- Alternate nostril breathing: With this exercise, you practice inhaling and exhaling through both nostrils alternately by using your fingers to close each side at a time.
- Pursed-lip breathing: This breathing technique involves inhaling through the nostrils and exhaling slowly through pursed lips.
- Diaphragmatic breathing: Also known as abdominal breathing, this variation requires you to lie down, place your hands on your upper chest and rib cage, and exhale by pursing your lips as you tighten your abdominal muscles.
- Senobi: This Japanese-style deep breathing involves leaning back, extending both arms overhead, and slowly inhaling and exhaling several times.
Although each style has slight differences in practice, all forms are used to help promote relaxation and reduce stress by focusing on the present moment.
The relationship with weight loss
Several studies have found that practicing breathing exercises can promote weight loss and reduce body fat.
A study of 40 women noted that practicing senobi breathing increased both the excretion of hormones through urine and sympathetic nervous system activity, which triggers your body's fight-or-flight response. This is an automatic physiological response of the body.
Furthermore, obese participants who repeated the exercise regularly for one month experienced a significant reduction in body fat.
In another small study of 38 people, participants who performed diaphragmatic breathing exercises had a higher resting metabolic rate, which may have led to greater weight loss.
Additionally, a two-week study showed that practicing breathing exercises for 45 minutes a day, six days a week, significantly reduced body weight and body mass index (BMI) compared to a control group.
Some studies suggest that regularly practicing breathing exercises can aid in weight loss and fat reduction.
It can reduce hunger and cravings.
Several studies have found that practicing breathing exercises can reduce feelings of hunger, which can help decrease food intake and promote weight loss.
A study of 60 people showed that performing a breathing exercise, involving holding your breath for 3-4 seconds while contracting your abdominal muscles, reduced feelings of hunger when your stomach was empty. Similarly, a small study observed that practicing slow-paced breathing for 10 minutes significantly reduced hunger in 65 women.
Another study in 68 people assessed the impact of supervised yoga practice for 45 minutes, twice daily for 15 days, including 33 minutes of breathing exercises each session. The results showed that participants not only significantly reduced their BMI and abdominal fat but also increased their leptin levels, the hormone responsible for stimulating feelings of fullness.
Thus, studies show that breathing exercises can reduce feelings of hunger and increase leptin, the hormone that regulates satiety.
It can reduce stress levels.
Breathing exercises can be an effective way to reduce stress levels. In fact, many studies show that breathing exercises can help alleviate feelings of stress, anxiety, and depression.
Elevated levels of cortisol, the stress hormone, can lead to a higher risk of weight gain and obesity. Furthermore, higher cortisol levels may be associated with increased appetite and contribute to emotional eating.
Although more research is needed, this suggests that practicing stress-reducing activities, such as breathing exercises, may help prevent overeating and promote weight loss.
Thus, breathing exercises can reduce stress levels, which can contribute to weight gain, increased appetite, and emotional eating.
How to get started?
Adding breathing exercises to your daily routine doesn't have to be tedious or time-consuming. Start by dedicating a few minutes each day to practice, ideally 3-4 times a day.
You can choose any style or variation that suits you, whether it's alternating nasal breathing, diaphragmatic breathing, or simply deep breathing. Make sure you're sitting or standing in a comfortable position and minimizing any external distractions so you can fully concentrate.
Practice selected breathing exercises for a few minutes and gradually increase the duration of the sessions as you become more comfortable. Once you find what works for you, you can also incorporate postures, mantras, or other mindfulness practices into your practice, such as yoga or meditation.
For best results, remember to combine breathing exercises with a balanced diet and other healthy habits, including regular physical activity and practices such as yoga or meditation.
