Proper breathing during exercise is one of the most overlooked aspects to help you achieve the most out of your workouts. For most of us when we think of breathing, we really don't consider a right or wrong way of taking a breath. Correct breathing technique is learned and elite athletes have known this for years. So what does it mean to be incorrectly breathing during exercise? Many people as they exert themselves develop bad breathing habits like holding their breath, breathing too shallow or breathing too fast.

When you are active, whether it's exercise or just hustling to get somewhere on time, your muscles demand a greater-than-usual amount of oxygen to work efficiently and, as a result, expel more carbon dioxide. Proper breathing allows your body to run at peak performance. Improper breathing, especially during exercise, will only slow your body's efficiency, decrease the effectiveness of your workout and can lead to more serious problems with your health.

Let's look at the mechanics of breathing which regulates your heartbeat, removes waste from the body and feeds our muscles and other key body functions with oxygen. Proper deep breathing is a great way to increase your energy levels, improve performance and feel great during exercise. The body's most important chemical is oxygen, and it uses approximately 80 plus pounds of oxygen each day. Also, the average person takes 21,000 breaths of air each day.

The first area to understand when breathing is to breathe from your diaphragm. To determine how you are breathing, try this small test. When you breathe in, place one hand on your chest and the other hand on your stomach. Take a deep, breathe either through your nose or your mouth slowly. Be sure it is a really deep breath that fills your lungs. Now note which hand raises more. If your stomach came up first with the most volume, then you are correctly breathing from your diaphragm. If not, you are breathing with less efficiency as a chest breather.

Runners for example, must learn to breathe properly if they want to build endurance. When you start running, time your breathing with your foot strikes. This is called a 3:2 inhale-to-exhale ratio; full inhale and full exhale. This means you breathe in on the left, right; left foot strikes then fully exhale on the right, left foot strikes. This will not come naturally, so you will need to concentrate and practice on this method to get it mastered.

For weightlifting or other more anaerobic exercise such as lifting, pushing or pulling exercises, be sure to breathe. Never hold your breath! Breathing during exertion exercise is critical in preventing such injuries as hernias, blood vessel strain and high blood pressure issues.

Which is better, breathing in or out during the exertion phase of an exercise? It is generally accepted that you should breathe out when executing the effort portion of the exercise giving you the best results. Just remember that it is pretty simple: always breathe during weight lifting or other anaerobic exercise!

When breathing improperly, you stress your body and cardio-respiratory system by:

* Forcing the heart to work harder, leading to overall premature body fatigue.

* Shallow breathing fatigues your upper body muscles.

* Excessive improper breathing places tension on the cervical and cranial areas of your body leading to headaches, light-headedness and dizziness.

* Short shallow breathing can lead to poor oxygen/carbon dioxide exchange. Metabolic waste can build up in your muscles leading to fatigue and poor muscle performance.

Many of us know we need to fuel our bodies with carbohydrates or protein. We also need to remember that oxygen is our most important fuel. Oxygen is the catalyst that plays the biggest role in burning energy during a workout or competitive sporting event.

Improving your exercise efficiency by making small adjustments to how you breathe is easy to do. You just need to be mindful about the breaths you take during exercise.

Judd Jones is a director for the Hagadone Corporation.