How to Breathe Slowly to Increase Athletic Performance

Breathing less or having a more acidic blood is going to trigger the parasympathetic nervous system and calm you down. And vice versa: If you want to have a lot of energy, you breathe really fast; that will immediately trigger the sympathetic nervous system. The only way to do that is to work on breathing slow, either through the nose or through holding your breath. Once you start doing that, you notice that you need much less oxygen. As you breathe less, your CO2 levels get higher. When yourCO2 levels are higher, oxygen goes into the cells quicker.