Stop Taking "Deep" Breaths: Why Low and Slow Wins the Race
Why "Deep Breathing" Might Be Holding You Back
If you’ve ever been told to "just take a deep breath" when feeling stressed or anxious, you’ve likely felt a mix of frustration and skepticism.
It feels dismissive. It feels too simple. And frankly, when you’re in the middle of a high-pressure training block or juggling work deadlines with race prep, a single deep breath feels like putting a Band-Aid over a bullet wound.
For endurance athletes, efficiency is everything. We obsess over cadence, lactate threshold, and how many carbs we can consume each hour. Yet, when it comes to our nervous system—the very engine that drives our performance—we often rely on outdated cues.
Here’s where we flip the script: the standard advice to "take a deep breath" is often physiologically incorrect. Instead, the key to recovery and peak performance lies in a method called Low and slow breathing.
This technique championed by Dr. Inna Khazan and other leading scholars in biofeedback, focuses on efficiency, optimizing Heart Rate Variability (HRV), and signaling your body to recover effectively.
In this blog, we’ll explore why traditional deep breathing often fails, what makes Low and Slow breathing so effective, and how you can integrate it into your training and daily life.
The Problem with "Deep" Breathing
Why does traditional deep breathing often fail? Because when most people hear "deep," they think "big."
They heave their chest upwards, gulping in massive amounts of air. In clinical terms, this can actually lead to mild hyperventilation. You end up blowing off too much carbon dioxide (CO2). Contrary to popular belief, we need a certain balance of CO2 in our blood to release oxygen into our tissues effectively (a phenomenon known as the Bohr effect).
Why does this matter?
CO2 plays a critical role in oxygen delivery to your muscles and brain. When you "over-breathe," CO2 levels drop too low, your blood vessels constrict, reducing oxygen flow. This can leave you feeling dizzy, anxious, or even more stressed—exactly the opposite of what you intended.
Instead of focusing on "more air," the goal should be efficient air. This is where Low and Slow breathing comes in.
For more on managing stress and anxiety, check out our guide on Performance Anxiety: What It Is, Why It Happens, and What to Do About It.
The DSLR Analogy: Taking Control of Your Nervous System
Dr. Inna Khazan, a faculty member at Harvard Medical School, uses a brilliant analogy to explain the importance of breath training. She compares our autonomic nervous system to a high-end DSLR camera.
If you leave the camera in "Auto" mode, it takes decent pictures. Your body works fine on autopilot; you breathe, your heart beats, and you survive.
But to take truly magnificent photographs—or in our case, to achieve peak performance and recovery—you need to learn how to use the manual controls, like aperture and shutter speed.
Low and slow breathing is like switching to manual mode. It allows you to shift your physiology from a state of stress (sympathetic overdrive) to a state of recovery and flow.
What is Low and Slow Breathing?
"Low and Slow" is the mantra for shifting from a stress response to a regeneration response.
Low: Engage the Diaphragm
This refers to the location of the breath. We want the breath to originate low in the abdomen, not the chest. This doesn’t mean forcefully pushing your stomach out, but allowing your ribs to expand as the diaphragm drops.Slow: Reduce your Breathing Rate
We aim to slow the respiration rate down, typically to around 6 breaths per minute (Resonance Frequency). Research published in Scientific Reports has shown that slow breathing techniques effectively reduce anxiety and arousal compared to fast breathing. Furthermore, studies from Stanford Medicine highlight that controlled breathing emphasizing long exhalations (like cyclic sighing) can improve mood and lower resting respiratory rates more effectively than mindfulness meditation alone.
For more tips on recovery and resilience, read How to Incorporate Rest and Recovery in Training to Boost Athletic Performance.
Try It: The "Low and Slow" Experience
Let’s move from theory to practice. You don’t need 20 minutes right now—let's just try a 2-minute exercise to feel the difference.
The Set-Up
Sit comfortably. Uncross your legs and let your shoulders drop. If you’re a perfectionist (and we know many of you are), let go of the need to do this "perfectly." As Dr. Khazan suggests on the Heart Rate Variability Podcast, trying too hard creates tension, which defeats the purpose.Low (The Flower)
Imagine you are smelling a flower. When you smell a flower, you don't heave your chest up; you gently inhale through your nose to pull the scent in.
Action: Inhale gently through your nose for a count of 4 seconds. Feel your lower ribs expand slightly.
Slow (The Candle)
Imagine you are blowing out a candle, but you need to blow it so gently that the flame flickers but does not go out. Pursed lips can help here.
Action: Exhale slowly through your mouth (or nose, if comfortable) for a count of 6 seconds.
The Pause
At the bottom of the exhale, don't rush the next breath. Trust that your body knows when to inhale again.
Repeat this cycle: Inhale for 4, Exhale for 6.
Notice that the exhale is longer than the inhale. This is crucial. The inhale is like the gas pedal (increasing heart rate slightly), and the exhale is the brake (stimulating the vagus nerve and slowing heart rate). By lengthening the exhale, we are structurally biasing the body toward recovery.
The "Do or Do Not" of Practice
Understanding Low and Slow breathing isn’t enough—you need to practice it. You cannot cram relaxation. You wouldn't expect to run a personal best marathon by cramming all your training into one week. Similarly, you cannot expect your nervous system to snap into a "flow state" during a race if you haven't trained it to do so during the quiet moments of your life.
Dr. Khazan recommends aiming for about 20 minutes of practice a day. We know—finding 20 minutes in a 15-hour training week sounds impossible. But this doesn't have to be a solid block.
How to Fit Breathing Practice Into Your Day
The Commute: Practice low and slow breathing while driving to work (eyes open, obviously).
The Pre-Sleep Protocol: Do 10 minutes before bed to improve sleep latency and quality.
The Warm-Up: Use 5 minutes of breathing to center yourself before a high-intensity interval session.
Progress here isn't linear. Some days, it will feel squiggly, like a toddler's drawing. Your mind will wander. You will feel impatient. That is not a sign of failure; it’s just data.
Why This Matters for the Long Game
As athletes, we’re not just training for one season—we’re training for a lifetime of resilience and performance. Low and slow breathing is a tool that costs nothing, requires no equipment, and is always available.
When you train your breath, you are training your Heart Rate Variability (HRV). A higher HRV is a strong indicator of resilience and adaptability. It means your body can handle the stress of a hard workout and bounce back quickly. It means you can handle the stress of a bad day at work without it ruining your evening training session.
By adopting a "low and slow" practice, you are giving yourself a tool that requires no equipment, costs nothing, and is always available. It is the ultimate act of self-regulation.
For more on building resilience, read How Positive Psychology Can Improve Your Athletic Performance.
Trust the Process
The next time you feel overwhelmed, resist the urge to take a "deep" breath. Instead, go low and slow. This simple yet powerful practice can transform your recovery, performance, and overall well-being.
Ready to take your mental game to the next level? Explore our 1:1 individual sessions to learn how Skadi can help you build resilience and achieve your goals.
References
Meru Health. (n.d.). Getting started with biofeedback to improve mental health. Meru Health Blog.
Optimal HRV. (2024, May 9). Dr. Inna Khazan on Setting Up a Successful HRV Biofeedback Training Session [Audio podcast episode]. In Heart Rate Variability Podcast.
Luo, Q., Li, X., Zhao, J. et al. (2025). The effect of slow breathing in regulating anxiety. Scientific Reports, 15, 8417.
Leggett, H. (2023, February 9). ‘Cyclic sighing’ can help breathe away anxiety. Stanford Medicine News Center.
Bailey, K. (n.d.). The power of the breath. Yale School of Medicine.
