Go with the flow!
Harnessing the power of the spleen — a fist-sized organ near the stomach that stores and filters blood — has been shown to enhance athletic performance. When the spleen contracts, it releases stored red blood cells into the bloodstream, improving oxygen delivery to muscles.
Researchers from Greece kept the spleen in mind when they had 17 athletes hold their breath and dunk their faces in cold water before running on a treadmill.
Submerging your head in cold water and holding your breath triggers the mammalian diving reflex, a survival mechanism that slows your heart rate, contracts your spleen and prioritizes blood delivery to your brain and heart over less essential muscles.
These physiological changes allow divers to stay underwater longer, hence the “diving reflex” moniker.
The study participants, who had not been trained in breath-holding, did the maneuver five times.
According to Outside, the average breath hold was 71 seconds, and there was a two-minute break between each set. The volunteers started the treadmill test two minutes after the final breath hold.
The participants lasted 0.75% longer on average — a slight but noticeable improvement — with the breathing exercises than without.
The results were recently published in the European Journal of Applied Physiology.
“While pre-exercise breath-holding shows promise for improving time-to-exhaustion and optimizing subsequent distance running performance, further in-depth investigation is essential to fully elucidate the underlying mechanistic factors,” the researchers wrote.
There are a few ways to activate the diving reflex:
- Submerge your face in a bowl of water colder than 50 degrees Fahrenheit, hold your breath for 30 seconds and repeat as necessary, lifting your head out of the water between each set.
- Place ice cubes in a Ziploc bag or grab a bag of frozen vegetables and press it against your face, making sure it covers your eyes and the space above your cheekbones. Hold your breath for six to eight seconds each beat.
- Splash cold water on your face or take a cold shower.
Outside suggests doing two breath-holds a few minutes before competition.
Stimulating the diving reflex can also help with anxiety and panic attacks because the slower heart rate activates the parasympathetic nervous system, which promotes relaxation.
“Sometimes our body’s physiological ‘gas pedal’ gets stuck against the floor, and we find ourselves careening down Stress Highway, growing more anxious and irritable,” therapist Michele DeMarco, who wrote “Holding Onto Air: The Art and Science of Building a Resilient Spirit,” penned last year in Psychology Today.
“When this happens, just take a detour by engaging the diver’s reflex,” DeMarco continued. “In 30 seconds, you’ll be feeling a cool and calming breeze.”
