Slow-Paced Breathing: Influence of Inhalation/Exhalation Ratio and of Respiratory Pauses on Cardiac Vagal Activity

Sylvain Laborde, Maša Iskra, Nina Zammit, Uirassu Borges, Min You, Caroline Sevoz-Couche and Fabrice Dosseville
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Sylvain Laborde: Department of Performance Psychology, Institute of Psychology, German Sport University Cologne, Cologne 50933, Germany
Maša Iskra: Department of Performance Psychology, Institute of Psychology, German Sport University Cologne, Cologne 50933, Germany
Nina Zammit: Department of Performance Psychology, Institute of Psychology, German Sport University Cologne, Cologne 50933, Germany
Uirassu Borges: Department of Performance Psychology, Institute of Psychology, German Sport University Cologne, Cologne 50933, Germany
Min You: UFR Psychologie, EA3918 CERREV, Normandie Université, 14000 Caen, France
Caroline Sevoz-Couche: INSERM, Unité Mixte de Recherche (UMR) S1158 Neurophysiologie Respiratoire Expérimentale et Clinique, Sorbonne Université, 75000 Paris, France
Fabrice Dosseville: UMR-S 1075 COMETE, Normandie Université, 14000 Caen, France

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 14, 1-14

Abstract: Slow-paced breathing has been shown to enhance the self-regulation abilities of athletes via its influence on cardiac vagal activity. However, the role of certain respiratory parameters (i.e., inhalation/exhalation ratio and presence of a respiratory pause between respiratory phases) still needs to be clarified. The aim of this experiment was to investigate the influence of these respiratory parameters on the effects of slow-paced breathing on cardiac vagal activity. A total of 64 athletes (27 female; M age = 22, age range = 18–30 years old) participated in a within-subject experimental design. Participants performed six breathing conditions within one session, with a 5 min washout period between each condition. Each condition lasted 5 min, with 30 respiratory cycles, and each respiratory cycle lasted 10 s (six cycles per minute), with inhalation/exhalation ratios of 0.8, 1.0, 1.2; and with or without respiratory pauses (0.4 s) between respiratory phases. Results indicated that the root mean square of successive differences (RMSSD), a marker of cardiac vagal activity, was higher when exhalation was longer than inhalation. The presence of a brief (0.4 s) post-inhalation and post-exhalation respiratory pause did not further influence RMSSD. Athletes practicing slow-paced breathing are recommended to use an inhalation/exhalation ratio in which the exhalation phase is longer than the inhalation phase.

Keywords: cardiac vagal activity; slow-paced breathing; respiratory parameters; RMSSD (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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