Breathing downshift
Slow nasal breathing, 4 s in and 6 s out, lying or sitting.
- Slot
- Mobility
- Focus
- Recovery
- Time
- 6 min
- Intensity
- Low
- Injury risk
- Low
- Intervals
- 36 × 4s on, 6s off
- Equipment
- Floor space
How to do it
Lie on your back or sit comfortably. Breathe slowly through your nose: 4 seconds in, 6 seconds out, so the out-breath is longer. With each breath out, let your hands, shoulders, and hips go loose. Keep going for the whole block, then log your session.
Who it’s for
Winding down after a hard session, and climbers who arrive at a project already wired. Longer out-breaths are the simplest way to bring the nervous system back down.
Common mistakes
- Breathing hard. Quiet and easy through the nose. If you’re working at it, it’s not doing its job.
- An out-breath that’s shorter than the in. The ratio is the mechanism. Four in, six out.
- Doing it for thirty seconds. Several minutes. The effect builds.
- Treating it as filler. It’s a real part of recovery, and it also transfers: the same breathing works on a rest before a crux.
How to progress
Extend the out-breath rather than the total time, up to eight seconds, if that stays comfortable. Using it at the wall between hard attempts is where it earns its place.
When it fits
The training periods this exercise fits into in Blok Sessions.
- Base Lots of easy climbing, good movement and aerobic fitness.
- Strength Stronger fingers and pulling, with weight you control.
- Power Explosive moves, momentum and coordination.
- Power Endurance Keep your power through one hard move after another.
- Endurance Climb longer before you pump out, by moving efficiently.
- Performance Peak for a trip or a comp: focus, reading problems, trying hard.
- Deload Train less, let your fingers recover, keep moving.
Related blocks
Start with a ready-made block
A six-week strength plan with a deload, as a file for the app, and seven short emails on how to run it.