A quick trick before you exercise can increase your endurance

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 improve athletic performance. When the spleen contracts, it releases stored red blood cells into the bloodstream, improving oxygen delivery to the muscles.

Researchers from Greece looked at the spleen when 17 athletes held their breath and dipped their faces in cold water before running on a treadmill.

Immersing your head in cold water and holding your breath triggers the mammalian dive reflex, a survival mechanism that slows the heart rate, contracts the spleen, and prioritizes blood delivery to the brain and heart over less essential muscles.

These physiological changes allow divers to stay underwater longer, hence the name “dive reflex”.

The study participants, who were not trained in breath holding, performed 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 their last breath hold.

Participants lasted an average of 0.75% longer—a slight but significant improvement—with 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 several ways to activate the diving reflex:

• Dip your face in a bowl of water colder than 50 degrees Fahrenheit, hold your breath for 30 seconds, and repeat as needed, removing your head from 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 the 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 on the floor and we find ourselves careening down the stress highway, becoming more anxious and irritable,” says therapist Michele DeMarco, who wrote “Holding Onto Air: The Art and Science of Building a Resilient Spirit,” was written last year in Psychology Today.

“When that happens, just make a deflection by engaging the diver’s reflex,” DeMarco continued. “In 30 seconds, you will feel a fresh and soothing smell.”