Director of performance at the Red Star Academy, Aurélien Marchesi has specialized in breathing techniques and presents their benefits on player stress and recovery.
Nutrition, muscle power, hydration, VO2 max levels, mental preparation… Nowadays, every aspect of performance is optimized in soccer clubs. Yet, one fundamental element common to all human beings is often overlooked: breathing! We breathe approximately 15,000 times a day, and the way we carry out this seemingly simple task can significantly impact our health and performance. Aurélien Marchesi, director of athletic performance at the Red Star Academy (France) and an instructor with Oxygen Advantage, has been working on this subject for several years. He highlights three main areas where breathing can benefit players and provides a sample exercise to start training right away.
1-Performance
The blood of a healthy person is naturally saturated with oxygen at 95% to 99%, making it almost impossible to add more. Therefore, the key to enhancing performance lies in improving tolerance to carbon dioxide. This gas, once considered as waste, carbon dioxide is actually a catalyst in chemical reactions during gas exchanges, thanks to the Bohr effect: an increase in blood carbon dioxide pushes hemoglobin to release the oxygen it carries to the muscles. Learning to tolerate higher CO2 levels directly enhances the ability to repeat high- and very high-intensity efforts, resulting in less fatigue and shortness of breath.
Exercise: Walk briskly while your lungs are empty (after a natural exhale) and try to take as many steps as possible.
2-Recovery
During a game or training session, the body undergoes intense physiological stress. The sympathetic nervous system (known as "Fight, Flight, or Freeze") is over-activated. To quickly return to a calm state, the player needs to activate the parasympathetic nervous system (responsible for relaxation and digestion) as soon as the training is over by adopting a slower breathing rate and extending the time required to fully exhale. This also helps to clear negative thoughts or frustrations.
Exercise: Lie down on the field, close your eyes, and focus on your breathing: it should be calm, slow, and deep. Inhale through the nose for 4 seconds.
Exhale for 6 to 8 seconds, depending on your comfort level.
Repeat this exercise for 5 to 6 minutes.
3-Stress
In a game, things often don’t go as planned. When a player faces a stressful situation—like missing a tackle, conceding a goal, or getting a red card—their immediate reaction may lead to dysfunctional breathing, primarily chest-based, meaning inefficient diaphragm use. To re-activate the parasympathetic nervous system and calm down, the player should return to deep (or diaphragmatic) breathing as quickly as possible. During the Euro 2024, a study on Cristiano Ronaldo's heart rate showed an almost immediate drop after he… missed a penalty and broke down in tears. How? The Portuguese captain, a leader in biohacking (optimization of human potential), used an immediate relaxation exercise through a breathing technique.
Exercise: The Physiological Sigh.
Take a deep breath in through the nose.
When you feel your lungs are completely full, take a second nasal inhale.
Exhale as slowly as possible through the mouth (imagine blowing through a straw).
Repeat the exercise 3 to 4 times.
