I’ve gone through the breathing exercises in the yoga section, but what I could do with is some advice on how to breathe to maximize recovery between short intervals - i.e. on Half is Easy, Downward Spiral, and similar workouts where I’m at max HR and very out of breath with only a short window to get breathing back under control before the next interval. The yoga breathing vids are very calm, unlike my 15s recoveries in Half is Easy!
Any advice or tricks to give the best short recovery to help quickly lower HR and respiration rate? Generally I just pant away hunched over the bars, but in my more lucid moments I consciously take deeper slower breaths which seems to help a bit. Do others go further, for example going full Wim Hof and forcefully pushing the breath out and edging towards hyperventilating?
@Rydercon I have used some of the Wim Hoff breathing but there are similar techniques in the Breathing to Crush Them and Breathing More Deeply yoga videos and I have definitely relied on those techniques for some of the more intense efforts both during the efforts and during the recoveries as well. You are probably finding that hunching over and panting doesn’t really get a lot of air into your lungs. Try and stay tall and relaxed as much as possible and really concentrate on your breathing. Good luck!
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I find that taking a nice big drink from my water bottle during a 30 second recovery isn’t very effective, either. 
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@emacdoug For me that can go both ways - sometimes cooling your insides can assist with bringing down body temp and heart rate but I know what you mean by trying to prioritize breathing in the recovery.
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I have tried to stay tall and use a belly breathing technique by extending your belly which should pull your diaphragm down allowing more air in. I think it works but I also find it seems many times it’s a mental thing. There are times when after a sprint where I’m practically in panic mode to catch my breath. I try deep breathing while tricking my mind to think about something else. Like naming 5-10 things that are blue or start with a particular letter. It might seem goofy but it has helped me.
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This is what I do. Focus on breathing deep into your belly, even if it means breathing a bit slower. I find that helps get my heart-rate down and feel a bit more ready for the next interval.
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a benefit of this is it keeps you loose and relaxed and note, this is also something we can/should practice during efforts as much as between them.
Take a look at this video: https://youtu.be/wH0IV2EF1-E
This is Taoufik Makhloufi, an Algerian middle distance Olympian, doing a mixed interval track session. After the 800m, he gets a lot of rest (10 mins), but he does it very hard. If you look at around 1:20 or so, the video shows his face. Look how relaxed he is, you’d think he’s just going for a jog, but he’s running a 1:44 800! Apparently he had to dig very deep to complete this but you’d never know it, because he’s so good at keeping his arms and face relaxed.
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When possible I’ve even tried to do some of the Box Breathing where you inhale, hold, exhale, hold. Breathing ‘with purpose’ in those short recovery intervals is often the only thing that gets me through Revolver or 9 Hammers.