5 Breathing Mistakes Destroying Your BJJ Performance (And How to Fix Them)

•By CombatStrips Team

You drill guillotine escapes. You run intervals. You watch film.

But if you're committing these breathing errors, you're voluntarily handicapping yourself.

Here's what's killing your gas tank—and what to do about it.

Mistake #1: Apnea During Explosive Efforts

The Pattern

You shoot a double-leg: breath held.

You drive pressure passing guard: breath held.

You defend an armbar: breath held.

Unconscious breath-holding during maximum exertion is nearly universal in newer grapplers—and persists in experienced athletes who never trained breathing patterns.

Why It Destroys You

Holding your breath spikes blood pressure (Valsalva effect), restricts oxygen delivery to working muscles, and accelerates metabolic waste accumulation.

Worse: The "oxygen debt" you create during breath-holding must be repaid after the exchange ends, extending your recovery time.

You might win the scramble. But you'll be wrecked for the next exchange.

The Fix (Specific Protocol)

Week 1-2: Awareness drills

During technique drilling, verbally count out loud during every explosive movement. This forces exhalation and builds awareness of your breath-holding pattern.

Week 3-4: Forced exhalation training

During positional sparring, make audible "tss" sounds on every explosive effort (shot, pass, escape). Annoying? Yes. Effective? Also yes.

Week 5+: Automatic integration

In live rolling, focus on exhaling (doesn't need to be loud) during exertion. By now it should feel natural.

Confidence level: High. Forced exhalation during resistance training is well-established in powerlifting and strength research. Mechanism directly translates to grappling.

Mistake #2: Chest Breathing Instead of Diaphragmatic Breathing

The Pattern

Your shoulders rise and fall rapidly. Your upper chest expands. Your belly stays relatively still.

You're using accessory respiratory muscles (scalenes, intercostals, sternocleidomastoid) to do work your diaphragm should be doing.

Why It Destroys You

Chest breathing is mechanically inefficient—high energy cost, low oxygen yield.

Your diaphragm is designed to handle 70-80% of breathing work during exertion. When you override this with chest breathing, you:

  • Reduce tidal volume (less air per breath)
  • Increase breathing frequency (more wasted energy on respiratory muscles)
  • Activate sympathetic nervous system (increases perceived stress)
  • Fatigue respiratory muscles faster

It's like redlining your engine in second gear. Lots of effort, minimal output.

The Fix (Specific Protocol)

Daily practice (5 minutes before training):

  1. Lie supine (face-up), knees bent
  2. One hand on chest, one on belly
  3. Breathe in: belly hand rises, chest hand stays relatively still
  4. Breathe out: belly hand falls
  5. 20 breaths, slow and controlled

During warm-up (10 minutes):

Light movement (jogging, calisthenics) while maintaining belly breathing. When you feel the urge to chest-breathe, slow down the pace and re-establish diaphragmatic pattern.

Gradual intensity progression:

Once you can maintain belly breathing during warm-up, practice it during moderate-intensity drilling. Don't expect to maintain it during max-effort rolling (you won't). But the more you default to diaphragmatic breathing at lower intensities, the later you'll switch to chest breathing during hard rounds.

Confidence level: High. Diaphragmatic breathing efficiency is basic respiratory physiology. Training the pattern is proven in clinical and athletic populations.

Mistake #3: Exclusive Mouth Breathing

The Pattern

The moment intensity rises, you switch to 100% mouth breathing and never return to nasal breathing, even when intensity drops.

Why It Destroys You

Mouth breathing bypasses nitric oxide production (NO is produced in nasal passages, not the mouth). NO enhances oxygen uptake in the lungs by 10-18% and acts as a vasodilator, improving circulation.

You're leaving free performance on the table.

Additionally, mouth breathing promotes rapid, shallow breathing patterns and reduces CO2 tolerance (which paradoxically makes you feel more breathless).

The Fix (Specific Protocol)

Build CO2 tolerance (3x per week, not on hard training days):

  1. Normal exhale
  2. Hold breath empty (no air in lungs)
  3. Time the hold (start with whatever you can do comfortably)
  4. Resume normal breathing for 60-90 seconds
  5. Repeat 10 rounds

Track your hold time. Goal: Build from 15-20 seconds to 30-40 seconds over 4-6 weeks. This trains your body to tolerate breathlessness, making nasal breathing at higher intensities more sustainable.

Train nasal breathing at moderate intensity:

During steady-state cardio (running, rowing, cycling at conversational pace), breathe exclusively through your nose for the full session. If you can't maintain it, you're going too hard.

Goal: Gradually increase the intensity at which you can sustain nasal breathing.

Use nasal dilators during training:

CombatStrips or similar devices reduce nasal resistance, making it easier to nasal-breathe at higher intensities. This builds capacity and confidence in nasal breathing under exertion.

Confidence level: High for NO benefits. Medium for practical performance benefits in combat athletes (limited grappling-specific research, but mechanism is sound and endurance athlete data is strong).

Mistake #4: Zero Breathing-Movement Coordination

The Pattern

You breathe randomly. No connection between breath timing and technique execution.

You might exhale during a rest period and hold your breath during an explosive pass attempt. Backwards.

Why It Destroys You

Mistimed breathing wastes the mechanical advantage of intra-abdominal pressure and leaves you vulnerable during exchanges when you should be structurally braced.

Example: If you inhale while someone drives crossface pressure, your ribcage is expanded and vulnerable to collapse. If you exhale during the pressure and brace, you're structurally sounder.

The Fix (Specific Protocol)

General rule (from powerlifting, directly applicable):

Exhale during exertion. Inhale during recovery phases.

Specific applications:

  • Passing guard: Breathe out as you drive forward pressure
  • Pulling guard: Breathe out as you pull opponent down
  • Defending pressure: Short, controlled exhales while framing (don't hold breath)
  • Escaping bottom: Exhale during explosive hip escape or bridge
  • Finishing submissions: Controlled breathing (don't hold breath, it spikes blood pressure and fatigues you faster)

Drilling protocol:

For 2-3 weeks, verbally coach yourself during positional sparring: "Breathe out... drive... breathe in... reset." Make it automatic before progressing to full-intensity rolling.

Confidence level: High. Breathing-exertion timing is well-established in resistance training. Mechanism translates directly to grappling.

Mistake #5: No Recovery Breathing Protocols

The Pattern

Round ends. You gasp desperately, bent over, hands on knees, panic breathing.

You're waiting to "catch your breath" instead of actively managing your recovery.

Why It Destroys You

Panic breathing (rapid, shallow, chaotic) keeps your sympathetic nervous system activated (fight-or-flight mode).

This extends recovery time, maintains elevated heart rate and cortisol, and prevents you from mentally resetting between rounds.

You start the next round still physiologically in crisis mode.

The Fix (Specific Protocol)

Immediately post-round (first 60-90 seconds):

Walk slowly. Don't sit or bend over (restricts diaphragm). Keep moving at low intensity to maintain circulation and facilitate lactate clearance.

Breathe deeply but don't force it—let your breathing rate come down naturally while maintaining diaphragmatic breathing.

90 seconds - 3 minutes post-round:

Box breathing (4-4-4-4 pattern):

  1. Inhale 4 seconds (through nose if possible)
  2. Hold 4 seconds
  3. Exhale 4 seconds (through nose or mouth)
  4. Hold 4 seconds
  5. Repeat 5-10 rounds

This actively triggers parasympathetic activation (rest-and-digest mode), lowering heart rate and cortisol.

3-5 minutes post-round:

Light dynamic stretching, continued easy movement. Sip water (don't chug). Mental reset: Let go of the previous round, focus on the next one.

Confidence level: High. Box breathing's effect on parasympathetic activation is well-documented in clinical and athletic research.

Implementation: Don't Fix Everything At Once

Pick ONE mistake you recognize in your game. Focus on it for 2-3 weeks until it's automatic.

Then add another.

Trying to fix all five simultaneously will overwhelm your attention during training and you'll fix nothing.

Suggested progression:

  1. Start with Mistake #1 (apnea during exertion)—highest immediate impact
  2. Add Mistake #5 (recovery breathing)—easy to implement between rounds
  3. Add Mistake #2 (diaphragmatic breathing)—requires daily practice but high ROI
  4. Add Mistake #3 (nasal breathing capacity)—medium-term project
  5. Add Mistake #4 (breathing-movement timing)—refinement after basics are solid

The Compounding Effect

Fix these five patterns and you'll notice:

  • Longer rounds without hitting the wall
  • Faster recovery between rounds and between matches
  • Better decision-making under fatigue (cognitive function depends on oxygen)
  • More consistent technical execution late in training sessions

None of these changes require more mat time, more strength, or better genetics.

They're trainable skills most grapplers never train.

That's your edge.

Next read: "Pre-Competition Breathing Exercises" for specific warm-up protocols to prime your respiratory system before matches.