I'm asthmatic so good breathing technique is helpful in merely riding around and crucial in climbing. http://velonews.competitor.com/2013/...he-bike_306454 The article on Velo News about reducing deficits has an interesting outlook on improving performance. What drew my attention was muscle imbalances that effect breathing and oxygen uptake. That outlook fits in with what I've been learning recently about the mechanics of breathing.

Basically, while the diaphram is the primary muscle for breathing, the process is aided by the intercostal muscles spanning the rib cage. These muscles help open the chest on inhaling and to close the chest to exhale. A simple experiment illustrates the effect. If you drop the chin and hunch the spine a bit and then inhale, air moves slowly and with difficulty into the chest. When you raise the chin and straighten the back, you can feel the chest opening up and air easily rushing in. The link shows what muscles to work on. Also I found a book "Yoga Anatomy" from Human Kinetics the clearly shows the mechanics of breathing and the muscles involved. http://www.amazon.com/Yoga-Anatomy-2...s=Yoga+Anatomy