A smartphone enabled slow-paced breathing intervention in dual career athletes.

Abstract

Dual career athletes are exposed to many stressors, for example, balancing deadlines with competition schedules. Slow-paced breathing (SPB) is an accessible relaxation technique, which can be practiced via smartphone applications, however delivery through applications has limited exploration. We discuss a four-week intervention delivered to dual career athletes which included screening stress and wellbeing, and a focus group discussion to capture athlete reflections on the SPB intervention. Athletes reported SPB reduced pre-performance anxiety, increased focus during performance, and increased relaxation before sleep. Findings suggest SPB is successfully delivered via smartphones, positively influences stress management, sleep and performance, and may be a simple tool for practitioners and athletes to utilize.