How do runners breathe

Create a personalised ads profile. Select personalised ads. Apply market research to generate audience insights. Measure content performance. Develop and improve products. List of Partners vendors. Proper breathing when running can make a difference in terms of your overall comfort and performance. While your body will naturally alter your breathing pattern in response to changes in your activity level, you may have some breathing habits that affect your ability to run efficiently.

When running or performing any exercise , it's crucial that your body gets enough oxygen. Oxygen converts glycogen—a stored form of readily available glucose—into energy for strenuous activities like exercising. Learn about different theories about the way breathing affects running and recommendations about the best way to breathe during your running workouts. Some runners have heard they should exclusively breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth.

This breathing pattern is promoted in yoga and some martial arts. However, it's not always the most efficient method for vigorous-intensity aerobic activity such as running. Many runners find it most effective to breathe through both the mouth and nose when running.

Your muscles need oxygen to keep moving, and your nose alone simply can't deliver enough. In fact, you may notice changes as your pace increases. The way that you breathe naturally—through your mouth or through your nose—is determined by many factors, including activity type and activity intensity.

When you run at an easily sustainable pace, you are likely to get enough oxygen primarily through your nose alone. This allows you to carry on a steady conversation without stopping to gasp for air through your mouth. However, as your pace and intensity increase, your body needs more oxygen. You need mouth breathing to meet your body's needs. While your nose can warm and filter the incoming air, breathing through your nose alone won't cut it. This is when mouth breathing kicks in to help out.

For your faster, sustained runs such as tempo runs or races , you should try to inhale more through your nose and exhale more through your mouth. Try to focus on exhaling fully, which will remove more carbon dioxide and also help you inhale more deeply.

During speed work , you might notice that you naturally shift to mouth breathing. It feels like you breathe in and breathe out fully through your mouth.

This might lead you to wonder if mouth breathing is wrong for these high-intensity bursts of work. Researchers have studied the effects of mouth breathing versus nasal breathing during anaerobic work performed at high intensity. In a small study, researchers examined performance outcomes and heart rate when test subjects had to perform nose-only or mouth-only breathing.

They found that RER respiratory exchange ratio was higher when mouth breathing was used. RER is a measurement of your body's oxidative capacity to get energy. It can be used as an indicator of fitness level. They also found that the heart rate was higher during nasal breathing. However, because the researchers found that breathing mode does not affect power output or performance measures, they concluded that athletes should choose their preferred breathing technique during high-intensity intervals.

Diaphragmatic breathing—sometimes called belly breathing—can help to strengthen your breathing muscles and encourage full oxygen exchange. Follow a pattern that allows you to alternate which foot gets the impact as you exhale. Inhale for three foot strikes and exhale for two. If following a running pattern feels too complicated, simply pay attention to your breath to get a sense of how a comfortable rhythm feels.

If you plan to run outdoors in an urban area with air pollution, choose the time of day when traffic is at its lowest. Avoid the busiest roads and choose streets that are less congested.

With the right approach, you can improve lung function and manage your symptoms. Take a look at some top breathing tips for runners with asthma. Certain types of weather can trigger asthma symptoms. On these days, you may choose to run indoors. Cold air contains less moisture, which makes it less comfortable to breathe, and can trigger symptoms. If you do run in colder weather, cover your mouth and nose with a scarf in order to moisten and warm the air you inhale.

Other triggers include changes in the weather, hot days, and thunderstorms. Warming up is especially important if you have asthma since you need to allow your lungs plenty of time to warm up.

Slowly build up the intensity to give your lungs a chance to start working. Check the pollen count before heading outdoors to run, and plan to run when the pollen count is at its lowest, which is usually in the morning or after it rains. After your run, take a shower and wash your workout clothing. There are several breathing exercises that are recommended for people with asthma. These exercises may enhance your breathing patterns, thus bringing benefit to your runs. You can try out some of these techniques to see which ones help you to manage your symptoms and bring you the most benefit.

Take care if you have any lung concerns such as asthma or a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis. Seek medical attention if you find it difficult to breathe or experience shortness of breath , gasping, or wheezing while running.

Other symptoms that warrant medical attention include feeling dizzy, faint, or disoriented. However, von Zitzewitz told Live Science: "It takes concentration to master rhythmic breathing and running, as you need to count the number of steps or repetitions, whilst inhaling, and then do the same whilst exhaling and then try and keep them accurate for each stride.

If this technique feels too labored for you, von Zitzewitz suggests just concentrating on being more aware of your breathing as you run will help improve your performance. Running gets better over time, by small consistent progress. Use your base pace as your guide and make very small improvements to that, to begin with. While she also recommends Pranayama breathing, which she said, "helps the flexibility of the lungs and is said to improve breathing whilst running," and advises runners to: "use these deep breathing techniques whilst warming up and activating, as it's an excellent way to prepare for a run.

Anderson says that the hardest part is learning to relax, but breathing in the correct way will help your body to do just that as you run. Rather than being prescriptive about who should do which, and when, Stowe recommends playing with them to see which make you feel the strongest and most successful in your training system.

Whatever your pace, you may want to pay particular attention to the depth of your breaths while sprinting and try to employ, as Stowe recommends above, breathing that starts deep in the belly rather than up at the chest—even if it feels counterintuitive to the pace of the run. This will help to increase the amount of oxygen you inhale and carbon dioxide you exhale, which prevents you from tiring as quickly.

It may also eliminate the abdomen cramping caused by diaphragm spasms. Weight Loss. United States. Type keyword s to search. Today's Top Stories.