how to breathe when jogging
June 28, 2015 6:57 PM Subscribe
i've heard to breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. is there any science to this or is just more New Age b.s.?
For me, it seems to work in the sense that I can seem to run for longer while doing that. But that may be just a sort of mind trick: when your thoughts are focused on your breath, you aren't thinking about the pain constantly.
For me, it seems to work in the sense that I can seem to run for longer while doing that. But that may be just a sort of mind trick: when your thoughts are focused on your breath, you aren't thinking about the pain constantly.
If you're thinking of pain constantly, slow down: nothing should be painful.
My understanding of breathing through your nose was that it heats up the air, before it hits your lungs, and this leads to less cramps. That could potentially be BS.
I DO sometimes try to breath through my nose, as the nose is also a filter of particulates, whereas your mouth is not. It also helps me to keep a reasonable pace, so I'm not overdoing it. The VAST majority of my runs are slow (~80%).
Do some research on belly breathing for athletes. I've found that when I breath deeply from my belly, my runs - especially uphill are better.
posted by alex_skazat at 7:29 PM on June 28, 2015 [2 favorites]
My understanding of breathing through your nose was that it heats up the air, before it hits your lungs, and this leads to less cramps. That could potentially be BS.
I DO sometimes try to breath through my nose, as the nose is also a filter of particulates, whereas your mouth is not. It also helps me to keep a reasonable pace, so I'm not overdoing it. The VAST majority of my runs are slow (~80%).
Do some research on belly breathing for athletes. I've found that when I breath deeply from my belly, my runs - especially uphill are better.
posted by alex_skazat at 7:29 PM on June 28, 2015 [2 favorites]
It's good to breathe through your nose as much as you can. I have some chronic sinus issues, so only breathing through my nose, or only inhaling through my nose, isn't an option. The thing I've been told about breathing by a Qigong practitioner (and it jibes with my personal experience) is that what helps the most is to make sure that your exhalations are complete. Trapped air seems to translate into asthma (and a crappy run) before too long.
posted by O. Bender at 8:16 PM on June 28, 2015
posted by O. Bender at 8:16 PM on June 28, 2015
Belly breathing, as mentioned by alex_skazat, is also how I was told to breathe as a brass player, FWIW.
When I was more physically active, I'd prefer to breathe through my nose for the reasons wanna mentioned, but would usually get to a point where I needed more air than my (admittedly giant) nostrils could take in.
posted by Brian Puccio at 8:58 PM on June 28, 2015
When I was more physically active, I'd prefer to breathe through my nose for the reasons wanna mentioned, but would usually get to a point where I needed more air than my (admittedly giant) nostrils could take in.
posted by Brian Puccio at 8:58 PM on June 28, 2015
no, I don't think there's much science to it. It sounds like breathing through your nose might be keeping your pace down so you can go longer, but past a certain pace and level of fitness breathing through the nose will probably hold you back. Air is good. More air is better.
(I run ~70 miles a week.)
posted by Wemmick at 9:48 PM on June 28, 2015
(I run ~70 miles a week.)
posted by Wemmick at 9:48 PM on June 28, 2015
I figured it was about comfort - breathing through the mouth dries out my throat much faster.
posted by Lady Li at 11:47 PM on June 28, 2015
posted by Lady Li at 11:47 PM on June 28, 2015
I've done a whole bunch of running, and I just breathe in a way that seems natural and relaxed to me. That's through my mouth.
posted by persona au gratin at 12:33 AM on June 29, 2015
posted by persona au gratin at 12:33 AM on June 29, 2015
Best answer: I've definitely heard this before, and I imagine there is some justification to it as others have mentioned with the dust, humidity, and temperature control. But I do a large amount of running, and whether it's my allergies or an anatomical thing (or both) I just can't get enough air through my nose at anything more intense than a fast walk. So I breathe through my mouth. Getting enough air is far more important than worrying about using the right tube.
Also, I'll second a concern about your thinking about pain constantly. Part of effective running is learning to recognize the signals your body is giving you, and know what sort of "pain" is really just fatigue lying to you about your limits, and which is a small irritation on its way to becoming a serious injury. You shouldn't be in that kind of pain when you run.
posted by traveler_ at 4:00 AM on June 29, 2015
Also, I'll second a concern about your thinking about pain constantly. Part of effective running is learning to recognize the signals your body is giving you, and know what sort of "pain" is really just fatigue lying to you about your limits, and which is a small irritation on its way to becoming a serious injury. You shouldn't be in that kind of pain when you run.
posted by traveler_ at 4:00 AM on June 29, 2015
Recently I found this article, which recommends breathing through both your mouth and nose. Seems to work for me. I started with in nose / out mouth but feel like I get sneezy that way, like pollen is getting stuck in my nose and never leaving. Also, I have really narrow nostrils and can't get enough air through my nose alone. I usually breathe 3:3 with the exhale on my left foot (I eventually get a side cramp if I exhale on the right, thanks lifehacker for helping me figure that one out).
posted by beyond_pink at 8:03 AM on June 29, 2015
posted by beyond_pink at 8:03 AM on June 29, 2015
I have allergy and exercise triggered asthma, and controlled breathing seems to be the key to preventing an attack (coupled with seeing a doctor and taking medication as prescribed). I like to breathe through my nose as much as possible for this reason. If I'm breathing through my mouth I'm exerting myself too much and it usually means I am close to having an attack.
posted by domo at 9:56 AM on June 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by domo at 9:56 AM on June 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
I found it very challenging to control my breathing when running, but have found it much much much easier when I am mouthing/singing the words to a song. It helped me keep my pace much better, and it makes jogging/running much more fun.
posted by troytroy at 12:01 PM on June 29, 2015
posted by troytroy at 12:01 PM on June 29, 2015
This came up in Outside magazine a couple of years ago, a question about ultrarunner Scott Jurek's advice to breathe through your nose. The punchline to a long answer:
“Almost everybody breathes nasally at rest,” he continues. “As you start to do light exercise, you’ll continue to breathe through the nose entirely until you’re at about two to three times your resting breathing rate.” At that point, you’ll start breathing through your mouth. And once you exceed four to six times your resting breathing rate—taking in 20 to 35 liters of air per minute—“everyone in the world is a mouth breather,” Shaffrath says. “You can’t push 21 liters of air through your nose comfortably.”
posted by kovacs at 6:25 PM on June 29, 2015
“Almost everybody breathes nasally at rest,” he continues. “As you start to do light exercise, you’ll continue to breathe through the nose entirely until you’re at about two to three times your resting breathing rate.” At that point, you’ll start breathing through your mouth. And once you exceed four to six times your resting breathing rate—taking in 20 to 35 liters of air per minute—“everyone in the world is a mouth breather,” Shaffrath says. “You can’t push 21 liters of air through your nose comfortably.”
posted by kovacs at 6:25 PM on June 29, 2015
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However, once you get up to three to four times your resting heart rate you need more oxygen more quickly than you can get from breathing through your nose.
So depending on how heavily you are running and the conditions it depends which method you should choose; one is not inherently better than the other. Me, I'm a 2:2 nose breather.
posted by winna at 7:26 PM on June 28, 2015 [2 favorites]