Breathing

Mellieanne1019

anyone know the proper breathing technique for running???

mwyvr

Inhale, exhale?

Are you asking...

• mouth open or mouth closed? Do whatever you prefer. Mouth open here except when really easy. Or flies.
• strides per breath? Never thought about it. At faster paces (you shouldn't even be doing this now) you might find 4 strides per breath work better than 1!
• or ?

queenliz99

relaxed breathing

7lenny7

I think it will depend on your cadence but I like to take three strides per inhale and 3 per exhale. When I'm running hard it might be 2 strides.

The key, for me, is to get my breathing in rhythm with my strides. Whether it's 3-3, 2-2, or even 3-2 (3 strides in, 2 out), a rhythm gets me in the zone.

Mellieanne1019

Ok thanks everyone for the wonderful advice

mwyvr

@7lenny7 I'm a baaaad runner I think. Since this thread (and one other recently on the same topic) I've been trying to determine where my breathing is at and I can't even manage to figure out what the pattern is let alone alter it. I must suffer from some sort of cognitive deficiently or mantle implairment. So... I just let it go where it needs to go. Mouth open, catching flies more often than not (I even log them here).

What I do keep track of is cadence and find I can get to 180ish (pace dependent) and recognize the sound without staring at my running watch. If I try to be aware of breathing I mess up.

The one thing about breathing I have caught myself doing from time to time is shallower breathing and when I do note that I correct it and go deeper. To be honest I think it's triggered by a vanity response to passing people along the way - I don't want to sound like I'm laboured -- I'm usually not, far from it in fact, running well within my aerobic capacity.

This vain reaction is a bad habit I picked up many years ago and need to fight it at times even today.

7lenny7

@mwyvr, when I first started running I had a tough time with shallow breathing. I also had a tough time with maintaining a steady cadence.

Reading several articles about breathing while running (but not reading them *while* I was running) is where I got the concept of getting your breathing in rhythm to cadence and it has helped my breathing tremendously.

So now I have a steady cadence and rhythmic breathing but I don't have anywhere near that "ideal" 180 cadence. Every time I try to increase cadence without increasing my speed I nearly trip over my feet. I finally decided to save working on cadence for another time.

I feel I do have breathing down pretty good but one thing I notice is that it falls apart when trail running because... Nature of the beast... I can't keep a steady cadence due to rocks, roots and ruts. I don't run many trails though so perhaps more effort in this regard is indicated.

PrizePopple

7lenny7 wrote: »

I think it will depend on your cadence but I like to take three strides per inhale and 3 per exhale. When I'm running hard it might be 2 strides.

The key, for me, is to get my breathing in rhythm with my strides. Whether it's 3-3, 2-2, or even 3-2 (3 strides in, 2 out), a rhythm gets me in the zone.

I'm still at a loss as to how people manage to time that. I'm over here trying to count my steps and breathe at the same time and then I trip and have to lay down and cry for 5 minutes.

fiddletime

I also do a rhythm. I never read or thought much about it. But I usually do about 3 or 4 steps per inhalation then 3 or 2 on exhalation. As I increase my speed it might go to 2 breaths per step, both inhalation and exhalation. I do whatever feels appropriate and it keeps me in the groove.

7lenny7

PrizePopple wrote: »

7lenny7 wrote: »

I think it will depend on your cadence but I like to take three strides per inhale and 3 per exhale. When I'm running hard it might be 2 strides.

The key, for me, is to get my breathing in rhythm with my strides. Whether it's 3-3, 2-2, or even 3-2 (3 strides in, 2 out), a rhythm gets me in the zone.

I'm still at a loss as to how people manage to time that. I'm over here trying to count my steps and breathe at the same time and then I trip and have to lay down and cry for 5 minutes.

Two methods I've used to measure cadence is to listen to music with the BPM I'm going after or download an metronome app. I think some of the newer gps watches also have that feature.

GillianLF

If I don't focus on my breathing I get a stitch so after about 1k I slow my breathing and try to exhale on alternating feet.

mwyvr

@7lenny7 When I was last a distance runner I used to do deep breathing exercises and all sorts of things but don't recall timing my breathing. It might be beyond my abilities but thanks to your post I'll at least be mindful about it and who knows, maybe that'll fall into place eventually.

I cheat with cadence - my watch provides that to me. It's a good thing. I suck at counting things while stationary let alone while running.

Ronin_HFX

I try to keep a steady beat with the breathing but I found I have to inhale through nose and exhale through mouth. I used to get stitches all the time and found if I didn't focus on this method I was all over the place lol. Sometimes when I get far in the distance and tired the breathes are shallow as I inhale so I focus on a long extended exhale. Maybe I'm just goofy - but it works for me and I find that the right breathing really helped me increase pace and distance.

GillianLF

Ronin_HFX wrote: »

I try to keep a steady beat with the breathing but I found I have to inhale through nose and exhale through mouth. I used to get stitches all the time and found if I didn't focus on this method I was all over the place lol. Sometimes when I get far in the distance and tired the breathes are shallow as I inhale so I focus on a long extended exhale. Maybe I'm just goofy - but it works for me and I find that the right breathing really helped me increase pace and distance.

This is a better way of explaining what I try to do! I'll be doing another run tomorrow so I'll see how it goes with managing the stitches.

Sheri2016

I read somewhere someone inhale for 4, hold for 4 and then exhale for 4. Well the holding the breath is so hard, I guess I just need to focus on inhale and exhaling.

sloseph

PrizePopple wrote: »

7lenny7 wrote: »

I think it will depend on your cadence but I like to take three strides per inhale and 3 per exhale. When I'm running hard it might be 2 strides.

The key, for me, is to get my breathing in rhythm with my strides. Whether it's 3-3, 2-2, or even 3-2 (3 strides in, 2 out), a rhythm gets me in the zone.

I'm still at a loss as to how people manage to time that. I'm over here trying to count my steps and breathe at the same time and then I trip and have to lay down and cry for 5 minutes.

I'm glad it's not just me, trying to run and count and not pile it just doesn't work

my breathing method is just if I start getting a stich slow down a bit until it goes away otherwise it's just open wide and breath in or out one after the other

7lenny7

Sheri2016 wrote: »

I read somewhere someone inhale for 4, hold for 4 and then exhale for 4. Well the holding the breath is so hard, I guess I just need to focus on inhale and exhaling.

I'm certainly not an expert but I can't think of any logical reason to retard the flow of oxygen to the body when you run.

MeanderingMammal

Sheri2016 wrote: »

I read somewhere someone inhale for 4, hold for 4 and then exhale for 4.

Was the author suggesting that an embolism helped performance?

msf74

Personally, unless I get a stitch (which is rare) I don't think about it and do what comes naturally.

I do find that if I cannot breathe comfortably through my nose and with my mouth closed on a long / easy run then my pace has wandered up higher than preferable so I use it as a quick check to bring it down.

jamessnooks

This worked for me ... Get a heart rate monitor .. Consciously try to find a breathing technique that keeps your heart rate lower ( so would infer is the most efficient way of breathing?). I often play the game of trying to lower my heart rate mid run ( it gives my brain something else to think about ) . I have found that generally the deeper and slower the breathing I can manage , the better I run ...

Mellieanne1019

I guess this subject is a very popular topic and I am not the only one who felt lost when they first started.... I am doing pretty well with it I usually do 3:3 and I do not listen to music I made a mistake of bringing my music and then I had a harder time!

Wiz_Joe

The more you exhale the less you can retain an inhale, so calmly inhale and relax your shoulders when you exhale.

Mellieanne1019

Ok thank you

mbaker566

joejunior04 wrote: »

The more you exhale the less you can retain an inhale, so calmly inhale and relax your shoulders when you exhale.

I agree with this. and just relax your upper body in general. it's easy to tense and that can lead to aches and pains in the neck area

7lenny7

The more I exhale the more "used" air I get rid of, allowing me to inhale more new air (and and more oxygen). I try to fully inhale and fully exhale. It gives me more air turnover and helps to increase lung capacity.