Breathing & running

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  • missdaisy79
    missdaisy79 Posts: 566 Member
    I'm bumping this back up as I'm interested in this. I tried my first 5k run outside on the weekend and my word I thought I was going to expire from lack of oxygen! I'm going to make a note of these tips and try and improve this coming weekend.
  • Aperture_Science
    Aperture_Science Posts: 840 Member
    I have got a HUGE nose, and even I can't breath in through my nose when running.
  • myltlisa24
    myltlisa24 Posts: 242 Member
    In most cases, unless you have asthma or some other COPD, breathing difficulty in running of the type you describe is affected by two things:

    1. The aerobic intensity of your running speed represents a high percentage of your maximum. In other words, your level of conditioning is insufficient to comfortably sustain that running speed. The solution is to slow down and/or go to a walk/jog program until your conditioning improves.

    2. Tenseness in the upper body--beginners sometimes "brace" themselves against the initial effort and as a result do not breathe as deeply or as much as necessary. Rather than focusing solely"breathing techniques", it is better to focus on relaxing your form. More relaxed breathing will follow.

    A number of physiological events occur when we increase our exercise intensity. When the need for oxygen increases, that need is met more by increased ventilation (i.e. moving ambient air in and out) than oxygen extraction. (The body doesn't pull more oxygen out of the inspired air, it increases the amount of inspired air available).

    At low or moderate levels of exertion, it might be possible to achieve sufficient ventilation via nose breathing, but not at higher levels. At higher intensity levels, you need to get as much in as possible, by any means necessary. There are no style points.

    I totally agree with this! i try to walk, and then jog some, but it gets tough because of my breathing techniques, but also, i think it has a lot to do with my MVP...and of course I am impatient, and just want to run without running out of breath!
  • rosalee87
    rosalee87 Posts: 221 Member
    I'm on the same boat - when running I sometimes forget to breathe; I hold my breath a lot and I make weird faces while running LOL I catch myself and I start trying to get myself to breathe correctly. :P
  • MissMollieD
    MissMollieD Posts: 130
    The only reason I can think of that you would want to breath in through your nose instead of your mouth is that you will dehydrate faster breathing in through your mouth. I am typically singing along with the music so I probably do a little of both. :o)

    Here is a brief synopsis study they did on water loss through nasal vs oral:
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16550955

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