Breathing patterns for exercise

autovatic
autovatic Posts: 99 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi all -

Do any of you have some good resources you could link me to about breathing patterns during exercise (particularly running)?

I've recently been increasing my running time, but I'm noticing that I am having breathing issues, ending up with side stitches and etc... When I was only running 30-40 min at a time, I guess I never needed to put too much conscious thought into it?

Replies

  • tajmel
    tajmel Posts: 401 Member
    Bump. This is definitely something I need work on too.
  • DopeItUp
    DopeItUp Posts: 18,771 Member
    Don't breathe too heavy, your lungs will get bulky.
  • Duck_Puddle
    Duck_Puddle Posts: 3,237 Member
    Um...in, out, in, out? That's generally how I breathe when I run for however long I happen to run (generally 1-2hrs). If you're getting a side stitch and/or gasping for breath, slow down.

    I'm sure there's something fancy out on google somewhere, but in-out-in-out works fine.
  • autovatic
    autovatic Posts: 99 Member
    Um...in, out, in, out?

    :P That is, generally, how I go about it. To clarify, I'm not running at full effort here - but I am still getting side stitches. In fact, I find myself getting them at a conversational pace. Perhaps you just have a better natural instinct for it than I do...

    I could just google it, yes. But, I would have to wade through hundreds of sites of mystical bull**** pseudo science, and I figured I would attempt to tap the fitness enthusiasts here first to come up with something evidence-based for me.
  • Runs4Wine
    Runs4Wine Posts: 416 Member
    This was the hardest part of running for me in the beginning. Some tricks that worked for me:
    * Breathe through your mouth - you won't get enough air breathing through your nose
    * Focus on breathing in 3-4 seconds, and out 3-4 seconds
    * If you can't get your breathing under control, slow down
    * Keep your head up, don't look at the ground - it will help you get good air flow. It also helps with your running posture

    Whenever I get side stitches, the first thing I do is slow down and then start counting my breaths.

    Eventually your breathing naturally follows that pattern while you're running.
  • Duck_Puddle
    Duck_Puddle Posts: 3,237 Member
    Um...in, out, in, out?

    :P That is, generally, how I go about it. To clarify, I'm not running at full effort here - but I am still getting side stitches. In fact, I find myself getting them at a conversational pace. Perhaps you just have a better natural instinct for it than I do...

    Nah-I'm probably just slower

    I could just google it, yes. But, I would have to wade through hundreds of sites of mystical bull**** pseudo science, and I figured I would attempt to tap the fitness enthusiasts here first to come up with something evidence-based for me.

    I wasn't snarkily telling you to google it-I was referencing the mystical bull**** pseudo science (lol) you'd find there.

    I honestly don't know. I really have never thought about it. I just go.
  • Runs4Wine
    Runs4Wine Posts: 416 Member
    One other thing too I noticed as I increased my distance... my breathing did get off even with all of my tricks. The only "cure" was to slow down my runs. Someone told me to work on negative splits... start out much slower than normal so that you have the energy to pick it up at the end.

    That did the trick... I got through my "wall".
  • FullOfWin
    FullOfWin Posts: 1,414 Member
    Don't breathe too heavy, your lungs will get bulky.

    only if you get over 60 grams of nitrogen per day
  • MoreBean13
    MoreBean13 Posts: 8,701 Member
    Don't breathe too heavy, your lungs will get bulky.

    only if you get over 60 grams of nitrogen per day

    True story. Read the Master Cleanse book. It's full of scmience that explains how you can turn nitrogen from air in to protein. It's called a nitrogen balance, brah.
  • Rayman79
    Rayman79 Posts: 2,009 Member
    Don't breathe too heavy, your lungs will get bulky.

    OH LOL, ROFL, ow my sides hurt... the tears, I can't see properly!!!1!!eleven!! :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :sad: :sad: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

    (there you go Dope, feel validated now?) :tongue:

    To the OP, I think I know what you mean. When I started running and was quite unfit I couldn't fathom how people could run and breathe, let alone talk! What worked for me was breathing with my strides (ie in for three strides and out for three). If (when) I was feeling out of breath I could either change the strides, ie my speed, or breathe over two strides.

    After a while it became less important, and I was able to breathe 'normally'. I didn't need to focus on my breathing as much and just breathed normally as I ran.
  • MoreBean13
    MoreBean13 Posts: 8,701 Member
    OP- try lamaz-like breathing in-in-long out, repeat. It's saved me from a lot of trouble. A trick my soccer coach taught me when I was in middle school.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    Have you learned to breath with your diaphragm, stomach area where most of the lungs are, or still puffing up chest?

    That's biggest improvement. Breathe in through nose almost causes that to happen correctly.

    If you can learn to take deep breaths, better than shallow breaths as fitness keeps moving along.

    If you have HRM and treadmill access, great to test.

    After warmup and running steady for 10 min, try breathing faster with intake and output on every right foot strike, so 2 strike pattern.
    Keep doing that, watch what happens to the HR.

    Now switch to every 3 strikes, so in on a right foot strike, out on a left foot strike after 2 more steps. Longer deeper pattern.
    Keep going and see what happens to HR.

    Even seen the in on 3 steps through the nose, out in 2 through the mouth. I had to use that to force myself slower in order to speed up later.

    If there is no difference, you likely changed your foot strike speed too, which perhaps should be examined first.

    90 or 180 turnover is best speed for majority of runners. So you'll get 3 foot strikes in on every second.
  • Starlage
    Starlage Posts: 1,709 Member
    When running I breathe for 3-4 footfalls in, 3-4 footfalls out. I read it in one of the fitness or running magazines- works great! Keeps the breathing at a nice even pace.

    Oh yea- what heybales said too; yoga type breathing is excellent.
  • wellbert
    wellbert Posts: 3,924 Member
    Don't breathe too heavy, your lungs will get bulky.

    only if you get over 60 grams of nitrogen per day

    I valsalva when I run, to protect my spine.
  • supertracylynn
    supertracylynn Posts: 1,338 Member
    I drink fresh coconut milk to help with side stitches.
    It's also a natural laxative.

    But I've been drinking it for so long, I'm pretty immune to it and know how to time it.
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
    Don't breathe too heavy, your lungs will get bulky.

    :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

    got-game-of-thrones-30282446-245-138_zps690daa2a.gif
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    Don't breathe too heavy, your lungs will get bulky.

    :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

    got-game-of-thrones-30282446-245-138_zps690daa2a.gif

    Nothing like having good strong diaphragm muscles you can show off by, huh, well, I guess blowing out candles and ..... making pinwheels spin? If really good, perhaps flying a kite?
  • autovatic
    autovatic Posts: 99 Member
    Thanks for the responses, folks. Serious and otherwise. :)

Categories