Breathing and exercise

Jopanni
Jopanni Posts: 27 Member
edited December 24 in Fitness and Exercise
First run since Jan, 5k this morning

I’ve always found that whilst running or swimming I struggle to get my breathing technique right, I breathe from my chest and have tried without success to breathe from diaphragm but my body panics as if it’s not getting enough.

I have also tried to breath in count to 3/4 and exhale the same but again panic and breathe harder.

Swimming is worse I almost drown lol. I think my performance would benefit from breathing properly.

Any hints or tips to get me breathing properly and not out my back side 🤔

Replies

  • gothchiq
    gothchiq Posts: 4,590 Member
    How about trying yoga first? This will have you breathing in a measured way with much slower movements so you don't feel panicky. I'm not saying yoga is easy, because it's very demanding on your muscles, but you aren't doing the type of things that would cause people to huff and puff. Once this starts feeling natural you could move on to the more vigorous movements.
  • dougii
    dougii Posts: 679 Member
    I got mine under control by radically slowing my running pace and paying attention to breathing. 4 count: 1 inhale, 3 exhale. I now use this same count for both running and lifting, works quite well. At slow paces I am able to breathe totally through the nose but as the pace picks up I begin to exhale through the mouth (probably not the best but it works for me). If you are running and feel like you aren't getting enough air my recommendation is to slow down.
  • Jopanni
    Jopanni Posts: 27 Member
    gothchiq wrote: »
    How about trying yoga first? This will have you breathing in a measured way with much slower movements so you don't feel panicky. I'm not saying yoga is easy, because it's very demanding on your muscles, but you aren't doing the type of things that would cause people to huff and puff. Once this starts feeling natural you could move on to the more vigorous movements.

    Thank you I may have to look at this but cost wise I’m trying not to pay out anymore.
  • Jopanni
    Jopanni Posts: 27 Member
    dougii wrote: »
    I got mine under control by radically slowing my running pace and paying attention to breathing. 4 count: 1 inhale, 3 exhale. I now use this same count for both running and lifting, works quite well. At slow paces I am able to breathe totally through the nose but as the pace picks up I begin to exhale through the mouth (probably not the best but it works for me). If you are running and feel like you aren't getting enough air my recommendation is to slow down.

    Thank you for your reply, I was running at 7’27 km which I though was quite slow, I will try a bit slower tomorrow and see if that works. Thanks again 😁
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    I was blessed with an unusually high lung capacity and even in my late 50's I can just about blow off the scale in a spirometry test but always struggled for endurance as I was a chest breather rather than a diaphragm breather so only really used the upper portion of my lungs.
    Only discovered that in my 30's when I had a neurological check over and the Doctor pointed out I mostly filled my lungs by raising my chest and shoulders.

    My distance running endurance was particularly poor despite generally having good fitness for sports. Improved a lot by counting breaths in and out in rhythm with my steps.

    Cycling I find a lot easier and more natural to breathe properly but still fall back into bad habits at high intensity and then do a regular forceful complete exhalation (if you breathe out you will always breathe in!). Google the zooming breathing technique which you might find helpful.

    It is hard to relearn ingrained habits but can be done - I now have really good cycling endurance.

  • Wolfger
    Wolfger Posts: 350 Member
    Jopanni wrote: »
    gothchiq wrote: »
    How about trying yoga first?

    Thank you I may have to look at this but cost wise I’m trying not to pay out anymore.

    Try Yoga With Adriene on YouTube. She has a remarkable amount of yoga practices on YouTube for free (and her paid membership site is $10/month only). She also has videos dealing specifically with different "pranayama" (breathing techniques). Definitely check out her pre- and post-run yoga videos.
  • Jopanni
    Jopanni Posts: 27 Member
    Wolfger wrote: »
    Jopanni wrote: »
    gothchiq wrote: »
    How about trying yoga first?

    Thank you I may have to look at this but cost wise I’m trying not to pay out anymore.

    Try Yoga With Adriene on YouTube. She has a remarkable amount of yoga practices on YouTube for free (and her paid membership site is $10/month only). She also has videos dealing specifically with different "pranayama" (breathing techniques). Definitely check out her pre- and post-run yoga videos.

    Fantastic thank you very much for the information 😃
  • Jopanni
    Jopanni Posts: 27 Member
    sijomial wrote: »
    I was blessed with an unusually high lung capacity and even in my late 50's I can just about blow off the scale in a spirometry test but always struggled for endurance as I was a chest breather rather than a diaphragm breather so only really used the upper portion of my lungs.
    Only discovered that in my 30's when I had a neurological check over and the Doctor pointed out I mostly filled my lungs by raising my chest and shoulders.

    My distance running endurance was particularly poor despite generally having good fitness for sports. Improved a lot by counting breaths in and out in rhythm with my steps.

    Cycling I find a lot easier and more natural to breathe properly but still fall back into bad habits at high intensity and then do a regular forceful complete exhalation (if you breathe out you will always breathe in!). Google the zooming breathing technique which you might find helpful.

    It is hard to relearn ingrained habits but can be done - I now have really good cycling endurance.

    I never thought about cycling actually as I find that no problem, I think to be present and concentrate is the key but I’m easily distracted as well which does not help. Thank you for your reply I will check out the zooming technique 😄
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