How To Breathe While Running

Do you find yourself out of breath after running for just a few minutes? It's easy to forget your breathing when you're running. Heather's here with some tips and techniques to help you breathe efficiently on your run.

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[gtn]

Did you find these breathing techniques helpful?

[PureNRG]

Brain: I got this.
Lungs: I’m not so sure.
Muscles: @!!&#?!

[autokar]

Nose breathing keeps me away from injuries. I simply can’t push to hard, and as a amateur triathlete, I don’t have to. It was hard to start, but since I’ve built some confidence, I can run up to 80% of my hr max with my mouth closed. On easier runs I breath 5/6 (inhale/exhale) or 5/4. Above ~70% of hr max I transition to 5/4, 4/3 or even 3/2. “Oxygen advantage” by Patrick Mckeown is a blast!

[yumiko]

2 miles yesterday…more running than walking…getting better. I still need to work on breathing. That’s holding me back.

[xander]

As a swimmer, I am very used to mouth breathing but I have always been told that nose breathing is better for running. It’s interesting to hear that there are arguments for both styles, each with their pros and cons. Rhythmic breathing is not something I’ve thought about, but it makes sense given that swimmers tend to focus on bilateral breathing for the same reason (even movement on both sides). I’m curious to try out rhythmic breathing as well.

[adriandavies]

Another great video Heather :-) For those looking to change the impact leg with breathing - inhale over 3 strides and exhale over 2 strides ... otherwise you won't change the breathing pattern ... takes a while to get used to but I find it works with my aging body! Thanks GTN

[rgh]

I try and do different things with my breathing while I run. Usually, it's in order to try and bring my heartbeat down. I have no idea if I'm being as efficient as possible but it's certainly part of the distraction game to help the time pass.

[Miguel_Pratz]

I do breathing exercises every morning in the shower and I cannot express how beneficial it was while I completed my first marathon back in May!

[kgsrikanth]

Amazing content. This really helps beginner runners like me!

[reieli]

4:54 I look forward to giving this breathing drill a try. I enjoy doing the breathing techniques and make it must in all my runs helps centre myself to want to come. I treat breathing like gear shifting. At first use noise breathing in and out, noise (air in) to mouth (air out). Belly breathing while walking warming up (z1). While focus on my breathing i take the time to do fourm check. And use rythmic breathing to match my cadience during intervals. Thanks to GTN, The Running Experince, The Running Channel, helped me stay claim while reaching high speeds. 🤙😊

[TheThyller]

Super useful and informative video, I liked it.
Also, I usually try to breathe through my nose for the first minute of a six-minute period. I believe it was some advice I found online but other than that I breathe through my mouth.

[amandaball]

Great video and subject. I’ve played around a lot with this particularly when coming back from injury to give me a ‘drill’ to focus on when I could do speed work etc
Interesting point about alternating and injuries and as others have pointed out you have to have one even one odd to achieve this me thinks. I’m v injury prone on my right side so going to give it a try. Before I began exercising after decades of being totally innactive (I just worked!) I had very compromised upper chest breathing that was also paradoxical so I’ve had to completely start from scratch. 4 years later and lots of hard work and getting there!

[tonymartino]

I like a 2 in 3 out rhythm for cruising. Just feels like I’m balancing things out nicely and feels very natural.
… and please don’t ever feel the need to apologize for any spiritual influences in your life.
😎

[mariac]

4:45 core exercise
6:22 breathing in time with your strides

[camero_]

I breath mostly through the mouth but have tried what you have highlighted and think with training might play around with it and practise. Thanks for the information.

[lennieblake]

I found the joy of running a week ago and am doing a couch to 5k plan.
Im so glad I looked up breathjng. It was such a struggle for me.
Currently, I find it much easier to breath in twice throogh the nose and once out through the mouth.
I cant push enough out if jy nose for some reason.
On my second nasal inhale, is when my belly fills with air.
I am going to work on refining this/ improving my technique as i also work on improving my running.
I think it likely much easier to do this as a beginer, given thatt its harder to retrain a habit.

[davepreston]

Interesting. Thanks - I try to nose breath during a longer race to stay aerobic and not burn any “matches”. Please do a segment on breathing during the swim - much harder when your face is underwater 1/2 the time -

[_J.F_]

This time of year I always have a snotty nose so there isn't really much of a choice but even in the summer I tend to breath through my mouth. I also very often use rhythmic breathing e.g. when going uphill, or if my breathing has gone a bit too fast paced for some reason. I count one-two-three-four (usually not out loud 😄) and I find that great to regulate my breathing and/or my cadence too. I have tried running with music, and using the rhythm from the music, but I cannot get that to work very well and often find that it messes with my running rhythm quite a lot.

[mattjhann]

Coming from a swimming background I quickly found myself breathing in time with my cadence. 3 steps in 3 steps out, 2-2 at 5k race pace.

Something to think about though is that 3-3 or 2-2 will still cause you to breathe in on the same side because they add up even. You'll want to breathe in for 3 steps and breathe out for 2 steps if you want to alternate legs.


Also: mouth and nose at the same time. Need as much air volume as possible!

[jeffglover]

I feel my VO2 has improved with better breathing. We focus on so many other muscles, why not the ones that help us get in more O2. It is part of our fuel intake to feed the muscles! I read Breathing for Warriors by Dr Vranvich & Brian Sabin. Highly recommend it.