Breathing

[chiefjason]

As important as it is, I've never considered it much until I heard a guy talking about it on the radio. I'm a long term mouth breather. Had a badly broken nose for a long time that made it worse. Got that fixed but already had the habit.

So I've been focusing on NOT breathing through my mouth when running lately. And honestly, it seems to make things much better. Not as thirsty. Seem to have more stamina when running. Main change seems to be from short, shallow, fast mouth breathing when I'm winded to deeper but not as fast breathing through my nose. Seems to keep my heart rate slightly lower. It can be tough to maintain at times. But I'm running at the same speeds I normally do on the treadmill and maintaining it. And a couple trail runs seem to have stayed pretty much the same. Tuesday I ran the downhill and flat sections of a 2.4 mile trail, which was most of the trail, and hardly felt winded even with a 17.5 lb pack. No mouth breathing at all.

I'm sure the more serious runners here have figured this out but thought I'd toss it out there. Might be worth paying attention to when you work out. Also, mouth breathing is supposed to trigger a stress response in the body that's not very good for you. I'm guessing a fight or flight kind of instinct.

 

[Einzelfeuer]

I had a PE coach in highschool who was an old school marine, and I don't know what he did in service but of course there were a bunch of rumors he killed VC with his bare hands.
Any way, he taught us when running or any other strenuous activity to breath in through the nose and out through the mouth to avoid just panting if you could help it. I don't know if there's any science behind it but it's one of those little bits of info that has been gospel since I heard it.

 

[papa_smurf]

It definitely helps. Had an old teacher in school that taught us the same thing. Breathing in through your nose is like a rate limiter and makes the air slow down a little and this helps your lungs absorb the oxygen before you exhale it. Ever seen someone hyperventilate? They don't last too long before either calming down or passing out.

Also, try to breathe where you aren't inhaling on the same step every time to help avoid side stitches. My cadence is inhale on steps 1 & 2, exhale on steps 3, 4, and 5. This way I start inhaling when my left foot hits the ground, and the next breathing sequence i start to inhale when my right foot hits the ground. Hope that makes sense.

 

[Chuckman]

I've always been in nose/out mouth on runs. I talked with the track coach at Duke some years back, he said "breathe through your ears if it helps." He said people overthink it, just breathe most comfortable for you. I experiment, but always default to in nose/out mouth.

 

[two fingers]

154: How Changing How You Breathe Can Change Your Life | James Nestor

Listen to this episode from The Genius Life on Spotify. James Nestor is a journalist and bestselling author of Deep: Freediving, Renegade Science, and What the Ocean Tells Us About Ourselves. His latest book, Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art, explores how the human species has lost the...

open.spotify.com

This is a link to a podcast on Spotify. The episode linked is Max interviewing a breathing expert, James Nestor. It's pretty interesting stuff. I pick and choose what to take away from these things. I haven't had a chance to check out his book yet, but I will.

If you don't have Spotify you can find The Genius Life podcast other places. Max Lugavere (host) is a bit of a liberal. But he doesn't talk politics on the podcast. His guests are usually fantastic.

His book "Genius Foods" changed my life. At 50 years old this July, I'm 6'1" and a lean 180 pounds. My 34" waist pants are baggy these days. My head is clear. My joints don't ache. And my body does exactly what I tell it to. His book started me down my nutrition path a couple of years ago. Some if his guests have written books I have read as well. All told he pointed me in the direction of a better place.

The nutrition we all learned growing up is backwards. Same goes for a lot of exercise/breathing.

 

[chiefjason]

154: How Changing How You Breathe Can Change Your Life | James Nestor

Listen to this episode from The Genius Life on Spotify. James Nestor is a journalist and bestselling author of Deep: Freediving, Renegade Science, and What the Ocean Tells Us About Ourselves. His latest book, Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art, explores how the human species has lost the...

open.spotify.com

This is a link to a podcast on Spotify. The episode linked is Max interviewing a breathing expert, James Nestor. It's pretty interesting stuff. I pick and choose what to take away from these things. I haven't had a chance to check out his book yet, but I will.

If you don't have Spotify you can find The Genius Life podcast other places. Max Lugavere (host) is a bit of a liberal. But he doesn't talk politics on the podcast. His guests are usually fantastic.

His book "Genius Foods" changed my life. At 50 years old this July, I'm 6'1" and a lean 180 pounds. My 34" waist pants are baggy these days. My head is clear. My joints don't ache. And my body does exactly what I tell it to. His book started me down my nutrition path a couple of years ago. Some if his guests have written books I have read as well. All told he pointed me in the direction of a better place.

The nutrition we all learned growing up is backwards. Same goes for a lot of exercise/breathing.

That's the guy, except he was on coast to coast am.

As to nose/mouth the guy above does not recommend it. Take that however you want. But he was getting into how much more water you expel with any mouth breathing. And that it's "better" than mouth breathing but even better to not do it at all. Like I said, not that easy sometimes. I just adjust my pace or breathing now. Started doing it at work and hardly stop for water in the hour I'm unloading my trailer now. Not out of breath, heart rate isn't too high, not tired at all; and part of the time I'm running back into the trailer.

 

[two fingers]

That's the guy, except he was on coast to coast am.

As to nose/mouth the guy above does not recommend it. Take that however you want. But he was getting into how much more water you expel with any mouth breathing. And that it's "better" than mouth breathing but even better to not do it at all. Like I said, not that easy sometimes. I just adjust my pace or breathing now. Started doing it at work and hardly stop for water in the hour I'm unloading my trailer now. Not out of breath, heart rate isn't too high, not tired at all; and part of the time I'm running back into the trailer.

Same. I do a lot of driving for work. For about a week I really focused on his technique while driving. Then, like he said, it became more of a habit. It's pretty interesting actually.

Between my diet/nutrition and his breathing techniques I find my mental clarity has skyrocketed lately.

My problem is that I get on a roller coaster. I'll go all out on breathing, exercise, and nutrition for 6-8 weeks and then fall off the wagon. This time I've been pretty solid for a couple of months. Every now and then I just take a "day off" and eat whatever I want whenever I want it. But it's amazing how my body/mind responds to proper breathing/eating.

 

[poller]

I, too, was a mouth breather due to a deviated septum. My condition was worsened by weak cartilage and I would literally suck my nasal passages closed when breathing through my nose. When I had septoplasty to repair the issue, the surgeon grafted cartilage from ear to my nose to support my nasal passages.

I then went to a specialist to learn how to breathe through my mouth. She taught me to use butayko breathing (see also https://buteykoclinic.com/breathing-exercises/).

Made a huge difference.

A side benefit is improved mouth cleanliness, less plaque, easier dental visits.

Alongside butayko breathing, I also tape my mouth closed at night to force nasal breathing while sleeping. This reduces and often eliminates snoring.