Breathing through nose or mouth

[Guest]

When running long distance, is one better than the other? Or are they the same?

I always thought it was an old wives' tale when the occasional person would tell me, "Breathe through your nose," when I was running. I would think, what difference does it make? The air is going into my lungs either way.

Now here I am, almost 40 (but more like 15 inside), and my wife tells me, "Breathe through your nose." What the hell? Well, I tried it and thought about it as I did it, and you know what? Your lungs seem to fill up differently when you breathe through your nose.

Am I imagining things? Or is there something I don't know about breathing through one's nose?

[Guest]

Re: Breathing through nose or mouth

When I was in the 8th grade, my P.E. teacher told me to breathe through my nose while running the mile.......... I contined breathing only through my nose through most of my freshman year of XC, until the coach finally noticed and told me to breathe though my mouth. Suddenly, I drop from 19:30 to high 17's!

[pickle47]

Re: Breathing through nose or mouth

Let me ask you this: Take a deep breath and start running up a hill at full speed while holding your breath. After the fifteen, thirty or howevermany seconds that it takes you to arrive at the verge of blacking out, stop. Now start breathing. What happens next? My guess is that you, like every other human being that thinks they are on the verge of dying due to lack of oxygen, would at that point breath through your ears if you could!

Just get the air in. I believe any doctor will tell you that, once the air has passed through the nasal cavity to where it meets up with the trachea, it's all going the same route. Besides, you're still breathing through your nose when you breathe through your mouth, unless you can close your nose. I can't close mine.

[Piglet]

Re: Breathing through nose or mouth

Use your blowhole.

Seriously---just breath. Often. Deeply.

[Guest]

Re: Breathing through nose or mouth

The following is not really a running question: does breathing through the nose allow oxygen to go more quickly to the brain (absorbing through sinuses, nasal cavity)? Or is all the oxygen inhaled still having to go through the lungs to get to the brain?

[Guest]

Re: Breathing through nose or mouth

i was actually thinking about this on my run last night. i can't get enough air in through my nose so i can't go that route. but my question is:

how deeply should you breathe?

I've always just did whatever was natural. but would breathing much deeper help keep my HR down?

has there been any research on this?

[Guest]

Re: Breathing through nose or mouth

A topic of equal relevance: Is it really necessary to run by ALTERNATING right and left legs? Might it not be possible to run faster by using, say, the right leg twice in a row, then the left leg twice, etc.? Boy, I really wonder...

[Guest]

Re: Breathing through nose or mouth

First man forgets how to run, and then he forgets how to breathe. Do both without inhibitions! Throw away your preconceived notions! Run like a child would; breathe like a child would!

When you run, breathe as to take in as much air as possible. You’ll soon find that it is through the mouth (and you will fare better when you have a cold).

When you run, do not run rigid, with shoulders set like a military man at attention. Do not land with the heel first, far out in front of the body. It will only slow you down. Land on the ball of the foot, or nearly so, directly under the body. “Move over the ground, not on it.” Practice this stride on grass or dirt without shoes or with spikes shoes. Notice now the foot naturally lands beneath the body, on the ball. Notice that you have to TRY to land on the heel. Heel landings are unnatural, inefficient. Run like this for a week or so. Put your shoes back on. Notice how your stride retains the newly learned natural form. Your body likes it better this way; so will you. Better yet, leave your shoes off, and run on the trails all the time. You would soon be at the head of Kenyan cavalry charges. The Africans runners are efficient, they have not lost their natural stride by running in thick heeled on paved roads. They do not face the pounding that our boys take out on the roads and walks. Train and live the natural way. We can all see where science has gotten athletes of late… The only supplements that you need are natural, uncooked foods, good life in the open air, hard running, and natural running: a stoic but pleasant existence. "On this basis the whole world, and all that it has to offer, opens out as a vision splendid, normal and realizable."

[Guest]

Re: Breathing through nose or mouth

after a simple google search i answered my own question.

i forgot guys, i shouldn't ask hacks like you questions where you might have to think.

people like you are what make going to forums like this crappy. go home

http://faculty.washington.edu/crowther/ ... feed.shtml

[Guest]

Re: Breathing through nose or mouth

“how deeply should you breathe?
I've always just did whatever was natural.”

You answered your own question in your original post.

And your link…

(1)“Breathe deeply from the abdomen, not from the chest.”

What I said to begin with: naturally.

But then again, you always were stupid bastard.

[dunes runner]

Re: Breathing through nose or mouth

> A topic of equal relevance: Is it really necessary to run by ALTERNATING right and left legs? Might it not be possible to run faster by using, say, the right leg twice in a row, then the left leg twice, etc.? Boy, I really wonder...

What you are referring to is called skipping, which can be helpful but is not faster than alternating the legs.

Cerutty recommended "galloping" and "trotting" etc, which is fun and easier to do than skipping.

If you're running along and get a twinge in your knee or leg etc, try galloping along for awhile, alternating lead legs, and it usually gets the legs back to normal.

[dunes runner]

Re: Breathing through nose or mouth

I agree, when running, do it any way that feels "normal".

A danger would be "over breathing" which could cause arythimias and other problems. It also washes out co2 buffers.

When not running, practice of yoga breathing, holding your breath etc, is helpful.

Plug "breathing buteyko" into Google to find links about proper breathing.

Also, top divers such as Tanya Streeter have good methods to develop breathing skills.

[Guest]

Re: Breathing through nose or mouth

The answer is intuitive - how can you inspire the most air? More volume through the mouth than the nose, duh.

[6 5.5hjsteve]

Re: Breathing through nose or mouth

someone asked about oxygen "getting to the brain quicker via the nose than the mouth."

I am not a doctor but I remember basic junior high school science class:

ALL oxygen gets throughout the body mixed in the blood, no other way, and ALL air goes to the lungs. The blood picks up oxygen by making a stop at the lungs after leaving the heart.

So as everyone has aid, just breath. Everything else just happens naturally.

[dl]

Re: Breathing through nose or mouth

This isn't a great answer to the original question, but I do know that the amount of oxygen that's taken up by the blood from the lungs is not limited by inspiration (i.e. the amount of air breathed in) but rather by the amount of blood that can be pumped to the lungs. That's why nasal strips are bogus.

The decision to breathe through your mouth of nose is an individual one. Do what feels right. But you DO lost more water by breating through your mouth. That could be a factor in longer runs/races in hot weather.