When engaging in any type of physical activity, you need to be able to observe and track your breathing. It largely determines how quickly you get tired, whether you can develop the necessary training rhythm and increase your body’s endurance. In this material you will find valuable information on how to breathe correctly when running.
Why is it important
During sports exercises, the respiratory system performs the following functions:
- Saturates with oxygen. If its quantity is insufficient, the effectiveness of training is significantly reduced.
- Helps increase the duration of your run and get rid of excess glycogen.
- Reduces the stress factor when exerting stress on the body.
- Normalizes brain function, stimulates its activity, which has a positive effect on coordination.
- Allows you to regulate your heart rate. Using different techniques, you can calm or speed up your heartbeat.
- Promotes more fruitful fat burning: completed fats are burned only under conditions of a large volume of oxygen.
Training program
You can improve your breathing and endurance by following the exercise plan, which is described in the following table:
Running to develop endurance
To improve endurance, it is recommended to engage in crossfit, triathlon, and various special exercises. Children can engage in similar activities, but without weights and to a lesser extent.
Without good breathing, high-quality equipment and physical strength will not be able to bring excellent results. Therefore, it is necessary to increase the efficiency of the respiratory system through various trainings.
How we breathe
The human respiratory system is directly connected to the circulatory system. Thanks to this connection, oxygen is extracted from the inhaled air mass, enters hemoglobin and is transported throughout the body. To increase the efficiency of consuming this substance, maintain rhythm: control the depth and frequency of inhalation. A lack of O2 is dangerous, especially during physical activity, and its excess can cause dizziness, so breathing chaotically is extremely undesirable.
It is also worth thinking about the quality of the environment. The best place for running is a park: the more greenery around, the cleaner the air. Plants absorb carbon dioxide and release the pure oxygen we need so much.
Nose or mouth
When jogging, nasal breathing is preferable. Inhale on each step (or on the second if you are using your lungs at full strength), and exhale as you lift your leg (or lift it again if the rhythm is slow).
Do not be afraid of the formation of stabbing pain in your side. Its occurrence means the accumulation of blood in the spleen or liver, which is under pressure from the diaphragm, but this is not dangerous. As soon as unpleasant sensations appear, adjust the intensity of your running: let each inhalation and exhalation fall on the opposite side (if it tingles on the right, breathe when your left foot touches the ground, and vice versa).
Breathing through the mouth is not recommended, since oxygen in this case will dry out the mucous membrane of the oral cavity, causing additional loss of moisture and, as a result, discomfort. In this case, the air does not enter directly into the lungs, but partially into the stomach.
The best option is to inhale through your nose and exhale through your mouth.
There are various breathing techniques, each of which corresponds to its own goals and training format. By correctly using and combining techniques, you can significantly increase the effectiveness of your classes. So, during the warm-up process, it is better to breathe through your nose, without adjusting to the rhythm of your steps - this will activate the activity of the chest and reduce pressure on the liver or spleen.
When doing moderate aerobic running, you should always take a deep breath. In this case, it is necessary to saturate the muscles with enough oxygen so that internal glycogen reserves are not depleted and the body does not begin to consume energy from sugar in muscle tissue.
When doing cardio training, you need to monitor your step frequency and use shallow nasal breathing. This way you will be able to maintain the intensity of your run longer and prevent tingling sensations in your side. To create additional stress on your abs, inhale through your chest, not your diaphragm.
While working on burning fat, it is permissible to inhale and exhale through the mouth. This type of training requires large amounts of oxygen, which can be obtained through fully functioning lungs or rapid, shallow breathing.
Rules: how to increase your breathing capacity when running
First, remember that breathing technique directly affects the speed of the heart: by breathing chaotically, knocking out the rhythm, you create an artificial arrhythmia, which creates unnecessary stress on the internal organs. If tingling occurs in the area of the heart muscle while jogging, you should reduce the intensity of the workout.
Secondly, follow a few basic guidelines that will help improve your endurance. Read more about them below.
Fresh air
Train in places where there is a lot of oxygen: in a park or forest. You should not run near the highway or in industrial areas, because along with oxygen we also absorb harmful impurities.
Adjusting the depth of breathing
At rest or in sleep, we breathe shallowly, taking a shallow breath and barely noticeable exhalation, and take a deep breath about once every 5 minutes. But this method is ineffective while running.
You can develop your breathing by breathing alternately with medium and full force. Filling your lungs with air as much as possible only makes sense when you feel a lack of oxygen. At any other time, moderate intensity is optimal.
Do not inhale deeply at every step - this will quickly cause you to feel an O2 deficiency, which will be accompanied by dizziness.
Inhalations and exhalations have their own turn
Each cycle should be one or two steps, depending on the rhythm and speed of movement.
Rhythm and frequency
When the pace goes wrong, the same thing happens with the breathing process: oxygen enters the body unevenly, you choke and cannot continue a systematic run.
Inhale and exhale in different ways
Inhale through your sinuses and exhale through your mouth. This will allow you to most effectively receive O2 from the external environment, warm it, and get rid of processed carbon dioxide.
Holding your breath
The pace will constantly slow down if, while running, you start to get distracted, drink on the go, or talk. By delaying the rhythmic work of your lungs, you deprive yourself of the required volume of air.
Breathe deeper
Experts recommend involving the diaphragm and abdominal muscles in the process. It is important to control and regulate the intensity so as not to lead to oxygen oversaturation.
The body will be able to find a suitable rhythm
There is an opinion that your body knows much better at what pace it is more effective to work. Thus, no special techniques need to be used. The main thing is to catch the natural rhythm that will form at the beginning of the workout and not get out of it. It all depends on the degree of load, speed of movement and objectives of the exercise. Proper breathing during an easy, calm recovery run or warm-up should not leave you out of breath.
Try to choose the option that will be beneficial specifically for your body. Change this or that technique, adjust it to your rhythm, be sure to take into account your well-being and level of physical fitness.
Your main task is to listen to your body and feel its needs. As soon as severe discomfort occurs, try a different breathing pattern.
For long distances, inhale and exhale in 2 steps
This is a classic pattern for athletes who run a marathon. This technique allows you to develop endurance and increase the performance of the body.
Synchronize the process with movement
As discussed below, when running long distances, a 2-2 scenario works well. Having mastered it, you can try increasing the tempo to “3-2”, which will improve your well-being and get more oxygen, or “2-1” to speed up.
Focus on exhaling
In this case, it is better to do it through the mouth. By focusing on clearing carbon dioxide from your lungs, you will prevent the possibility of becoming suffocated.
Shorten your inhalation
By adjusting the depth of breathing, you will normalize the functioning of the heart muscle and understand how to develop and train your breathing system for running.
Breathe through your mouth
You cannot inhale and exhale only through your nose - you risk not getting the proper amount of oxygen from the air. To understand how correctly you alternate between the nasal and oral methods, you need an effort that will allow you to hear yourself during the training process.
Use your stomach
The diaphragm allows for deeper inhalation because it is not limited to the chest and ribs. This method provides the lungs with much more space to expand and fill with oxygen.
Is it possible for beginners to run long distances straight away?
Not everyone can get off the couch and immediately run 10 km – and that’s normal. For example, healthy young people without excess weight will be able to cover this distance in one run. But this does not apply to those who suffer from excess body weight, heart disease, hypertension or joint problems. It is important for such people to carefully dose their running loads so as not to harm their health. In general, you shouldn’t look at the professionals and think that you will never succeed. It is quite possible that they started running a long time ago and were also not able to cover a long distance the first time.
Why don't marathon runners run the marathon distance when training for a marathon?
How to add variety to your treadmill run
Efficient breathing at different rates
The main thing you need to learn is: the more intense the exercise, the more often you need to breathe. As the speed of movement increases, the body's need for the O2 element also increases, and in order to provide it with a sufficient volume of air, you will have to inhale more times.
Fast run
Your main goal is to get as much oxygen as possible when you inhale and get rid of carbon dioxide completely when you exhale. Use your abdominal muscles and diaphragm as much as possible to avoid pain in your side.
Slow jog
The respiratory system should work freely and deeply. You need to inhale twice as fast as you exhale. At the beginning of training you will have to constantly monitor the rhythm, but over time it will level out and turn into your natural one.
Periodically check your breathing technique when running: to understand how to breathe, try talking without stopping your movement. If there is no shortness of breath, it means you are doing everything right. If you feel like you're starting to get out of breath, slow down and restore your pulse.
Aim to keep your inhalation and exhalation even, align the rise of your diaphragm and chest, and try using your nose and mouth at the same time.
How long does it take to develop the habit of running for a long time?
Everyone has their own pace of adaptation to stress, but usually 4-6 months of regular training is enough for running to become an integral and familiar part of life. The problem is different: how not to quit after a couple of weeks or months? The ultramarathoner notes that the easiest way is to run in a group - not necessarily in a running club, a virtual community is enough. Understanding that your brothers in mind are running somewhere motivates you not to give up training.
Alexander:
Our running club ERA has a joke about the three stages of a runner. The first is when a person starts eating special gels instead of bananas while running. The second is when he lacks the running app on his phone and buys himself a special watch with a GPS sensor. And the third is when he changes his name on Instagram from vasya_Ivanov to ultrarunner_Vasya. We know of cases where this journey took only a year.
Photo: unsplash.com/@hocza
What to do when you have a stitch in your side
There may be several reasons for the occurrence of unpleasant sensations:
- incorrect rhythm of the respiratory system;
- excessive stress on the body;
- lack of preliminary warm-up before training;
- you ate a hearty meal before starting classes.
If you feel a painful tingling sensation, do not stop - just slow down. As you inhale, squeeze the sore spot with force and release it as you exhale. Repeat the scheme 2-3 times and the pain will go away.
Other recommendations
There are several other breathing tips that will help improve your running performance:
- Breathe rhythmically. Remember that with every breath your heart speeds up, and if you breathe raggedly and not rhythmically, then you artificially create an “arrhythmia,” which increases the load not only on the heart, but on all organs.
- If your side hurts, take a step, breathe deeper and slower. As you inhale, press on the painful area with your fingers, and as you exhale, release it. After 2-3 cycles the pain should stop.
- If your heart begins to tingle while running, reduce the intensity and switch to diaphragmatic deep breathing through your mouth.
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Other recipes
How to improve your breathing if it gets lost when running
After rapid acceleration, the natural pace may be disrupted, and the runner may begin to feel out of breath. In such a situation, you should take three deep breaths and return to the original rhythm. This method will allow you not to stop during sports competitions or, if necessary, to escape from pursuit.
If possible, just start running slower and gradually restore your heart rate.
By the way
In the era of advanced technologies, convenient and affordable heart rate monitors appear. With their help, you can track your heart rate while running, thereby keeping your pace within your capabilities. Next year I plan to purchase such a thing. Once I test it, I’ll definitely write a post on the topic of running with heart rate monitoring. (already bought, tested and wrote my review in the article here) Anyone who already uses this thing, please briefly describe the benefits in the comments.
How to increase your oxygen supply
In order to receive as much oxygen as possible when inhaling, it is necessary to completely empty the lungs of residual air as you exhale. Also practice a few useful exercises before your workout or race - in your daily life:
- Sing often.
- Play wind instruments.
- Try to blow up a lot of balloons in one go (be careful not to get dizzy).
There is a very fun way to expand your lung capacity. Take a thin strip of paper and secure it to your nose. Now your goal is to keep it horizontal for longer. This fun method will also help you learn how to regulate the frequency of your breathing technique, increasing and decreasing its depth.
Here are a few exercises through which you can not only learn how to develop your breathing for running, but also improve the functioning of your cardiovascular system:
- Inhale as deeply as possible and exhale slowly until your lungs feel compressed. Next, hold your breath. Repeat the cycle a couple of times.
- As you inhale, count to ten and inhale again. Focusing on how you feel, complete a comfortable number of approaches. Try doing the same while exhaling.
- Sit or lie down. Take a deep breath and stop breathing. As soon as the delay becomes uncomfortable, begin the breathing process freely, restoring the pace. With the new approach, increase the stopping time by 15-20 seconds. Do several similar cycles, constantly increasing this gap.
- When exhaling, push all the air out of your lungs, then inhale a new portion in several approaches.
- Time yourself for two minutes and try to practice breathing as quickly as possible during this time. The time frame should be expanded with each subsequent cycle.
- Inhale and count to thirty. By reducing your speed, you will make the exercise more difficult.
How to breathe properly during a cool-down after running
If you feel very tired, do not rush to go on vacation. A sharp decrease in load can negatively affect the tone and functioning of the heart muscle. The final ten-minute recovery exercise will help fill the body with energy and feel cheerful.
Don't stop, keep running, but more relaxed, slowly, for example, jogging. Gradually reduce the frequency of your breathing technique, which will normalize your pulse and blood pressure. As soon as the muscle corset relaxes, stop and do a short stretch. This way the training will be more beneficial.
conclusions
In conclusion, we can say that the above methods for improving 3 km running results were achieved through trial and error. Practice, practice and more practice. We've set a goal, go ahead. Don't stop there, improve. Self-discipline is for great people, and you can, no, you should be one of them.
Addition: after several years of practice, I wrote a post “How to run 3 km in 12 minutes,” where I shared my personal experience about running. In it, I revised some of my positions regarding the approach to training.
I ask all runners to write their criticism in the comments. I also ask you to post your methods for developing endurance and speed, preferably for a 3 km running distance.
That's all, create yourself with CSelf.ru! Sincerely, Alexander Petrishchev!
