Breathing while jogging: myths and facts

With the arrival of good weather and longer days, running outdoors is certainly one of the most popular activities. All it takes is a good pair of shoes, a bit of grit, maybe a great playlist, and anyone can take up running thanks to just a few rules to follow:

• Foot strike
• Coordination and rhythm
• Breathing

This last point in particular is often overlooked by both professionals and beginners, because it's seen as less important than the others.
There are plenty of tips on the web and from people who have been running for a long time, but what is the correct breathing technique while running?

There is no rule that works for everyone: since breathing is a natural act, each of us breathes differently.

During physical activity, our body needs to oxygenate the muscles and expel carbon dioxide as quickly as possible to keep performance high. Air breathed in through the nose doesn't bring enough oxygen to our body during prolonged effort, which is exactly why after a few minutes it comes naturally to breathe through the mouth.

So is it wrong to breathe in through the nose?

No! As we said before, breathing must be natural.

In winter, breathing in through the nose lets us warm the colder air before it reaches the lungs, avoiding an excessive temperature shock. The best technique is to naturally use both nose and mouth when breathing in.

It often happens that people feel stitches in the side during the first minutes of a workout, usually in the spleen or the liver, since these pains are very often linked to forced or unnatural breathing. These organs, if subjected to excessive pressure caused by incorrect contraction of the diaphragm, can become overly stressed, resulting in annoying stitches that would force us to stop.

Besides incorrect breathing, these organs can also be stressed by another very important factor that can negatively affect running technique: nutrition. An unbalanced diet or unbalanced meals around our workouts could be responsible for poor performance and muscle problems. This is exactly why EATHLON® has designed a personalized nutrition program for every runner, so as to ensure excellent performance during training. Thanks to the research carried out, EATHLON® offers a functional nutrition program that links together several aspects:

• Hydration
• Food combinations
• Function of foods
• Mediterranean diet

EATHLON® is the only method that uses different cooking techniques and food pairings so that food does its job as fuel during sport. The pairing of foods in a meal with the cooking technique is often far more important for how they interact with the body's functions and metabolism than the nutritional composition of the foods themselves. The Mediterranean Diet is also the eating pattern used as a reference for amateur sport and is the same one adopted by most athletes on every continent.

This diet ensures an excellent balance of carbohydrates (50-60%, 90% of them complex), protein (15-20%, from both animal and plant sources) and fat (20-30%, mainly monounsaturated fatty acids, such as those in olive oil). In addition, these foods are able to cover the demand for minerals and antioxidants that physical activity brings.

 

GUIDELINES FOR BREATHING BETTER

In general, the ratio between breaths and steps could be two inhalations and two exhalations every four steps (2:2 ratio) for a run at a moderate pace, a 3:3 ratio for jogging, and 1:1 for a final sprint to the finish line. If it helps, try counting them to keep track of your breathing, but remember that you also need to pay attention to your running technique!

During daily activities our breathing is mostly thoracic, meaning the upper part of the lungs is the part that fills. During physical activity, and jogging in particular, it becomes diaphragmatic, that is, belly breathing, and this is a good thing because you can make the most of your lung capacity, taking in more oxygen and expelling more CO2.

 

How do you learn this technique?

It's very simple: to start, lie on your back with your hands resting on your belly. Breathing in slowly, focus on your hands so you can see them rise, because it's the abdomen that expands and not the chest. Once you reach maximum inhalation, exhale slowly, trying to let your hands lower gradually.
Learning to use this breathing is very important because it will let you take deeper breaths, which ensure good oxygenation as well as a lower heart rate and therefore less fatigue.

 

TO SUM UP

To breathe correctly while running, remember to feel natural: any constraint or imposed pattern could cause a needless loss of energy and concentration. If it's convenient for you, try counting the number of steps you take in one minute, then in the next minute count the number of breaths you take, and then divide the number of steps by the number of breaths and you'll get the number of steps taken per breath. Remember that for an easy jog the recommended ratio is generally 3:3.

Before starting your workout, or during the cool-down, try doing a few diaphragmatic breaths so you become aware of this breathing technique, which will become automatic and improve your performance.

Matteo Zoffoli

Doctor of sport sciences, he is a personal trainer and professional athletic coach.

He also works as a fitness consultant and is an expert in functional training.