Breathing Tips for Runners

by Heather Long | More from this Blogger

Running is an exhilarating way to get into shape. I know runners who run just for the sheer freedom it affords them. It's also a way to get into shape, burn off stress and just get the mind refocused. When I was in high school, I went running every day. It helped, especially when I was angry, upset or just in general out of sorts with the world. Focusing on the sound of my feet slapping against the pavement relieved more tension than anything else.

Breathing

When you're running, you start to pant. You lose the capacity to take a deep lungful of air. This is completely normal. Your body needs oxygen the same way your car needs gas. So using the automobile analogy, the faster your car goes, the more gas it uses. Your body is exactly the same. The more you run, the faster you run, your body needs a rush of oxygen. Your muscles need a steady flow of oxygen rich blood to keep pumping. This is part of the reason you'll develop a stitch in your side if your muscles are pumping out more effort than they are receiving oxygen.

You can adjust your breathing rhythm to accommodate your body's need for oxygen versus the output of exertion. When a person is walking, they usually breathe in, walk 4 steps and breath out, and walk 4 steps. When a person is jogging, this becomes more of a 3 to 3 ratio while runners are breathing in and out every two steps.

When you're walking, you typically breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth. Joggers do the same thing. Runners need to breathe in through their nose and their mouth and exhale through both. It's more important that the oxygen get in than how it gets there.

As odd as it sounds, runners need to relax their facial muscles while they are running. It shouldn't be hard to suck the air in. In fact, it is better that your jaw is slightly open, allowing the motion of running to push air into your mouth that you can inhale at the same time. The quick 2 to 2 ratio means the easier the oxygen gets in, the better for your body and your muscles.

Take time during the natural course of your run to focus on your breathing until you're breathing in for two steps and breathing out for two steps. It'll help the smooth flow of your run and you'll be able to use these breathing ratios when you're transitioning from walk to jog to run and cooling down from run to jog to walk.

Do you enjoy running?

Learn more about Heather Long

Heather Long is 35 years old and currently lives in Wylie, Texas. She has been a freelance writer for six years. Her husband and she met while working together at America Online over ten years ago.

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