Breathing Technique

My allergies and sinus troubles make a pure nasal breathing approach a nonstarter. As I get warmed up and going things get, erm, thick and drippy, making my nose an 'exit only' pathway (not literally, but for all practical purposes).

If I were pressed I think I'd come down on the oral/nasal breathing thing we discussed last time this topic came around. It's what I seem to do naturally and, as is my wont, I tend to 'just do' whatever comes simplest/most easily/most naturally to me.

I hear ya on the sinus issues. In this cold weather, my rule is blow my nose every 1-1.5 mi whether I think I need it or not. I swear one time it was below 20 and I didn't do that and when I finally blew my nose at the end of the run, stuff had frozen up there and it was hurting. Sorry for the TMI. Boogers get me talking.
 

And your problem is? :p
 
I hear ya on the sinus issues. In this cold weather, my rule is blow my nose every 1-1.5 mi whether I think I need it or not. I swear one time it was below 20 and I didn't do that and when I finally blew my nose at the end of the run, stuff had frozen up there and it was hurting. Sorry for the TMI. Boogers get me talking.
Ow!

I do keep meaning to play around with nasal breathing when running (to be honest, as I rarely remember to think about it I have no idea how much I do already, I know I breathe nasally for probably 90% of the time when swimming, but I'm naturally concentrating on that more). I see people's point about letting the body do what comes naturally, but it can definitely be one of those things where you have to teach yourself to revert to how nature intended (bit like BFing really) - Buteyko breathing is one of the things I've used to take control of my asthma & it took some effort to get there (some people may have preferred if I'd kept my mouth taped shut during the day & not just at night!)
 
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Well I'll be dipped. I was running a bit faster today, maybe 9mm pace, and looked down at my feet and noticed I was running in perfect 1-2-3-1-2 breathing rhythm, and then Jethro Tull's 5/4 Living in the Past came on in my head and it all made sense. I guess I'm a just breathe rhythmically sort of guy after all.
"Happy and I'm smiling, Run a mile to drink your water . . ."
 
Well I'll be dipped. I was running a bit faster today, maybe 9mm pace, and looked down at my feet and noticed I was running in perfect 1-2-3-1-2 breathing rhythm, and then Jethro Tull's 5/4 Living in the Past came on in my head and it all made sense. I guess I'm a just breathe rhythmically sort of guy after all.
"Happy and I'm smiling, Run a mile to drink your water . . ."

bet your farts were coming out in the correct 1-2-3 rhythm AND smelled of early june roses.
 
I can't quite run 100% HR with my mouth closed, but can run comfortably through my nose at 85-90% HR. However, I still inhale through my nasal and exhale through my mouth when running flat out. This is more towards a Buteyko technique.

Nasal breathing has been suggested by non-other than Scott Jurek. He calls isi "breath of fire". I believe his racing credentials speak for themselves. Refer to his book Eat and Run. The other guys that do it are the tarahumara Indians and we know they are super endurance dudes that we all know have won Leadville etc...I believe that is elite enough for me. The people try to learn from, are the ultra guys/gals not so much the sprinters or shorter distance runners.
 
I can't quite run 100% HR with my mouth closed, but can run comfortably through my nose at 85-90% HR. However, I still inhale through my nasal and exhale through my mouth when running flat out. This is more towards a Buteyko technique.

Nasal breathing has been suggested by non-other than Scott Jurek. He calls isi "breath of fire". I believe his racing credentials speak for themselves. Refer to his book Eat and Run. The other guys that do it are the tarahumara Indians and we know they are super endurance dudes that we all know have won Leadville etc...I believe that is elite enough for me. The people try to learn from, are the ultra guys/gals not so much the sprinters or shorter distance runners.
Yah, I think it could make sense at ultra pace, which, obviously, is very aerobic/low heart rate. Jurek's ultra effort is probably close to a lot of people's walking effort! Yesterday I was at my tempo/lactate threshold pace, and it was impossible to breathe only through my nose for more than a short while. Next time I run at my LSD pace I may give it another try to see what happens. And now that I know I naturally fall into a five-count rhythm at tempo pace, I may make a greater effort to see if I can adopt a seven-count rhythm at that LSD / aerobic pace. Fun, fun, fun. But now I can't get Ian Anderson out of my head.

bet your farts were coming out in the correct 1-2-3 rhythm AND smelled of early june roses.
I can't do anal farting while running; the extra turbo charge knocks me out of my correct odd-metric. It's all navel farting for me baby. You were right about the pleasant smell of early summer though.
 
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Yeah Bare Lee...I guess in the end it depends on what our training goals are....But we belong to the same Tribe...the Barefooters
Oh yeah, it's all good. I'm a big proponent of experimentation and finding out what works for each individual. In the end, enjoyment is the most important factor, because it leads to consistency--keeps you coming back for more--which in turn is the key to any fitness regimen.

I enjoy these discussions, debating, hearing why someone likes or doesn't like something, what works or doesn't work for them and why. Sometimes I take away something, sometimes I remained unchanged, but I never try to tell someone else to change what's working for them. Some of us have specific performance goals, some of us just want good health and well-being. I don't plan to ever run more than half-Mary distance, and probably will never get too excited about racing (although that may change!), but it's interesting hearing how others train for ultra marathons.

Our bare tribe may encompass a wide variety of approaches, but the cool thing is that, on the whole, we're a pretty open-minded lot. There do seem to be two moieties however. On the one hand, there's the 'just run' crowd, which is mostly where I belong, and then there's the perfectionist half, whose members strive to improve through conscious manipulation of things like breathing, cadence, heart rate, foot lift, and so on. I think it's good when both sides talk to each other and question each other's approach, but there's a point where it becomes pointless to participate in the other side's discussions. I commented on this thread because, although strict nasal breathing is counter-interintuitive to me, especially at faster paces, I was intrigued that others have had success with it. And in the end, I surprised myself by finding I did in fact adhere to an odd meter at my tempo/lactate threshold pace. That's something I never would've thought about if BG hadn't started this thread. Not sure what to make of this discovery, and I don't think I would consciously try to run at an odd meter if it didn't come naturally to me, but it's cool to think about. Edit: Still skeptical that running in an odd-meter has anything to do with injury prevention though--would like to see some kind of statistical proof.
 
I can't quite run 100% HR with my mouth closed, but can run comfortably through my nose at 85-90% HR. However, I still inhale through my nasal and exhale through my mouth when running flat out. This is more towards a Buteyko technique.

Nasal breathing has been suggested by non-other than Scott Jurek. He calls isi "breath of fire". I believe his racing credentials speak for themselves. Refer to his book Eat and Run. The other guys that do it are the tarahumara Indians and we know they are super endurance dudes that we all know have won Leadville etc...I believe that is elite enough for me. The people try to learn from, are the ultra guys/gals not so much the sprinters or shorter distance runners.
I wonder if they breath this way because they have already built up their endurance, so breathing is not so much the limiting factor anymore? Just an off the top of my head question. You know, which came first...
 
I wonder if they breath this way because they have already built up their endurance, so breathing is not so much the limiting factor anymore? Just an off the top of my head question. You know, which came first...

I am still working on my breathing technique every run.. not always ...free and relaxed as I would like...However, I reckon maybe, even if endurance was the limiting factor...it would just mean that the runner using the technique would be force to run slower until such time the endurance gradually improves. For me therefore, it was like a speed limiter on a car...I could only go as fast as my nose would let me, so unfortunately it will take time and patience....Have Fun just experiment....
 
Lee, glad to see you a bit more receptive this time. we all must come to our own conclusions instead of just blinding following whatever joe blow says.

Laura, i breathe through my nose when i run. i can nearly sprint before i have to exhale through my mouth. my legs are my limiting factor, not my breathing.
 
When I'm running (ya I know I haven't done much running at all this year) I can't breathe through my nose. Of course, I can barely breathe through my nose just sitting on the couch. Mike doesn't get it and said it was hogwash, but I have narrow nasal passageways (possibly due to surgery and scar tissue or from a pretty severe shattered nose when I was younger) and I start getting dizzy just sitting there when breathing through my nose. I can't sleep breathing through my nose either. I think people that say you HAVE to breathe through your nose are very close minded. You just have to learn how to control your breathing, whether it's through your nose or through your mouth. I've been a mouth breather for a long long time, and even at my fastest point in my life of 5/min miles I didn't breathe through my nose.
 
...I think people that say you HAVE to breathe through your nose are very close minded. You just have to learn how to control your breathing, whether it's through your nose or through your mouth...
Ah, yes, but some of us can't control our breathing if we mouth breathe at rest! It's ages since I've read up on it & certainly there were multiple reasons for nose breathing & it made a noticeable difference to me but no, it ain't going to work for you if you physically can't get enough air through your nose (though even without narrow airways it does feel that way at first) & yes, there's a lot of people out there who'll tell you you just need to stick with it & these people are muppets.
Btw, to the people saying about colds stopping nose breathing; I wouldn't advise trying to start it if you have a cold, but actually it's surprising how little problem they tend to cause once it's become your default way of breathing.
 
See Shadows, I think we can control our breathing, it's a learned technique just like anything else. What I truly believe though above all else is to do what works for the individual. I think Lee was just saying this very thing up above. I think I learned how to control my breathing by always competing as a young kid with all the other little boys. I was highly competitive and wasn't about to let breathing get in my of winning a race. I was second fastest in my grade school and third in my highschool. We'll call him Tony Y., but he was always the guy I was trying to catch. Sometimes I would beat him, but usually he won. I learned to control my breathing because I kept pushing through it due to my competitive drive. Maybe that's why so many other people have problems with it, they never taught themselves how to control it? Purely speculation though on my part, but I think we as people need something that motivates us to learn something (whether a new breathing technique, MAF, losing weight, what have you), whether it's the thrill of competition or just a desire to get better for your own reasons.
 
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See Shadows, I think we can control our breathing, it's a learned technique just like anything else.
To a certain extent, yes & I'm willing to accept maybe completely for those with a fully functioning respiratory system, but just as nose breathing's not possible for everyone I don't think controlled mouth breathing is either. Plus, my breathing goes kooky when I think about it too much (unless I concentrate on it fully, in a fairly meditative way), & if all I have to do is keep my mouth shut then I don't need to think about it (honestly, even participating in this thread makes me breathe weirdly because I'm too aware of it, I think my brain's mis-wired!).
Definitely agree about needing to teach yourself control though; as a kid I remember seeing my mum have asthma attacks & thinking "Why is she breathing wrong & making it worse?", now if I get that type of attack I remember that & can usually just calm it down myself - wish I could switch that natural intuition back on!
 
Now I understand not being able to teach or learn how to breath properly when you have asthma or something like that, just like with my narrow nasal passages I can't breath through my nose well. If you have asthma though you probably cant breathe through your nose well either when running. Maybe I'm just odd because I did teach myself how to slow my breathing down while breathing through the mouth... I remember a couple guys asking me how I controlled my breathing while I was in the Army because they couldn't understand what I meant by controlling my breathing with my mouth open. They acted like it was an involuntary action that if your mouth is open you HAVE to suck in lots of air and breathe hard. I just don't believe that is true and I believe you can control it, at least to a degree.
 
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Generally asthmatics breathe too much, which is the main reason for nose breathing being so useful. Shouldn't be a problem when running, though there may be slightly higher psychological barriers & potentially weaker respiratory muscle strength to start with. Actually remembered to focus on it on my last run & it certainly made my diaphragm work harder, which is good, so will be trying to do more (when I remember!).