Breathing Techniques for Running: Maximize Body-O2 Levels
Breathing techniques for
running should be considered with one specific goal in mind: how to
maximize oxygenation of the body (or oxygen delivery to muscle cells) during running and at rest.
Automatic breathing patterns at rest influence body oxygenation at rest, our automatic
breathing techniques for running, and VO2max during exercise or endurance.
We control the following respiratory parameters in order to choose the best breathing techniques for running: chest vs. belly (diaphragmatic) breathing; mouth vs. nose breathing; breathing frequency with breathing patterns; and tidal volume (the amount of air per one breath). However, before considering all these factors, we are going to analyze effects of body oxygenation at rest on physical fitness, endurance, and automatic breathing techniques for running..
Table. MV (Minute Ventilation) and Rf (Respiratory Frequency) at rest
| Condition | MV, L/min | Rf, breaths/min | Oxygen extraction, % |
Breath pattern | References (click below for details) |
| Diseases* | 12-18 | >18 | <12 % | Overbreathing | Over 40 studies |
| Healthy | 6-7 | 10-12 | 25 % | Normal | Results of 14 studies |
| Norm | 6 | 12 | 25 % | Normal | Medical textbooks |
| Super-health | 2 | 3 | >60 % | Ideal | Observations/yoga |
*Chronic diseases include heart disease, diabetes, asthma, COPD, cystic fibrosis, cancer, and many others. Study Hyperventilation Syndrome for references and numbers.
As it is easy to observe, heavy breathing at rest results in relatively heavy breathing during exercise and that makes moderate or intensive exercise in the sick very difficult or impossible.
Table. Minute ventilation during moderate exercise (15-fold metabolism)
| Condition | Minute ventilation |
Short-term respiratory effects | Blood lactate | Duration of performance |
| Chronic diseases | About 150 L/min | Maximum mouth ventilation | Very high | A few minutes |
| Normal breathing | 90 L/min | Heavy nose breathing | Elevated | 1-2 hours |
| Super health states | 30 L/min | Easy nose breathing | Nearly normal | Many hours |
Breathing techniques for running: how to maximize fitness and body O2
While
most people believe that we need to breathe more air, medical research tells us
the exact opposite story. The slower and less we breathe at rest, the
more oxygen and less lactic acid we have in body cells. The reasons are simple:
when we breathe even 2-3 times less than the medical norm or 3-5 times more than
the norm, our blood oxygenation remains about the same. The main effect of
hyperventilation is less CO2 and that causes vasoconstriction (spasm of blood
vessels) and the suppressed Bohr effect (see links for medical research below).
Breathing techniques for running: chest vs. diaphragm
Since lower parts of the lungs get about 6-7 times richer blood supply due to effects of gravity, diaphragmatic breathing during exercise is a vital part of correct breathing techniques for running. Abdominal breathing, therefore, is a must for excellent physical health and maximum body oxygenation. However, if you don't have automatic abdominal breathing at rest or during sleep, you are likely to have chest breathing during exercise. That worsens endurance and physical fitness. Chest breathing is exceptionally common in modern athletes and ordinary people, and one needs to get over 30 seconds for the body-oxygen test 24/7 in order to enjoy automatic diaphragmatic breathing at rest and during exercise.
Breathing techniques for running: nose vs. mouth
If you want to impress your friends and people of the opposite gender by your running speed, and if you do not care about your breathing techniques for running, mouth breathing will likely be the best choice for all those people who have low body oxygenation.
With more than 60 seconds for the body-oxygen test, mouth breathing will not provide you any advantages even for sport contests.
Furthermore, any athlete can easily prove that, for the same intensity of running, mouth breathing causes increased heart rate up to 7-10 beats per minute in comparison with nose breathing only (in and out). The reasons are in two biochemical factors: nasal nitric oxide (a powerful hormone and vasodilator that we generate in sinuses) and carbon dioxide (most potent known vasodilator - see links below). Mouth breathing reduces concentrations of these chemicals in the lung and arterial blood causing double spasm of blood vessels.
Therefore, many modern fitness instructors and coaches teach that we need to inhale through the nose and exhale through the mouth. Other people advise combined nasal and oral breathing as the preferred breathing techniques for running. However, the best breathing techniques for running are based on strictly nasal breathing since it stimulates high altitude training and produces the most profound effect on VO2max growth, and higher hemoglobin levels and body oxygenation at rest in the long run.
Breathing techniques for running: rate and tidal volume
Depending on intensity of running, minute ventilation, and body oxygenation at rest (i.e., alveolar CO2 and tissue O2 levels), the breathing center naturally adjusts respiratory rates and tidal volumes during running. Many athletes and coaches may find that a certain rhythm of breathing (i.e., 2 steps inhale, 2 steps exhale) allows better physical performance. This is probably true for their current or specific physiological parameters.
However, in order to get maximum benefits from running, it is better to limit your ventilation slightly by taking less air through the nose and extending the exhale. With less than 20 s for the body-oxygen test, breathing manipulations during running are very hard due to too heavy breathing and low efficiency of O2 absorption. With over 30 s, it is much easier to have nose breathing and manipulate these two factors in order to get best benefits for endurance, VO2max, recovery rates, and overall health.
Tarahumara running: 100 km every day!?
Tarahumara are native Indians living in Mexico. Running for very long distances is a part of their culture and daily life. For example, when hunting for wild animals, they simply run after them, until these animals, after hours of escape, drop from exhaustion. Many Tarahumara runners can run up to 100 km barefoot every day without problems with recovery and injuries. Even elite long distance runners cannot endure 50 km per day. What are the causes or the secrets of Tarahumara running? Some people believe that they can run better due to their simple Tarahumara running sandals or Tarahumara running style.
Here
are some pictures of Tarahumara running. You can watch YouTube
videos with Tarahumara running style. Then you can discover that nose breathing during running is
nearly the norm and provides the key to understanding
legendary Tarahumara running.
If you think that nose breathing is uncommon and these are not typical pictures
of Tarahumara runners, search on YouTube for "Tarahumara
running" and watch them running. You will discover that their
breathing techniques for running are based either on only nasal breathing (in
and out), or,
for some Tarahumara Mexicans, mainly nasal breathing, while their mouth can sometimes
be partially open.
What are the biochemical advantages of Tarahumara running with nose breathing? Strictly nasal breathing during running (in and out) produces the following effects on gas composition in the lungs in comparison with mouth breathing:
- increased utilization of nasal NO (nitric oxide)
- decreased O2 levels (as for high altitude training)
- increased CO2 levels in the lungs.
In fact, due to higher CO2, strictly nasal breathing techniques for running at sea level are even better than high altitude training. Nose breathing is hard for the unfit or poorly oxygenated people with heavy breathing at rest, but most beneficial for training and long term improvements in physical fitness, long-term endurance and VO2max.
Strictly nasal breathing techniques for running cause slower breathing and increased body-oxygen levels at rest later, after exercise and especially during the next night's sleep. Therefore, it is suggested here that Tarahumara running secret is based on slow breathing at rest with alveolar and arterial CO2 slightly above the norm (40 mm Hg). Nose breathing drastically reduces anaerobic respiration in cells and lactic acid production accelerating recovery after long runs. The Tarahumara running technique causes the following effect: the longer you run, the better you are able to run.
Barefoot running or Tarahumara running sandals can provide additional advantages, while Tarahumara running form and Tarahumara running style could also make slight contributions. How? Barefoot running provides physical contact with Earth and, therefore, creates conditions for electrical grounding of the human body. Electrons from Earth act as antioxidants (antioxidants neutralize free radicals by donating them electrons). Medical studies indeed found that a grounded human body has reduced blood viscosity (G. Chevalier, S. T. Sinatra, J. L. Oschman, and R. M. Delany, “Grounding the human body reduces blood viscosity—a major factor in cardiovascular disease,” Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 2012.) Obviously, this is an additional positive factor in O2 delivery since most athletes wear shoes that insulate them from Earth's electrical potential.
Bottom line for breathing techniques for running and Tarahumara running. If you breathe slower and less at rest (for automatic breathing), you have more oxygen in body cells while resting and much higher oxygen utilization rate. As a result of these factors, you are going to breathe less during exercise, have natural nasal breathing even at high intensity, and use inhaled oxygen much more effectively. Grounding the body (Earthing) is an important additional factor.
If you interested in extreme sports or super fitness, consider using Training Mask for cardio exercises. It will help you to improve your fitness, VO2max and develop optimum breathing techniques for running. Application of Training Mask allows you to double exercise efficiency. You can learn more about physiology of this sport device here: Training Mask
| Lifestyle factor: | Body oxygen < 30 s | Body oxygen > 50 s |
| Energy level | Medium, low, or very low | High |
| Desire to exercise | Not strong, but possible | Craving and joy of exercise |
| Intensive exercise with nose breathing | Hard or impossible | Easy and effortless |
| Typical mind states | Confusion, anxiety, depression | Focus, concentration, clarity |
| Craving for coffee, sugar and junk foods | Present | Absent |
| Addictions to smoking, alcohol, and drugs | Possible | Absent |
| Desire to eat raw foods | Weak and rare | Very common and natural |
| Correct posture | Rare and requires efforts | Natural and automatic |
| Sleep | Often of poor quality; > 7 hours | Excellent quality; < 5 hours naturally |
Web pages about cardiovascular endurance, physical exercise, running, body
building, and sports:
- Cardiovascular endurance
and body O2 levels: How brain and body
oxygenation influence cardiovascular endurance, desire to exercise,
fitness-related lifestyle factors and physical health
- Physical health: It is impossible
without high body-oxygen levels since low tissue
oxygenation promotes chronic fatigue, diseases and abnormal states of the mind
- Breathing techniques for
running: Which breathing techniques provide maximum body oxygenation at rest
and during running?
- Benefits of physical activity:
The main benefits of correct physical activity for health are due to more oxygen
in body cells. Learn how to exercise correctly to get maximum benefits from
exercise and sports
- Benefits of running correctly include
increased cell and body-oxygen levels provided that you run with nose breathing
only (in and out) mimicking some effects of high-altitude training
- Effects of
exercise on the respiratory system: They are short-term and long-term and
mainly depend on your breathing route: mouth vs. nose breathing
- Effects of lifestyle factors on sport
performance are individual, but they all relate to increased O2 levels in body cells
- How to build more body muscle
with less diet protein: Bodybuilding does not require as much protein in one's diet to build
muscles if the body cells are well oxygenated due to correct breathing 24/7
- Graded exercise therapy: How to
Make It Very Effective: Graded exercise therapy can be very beneficial, if it is
done with one old key rule: nose breathing only
- Training Mask: Most advanced forms of physical exercise
to boost body oxygenation, VO2max, endurance, and health.
Short sport and fitness articles: Breathing at rest, cardiovascular endurance
and sport performance:
- Simple
breathing exercise for higher VO2max
- Changing
VO2max by breathing differently at rest
- Exercise is
joy only when the body is oxygenated at rest
- When exercise is 100% safe
for chronic diseases
- Why modern man gets
little, if any, benefits from exercise
- Which
exercise parameters increase body oxygenation
Reference pages: Breathing norms and medical facts:
-
Breathing
norms: Parameters, graph, and description of the normal
breathing pattern
- 6 breathing myths: Myths and superstitions about breathing
and body oxygenation (prevalence: over 90%)
- Hyperventilation: Definitions of
hyperventilation: their advantages and weak points
- Hyperventilation syndrome:
Western scientific evidence about prevalence of chronic hyperventilation in patients with chronic conditions
(37 medical studies)
- Normal minute ventilation: Small and
slow
breathing at rest is enjoyed by healthy subjects (14 studies)
- Hyperventilation prevalence: Present in
over 90% of
normal people (24 medical studies)
- HV and hypoxia:
How and why deep breathing reduces oxygenation of cells and tissues of
all vital organs
- Body-oxygen test (CP test)
: How to measure your own breathing and body oxygenation (two in one) using a simple DIY test
- Body oxygen in healthy:
Results for the body-oxygen test for healthy people (27 medical
studies)
- Body oxygen in sick
: Results for the body-oxygen test for sick people (14 medical studies)
- Buteyko
Table of Health Zones: Clinical description and ranges for breathing zones:
from the critically ill (severely sick) up to super healthy people
with maximum possible body oxygenation
- Morning hyperventilation: Why people feel
worse and critically ill people are most
likely to die during early morning hours
References: pages about CO2 effect:
- Vasodilation: CO2 expands arteries and arterioles facilitating perfusion
(or blood supply) to all vital organs
- The Bohr effect:
How and why oxygen is released by red blood cells in tissues
- Cell oxygen levels: How alveolar CO2 influences
oxygen transport
- Oxygen transport: O2 transport is controlled by
vasoconstriction-vasodilation and the Bohr effects, both of which rely on CO2
- Free radical generation:
Reactive oxygen species are produced within cells due to anaerobic cell respiration caused by cell hypoxia
- Inflammatory response: Chronic inflammation
in fueled by the hypoxia-inducible factor 1, while normal breathing reduces
and eliminates inflammation
- Nerve stabilization: People remain calm due to calmative or
sedative effects of carbon dioxide in neurons or nerve cells
- Muscle relaxation: Relaxation of muscle cells
is normal at high CO2, while hypocapnia causes muscular tension, poor posture
and, sometimes, aggression and violence
- Bronchodilation: Dilation of
airways (bronchi and bronchioles) is caused by carbon dioxide, and their constriction
by hypocapnia (low CO2)
- Blood
pH: Regulation of blood pH due to breathing and regulation of other bodily fluids
- CO2: lung damage: Elevated carbon
dioxide prevents lung injury and promotes healing of lung tissues
- CO2: Topical carbon dioxide can heal skin and tissues
- Synthesis of glutamine
in the brain, CO2 fixation, and other chemical reactions
- Deep breathing myth:
Ignorant and naive people promote the idea that deep breathing and breathing
more air at rest is beneficial for health
- Breathing control: How is our
breathing regulated? Why hypocapnia makes breathing uneven, irregular and erratic.
Go to Sport, fitness, endurance, and exercise
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