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Coaching Focus: Breathing

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Following on from a recent Q&A, this week’s coaching focus is breathing. Firstly, to be clear, it *is* a good idea to breath whilst running… Not doing so can cause significant harm! But seriously, improving your breathing is seen as a possible way of increasing oxygen uptake and decreasing the risk of side stitches and cramps, as well as reducing stress before or during a hard run or race.

 

This week, why not think about your breathing whilst you run? Do you follow a particular breathing pattern? Have you tried different breathing techniques? Pick a run this week, focus on how you breathe, and maybe try one of the changes suggested below.

 

Baseline

Start your usual run. When you’re warmed up and a little way in, count how many steps it takes to inhale and exhale. You’re not looking for a particular number, this is just to give you a baseline of how you currently breathe. Then try one or more of the techniques below, or play with your breathing pattern in your own way, and see which feels more comfortable to you. You can also play with deep breathing drills to improve your oxygen intake before or after running, and relaxation breathing techniques to relax before a hard run or race.

  1. Nasal breathing: This is useful for checking you are running at a very easy effort. Oxygen intake is restricted so it’s ideal for stopping you running too hard. One to try on a very easy effort run.
  2. Match your breathing to your cadence: breathe in on each left foot strike and out on the right. Or breathe in on left foot strike and out on the next left foot strike. Which pattern feels better to you?
  3. Try a different breathing pattern. Alter your breathing so you breathe in for more foot strikes than you breathe out e.g. 3:2 – breathe in for three foot strikes and out for 2, or a 2:1 pattern.
  4. Try using breathing to reduce your heart rate whilst running easy. If you feel your heart rate rising, slow down. Then breath in slowly for a count of three steps and release. Repeat 2-3 times, and note your heart rate at the start and the end.

 

Please don’t take this too seriously and if you find that something doesn’t work for you try something else. The main thing with breathing while running is to find something that you feel works for you and that feels natural. Whilst these techniques can help some, for others, one of the worst things would be to have to think about breathing whilst running.

 

Have fun and enjoy this – and don’t forget to post below to let me know what you are planning to do and how you get on.

 

I hope that you can take something away from this blog. I would love to hear your thoughts and I’ve set up a very supportive free Facebook Community where like-minded people can share their experiences of life and exercising. Please feel free to join and invite others you know who may be interested.

 

I also have a Facebook Club for runners where I post two weekly workout videos, host a live weekly Ask The Coach question and answer session plus a monthly live webinar on a host of running related topics.  This is ideal for those who use free plans but want to have access to a coach and ongoing information.  You can find more information and join here.

 

Do you want a personalised training plan?

Want to know more about running or personal training?

Contact me today to ask any questions or to book your FREE consultation.

Email me at martinhulbertpt@gmail.com or contact me via Facebook Messenger

Martin Hulbert

Running Coach & Personal Trainer Leicestershire

MH Health and Fitness Online Community

www.facebook.com/mhhealthandfitness.co.uk

#MHrunners

 

Why Breathing Cold Air Can Hurt

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Why do my lungs seem to burn when running in cold temperatures? This is a common question, especially among new runners or those running in cold weather for the first time. The lungs have evolved to warm and humidify inhaled air to body temperature and humidity without damaging tissue.

Think of the respiratory system as a tree; with two main branches splitting off from the trunk and then splitting into smaller and smaller branches until the tiny branches sprout leaves. Turn the tree upside down and shrink it to chest size and you have the lung with the trachea as the trunk and the alveoli (air sacks) as leaves.

The warming and humidification of the air occurs quickly starting in the mouth and nose, reaching body temperature and 100 per cent humidity before the air gets too deep into the respiratory tree. As air moves deeper into the air sacks that lie in direct contact with the blood vessels, it exchanges oxygen for carbon dioxide. While inhaled air is cooling the lung tissue, the expired air adds some heat back to the cooled tissues on the way out of the lungs.

Cold air is very dry. The burning sensation you feel in cold air is probably due to the combination of heat and water exchange that is occurring early in the inhalation of cold, dry air. For most people, this sensation goes away after a few minutes and it is not known to cause harm in healthy lungs, but can trigger an attack of bronchospasm in someone with asthma.

Many people worry that the lung tissue will freeze in cold air, but the extensive network of blood flow through the lung tissue seems to prevent that from happening.

As research tells us, the lungs will tolerate extremely cold temperatures without cold damage.

Growing up and living in England, we are used to cold weather, and as kids, that didn’t stop us from running around outdoors without damage. There are many year-round runners in places far colder than the temperatures we have to live with. Evolution seems to have developed a hardy system that will withstand the cold elements.

If cold air bothers you during exercise, you can wear a scarf or snood/buff type piece of clothing to help “pre-warm” the air. There are many designs to be found on the internet that can help. Just beware that covering your mouth and nose during exercising will make breathing feel harder due to breathing through a layer of material.

So, no excuses; you can exercise in cold conditions without fear of damaging your lungs, and the burning sensation will pass.

Want to know more about running, personal training or nutrition?

Contact me today to ask any questions or to book your FREE consultation

Call me on 07815 044521 or email me at martinhulbertpt@gmail.com