Breathing Techniques for Running

The Simplest Way to Improve Your Run

Strengthening respiratory muscles and focusing on your inhalations and exhalations while running can boost stamina and help keep your head in the zone on race day
By Hollis Templeton fitbie
 

Find Your Rhythm

Perhaps you’re familiar with patterned breathing techniques from a yoga or Pilates class. This technique forces you to not only bring awareness to your breath, but also to sync your breathing with your movements and match the length of your inhaling and exhaling. A similar concept works to improve running endurance. Cadenced, or ratio, breathing improves stamina by delivering a consistent stream of oxygen to your lungs, which then is passed to your running muscles. (Run too hard and breathe too fast and you’ll end up with the dreaded side stitch.)

A 2:2 breathing ratio is a good starting point for runners new to getting in tune with their breath, says Greg McMillan, a distance running coach and owner of McMillan Running Company Inc. This means two inhales followed by two exhales. Syncing your strides to your breath would look something like this:

Left foot hits: Begin exhale
Right foot hits: Continue to exhale
Left foot hits: Begin to inhale
Right foot hits: Continue to inhale

If you haven’t tried cadenced breathing, it may seem tricky—and it might trip you up. Dedicate just a small portion of each run to focusing on your breath until it becomes second nature, suggests McMillan.

Syncing your breaths and your strides will not only regulate your respiration, but will also provide something for you to focus on besides miles, and it could have a calming, meditative effect. “If you’re having a bad day, focusing on your breathing can bring you around and get you in the running groove,” says McMillan. Rhythmic breathing also helps you maintain steady intensity. “It gets your breathing under control and allows you to feel more in control of your exercise without going over the line.” By this, McMillan means that you are moving from an aerobic training zone, in which your heart is pumping at 70 to 80% of its maximum capacity, into a red-line zone, in which your heart is working at 90 to 100% capacity.

The distance of your run should not alter your breathing rhythm, says McMillan. But higher-intensity runs will require faster breathing and perhaps a 2:1 or 1:1 ratio, he adds. “Recognize that as you get tired, go up a hill, or into a headwind your breathing rate will change and so will the extent of each breath.”

Video: A dynamic warmup routine to rally your running muscles

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