How to Breathe When Exercising

Whenever I start with a new client, I tell them that there are three things of utmost importance:

honesty, grace (presence) and breathing.



With honesty I ask that they let me know when something feels wrong on their body and to be honest with themselves by pushing to their limit.

With grace I tell them to move as efficiently as possible and to make transitions from one position to another as easily as possible.

With breathing I tell them that the general rule of thumb when exercising is to exhale on exertion (the hard part of the movement) and inhale during the easier part of a movement. On a push up, for example, you inhale on the way down and exhale when you are pushing up away from the floor.


It is a known fact that you can live without food for up to a few weeks and without water for up to a few days, but without oxygen, your life is over in a few minutes. I guess what I mean to say here is that breathing properly during exercise is important. Let's take a look at a few things to do that might help you.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Common Sense
• Focus

1. Figure out which is the easiest part of the movement (inhale) and which is the hardest (exhale).
   Generally, the harder part of an exercise or movement involves fighting against gravity, as in the push up example.

2. Let your breath dictate your pace or the speed at which you perform any given part of a movement. If you are doing reps of an exercise and start hyperventilating, chances are your breath is too shallow and you are doing the reps too quickly. Slow down.

3. For steady, sustained cardiovascular-type exercise such as running, stair climbing or hiking, try to use your normal breathing pattern or do your best to increase the length of your inhales and exhales. Also, if you are having trouble catching your breath--slow down.

Tips & Warnings

• Not breathing can be hazardous to your health.

Resources

• Joe Rivera's Focus Center Fitness

[chava812]

on 12/17/2008 Thanks for pointing out the rule of in/exhale versus the part of the exercise. I never could remember and never figured it out on my own!

[JoeRivera]

on 10/8/2008 Thanks to all of you for reading this article and posting comments!
The answer to CBeatrix question is that always is always wrong and never is never right. Meaning that this article reflects general guidelines and that it is ultimately up to you to use what works. If your throat gets dried out in the cold breathe through your nose...or try inhaling through your nose and exhaling through the mouth. The right way is the way that works best for you.
Good luck and keep me posted.
Peace
-Joe
For more info fell free to check out
www.focuscenterfitness.com

[CBeatrix]

on 10/8/2008 My question is that which is better: to try to breathe through the nose, or the mouth is fine? I've noticed, breathing through my mouth, especially in cold weather, can dry my throat out.

[Alina]

on 9/18/2008 i hate running! i can't breathe! i hate it! i hate it! i hate it! i know (or at least i think i know) you're supposed to breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth... right? well! it doesn't work! i breathe in and out of my mouth and quit soon after
b/c i'm gasping for air (believe me... it's not pretty!) =O( helppppppppppppp! =O) p.s. nice article but HELP!!!! I wanna be a runner =O(

[carolstinson]

on 7/25/2008 Great article! Thanks for the advice.