Breathing Exercises to Help a Long-Distance Runner

Video Transcript

"I'm Steven Taylor, Endurance Coach and Fitness Trainer. Let's talk about breathing for a long distance runner. If you're building up your endurance for running, you should know that most of your training should be done at a relatively lower intensity level. If you're having troubles breathing during a lot of your runs, you're running too fast. A good rule of thumb here is a talk test. You should be able to run with someone else and talk mostly comfortably throughout the run. This means that you're running at an aerobic level where you can get enough oxygen for what you're doing. However, sometimes a person wants to run faster. Maybe it's during a speed work session or a race. You'll notice during these times that it becomes hard to breathe quick enough. When you're running. When you're running fast, you tend to take shallow gasping breaths, "ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha." The problem with this is, you don't get enough oxygen into your lungs and into your body when you breathe that way. The key is, even when you're trying to run fast, breathe deeply. Pull that breath into your lungs, "Hooh, hooh, hooh." It's not easy; your body wants to gasp for air but if you're consciously focus on your breathing and pull that breath in deeper, you'll get more oxygen and you will be more comfortable."