How do I breathe properly when exercising?
When to breathe out, why holding your breath under load is a bad idea, and the nose-versus-mouth question.
- Difficulty
- beginner
- Time
- 15 min
- Read
- 3 min
- Safety
- warning
Short answer
Breathe out on the effort and in on the return. For running and other steady exercise, settle into a rhythm tied to your stride and do not force it. The main thing to avoid is holding your breath while straining, which pushes blood pressure up sharply.
Breathing during exercise is mostly automatic and mostly fine. Two things are worth knowing deliberately: what to do during a hard effort, and what to do when you are out of breath and it is spoiling the session.
Safety
Step by step
- Breathe out on the effort.Exhale during the hard part — pushing up, lifting, standing — and inhale on the way back. It is the simplest rule and it covers nearly all strength work.
- Do not hold your breath under load.Straining with a closed throat spikes blood pressure and can cause dizziness. If you find yourself holding your breath, the load is probably too heavy for your current control of the movement.
- Use the belly rather than the shoulders.Breathing into the abdomen, so it rises rather than the shoulders, moves considerably more air per breath. Practise it at rest with a hand on your stomach and it carries over.
- Find a rhythm for steady exercise.Many runners settle into a pattern of a set number of steps per breath in and out. The number matters far less than having one — an irregular pattern feels much harder.
- Do not force nose breathing.Nose breathing suits easy and moderate effort. Above that, the nose cannot move enough air and mouth breathing is normal and appropriate. There is no benefit in restricting it during hard work.
- Focus on the out-breath when you are struggling.Breathlessness is usually about not emptying the lungs rather than not filling them. A longer, more deliberate exhale creates room for the next breath and settles things quickly.
- Slow down rather than fixing the breathing.If you cannot hold a conversation in short sentences, you are working harder than an easy pace. Easing off is the correct response, not breathing technique.
- Warm up properly.The uncomfortable breathless stage in the first few minutes is largely a warm-up effect. A gradual start substantially reduces it.
- Take account of cold air.Cold, dry air is harsher on the airways. Breathing through a loose buff or scarf in winter warms and humidifies it, and helps considerably for people who find cold air difficult.
- Know when breathlessness is not normal.Breathlessness far out of proportion to the effort, chest tightness, wheezing or dizziness are reasons to stop and speak to a doctor rather than to work on technique.
Tips
- A side stitch often settles if you breathe out as the opposite foot strikes the ground and ease the pace briefly.
- Counting breaths for the first few minutes establishes a rhythm that then continues without attention.
- If you are constantly out of breath in a class, work at your own pace. Matching someone else's effort is the usual cause.
Questions people ask
Should I breathe in or out when lifting?
Out on the effort, in on the return. The important part is not holding your breath while straining, which pushes blood pressure up sharply and can make you dizzy.
Should I breathe through my nose when running?
At easy and moderate effort it is fine. Above that the nose cannot move enough air, and mouth breathing is normal and appropriate — there is no benefit in restricting it during hard work.