How to breathe during running
One of the worst myths that exist among novice runners is: "breathe with your nose and not with your mouth". I have often wondered who spread such harmful and stupid recommendations among runners?
There are some statements that probably can not easily be refuted, even though they contradict the basics of common sense. This is the case with nasal breathing for runners.
What about breathing? We live in a world of myths
Breathing through the mouth is stigmatized by parents or doctors from a small age. According to them, mouth breathing in a child can lead to various later problems in an adult. Mouth breathing is also stigmatized by the yoga environment, where in various books and studies, whole chapters have been written about the advantages of breathing through nose over mouth breathing.
I do not argue with doctors or yogis. In our everyday, peaceful life, we should breathe through the nose. But running is a different pair of wellies. In running, we need oxygen, oxygen and oxygen again. We need to draw air through all the holes we have: mouths, nose, skin, ears and other openings because only then we are able to run effectively. Of course the mouth can provide a lot of air.
Against logic
Sometimes people complain about running problems: that they get tired quickly, that they have a high heart rate, that "running is not going on". At the end, it turns out that some of them try to breathe only with their noses on the run! In such situations, I put a lot of dirty words on my mouth and I would like to call: "Who ..... told you to breathe with your nose while running?" What a stupid idea!
Dear runners, I am asking you for help in educating the beginners (because it is fortunately only beginner's runners' syndrome) of this harmful concept and making them aware that they have to draw air on the run by every possible way, without regard to any yogic or other concepts . Why? Because running is not yoga, it is governed by its own laws. Even if breathing by the nose in everyday life is better, sport is a manifestation of an unusual life and is a place where you do not just have to, but you need to breathe your mouth. Let's fight the myths!
What about the winter - how to breathe?
There are some centers of disinformation that say that mouth breathing will cause throat illnesses and that only breathing through the nose we are able to properly warm up the air before it gets into the bronchi.
First of all, we are not able to warm up the air in a fraction of a second before getting into the bronchi. It's some absolute fake. Secondly, as a man often running in the cold, I know that nothing happens in the throat. If someone happens, it's probably for a different reason. Of course, at certain temperatures, running can be problematic, no matter if you are pulling the air by your mouth or nose. Then you simply should not run (in the open area). The lowest temperature at which I ran long trainings and I felt good it was -15 degrees.
Each of you is able to sense whether running at a given temperature is fun, or maybe your body is showing the weather a red card. If the lamp comes red - come back home. But remember that even in the cold it's the mouth, not the nose, is the main hole for the runner, which let the air in.
