Breathing in running – the basics

Breathing is a topic that many people probably don’t think about intensively, but it is crucial when running. During the pandemic, the ability to breathe has increasingly come to the top of my mind, at least in my own case. A lung disease is bad for everyone, but for endurance athletes it is particularly serious.

Even though we still don’t know exactly what the long-term damage to the lungs caused by Covid-19 is, I think we should be aware of the following: an infection of the lungs with coronaviruses leads on the one hand to inflammation of the alveoli, but also to inflammation of the surrounding connective tissue. As a result, the exchange of oxygen is impaired. And possibly also in the long term, because the lung tissue could scar.

What happens when you breathe?

Inhale and exhale – that’s it. Or is it? In fact, there’s a bit more to your breathing in the end. We breathe about 20,000 times a day. With each breath, we take in several liters of air. A healthy adult has a lung volume of two to three liters. Competitive athletes can reach a volume of eight liters and apnea divers even a value of ten liters. 

When we breathe in air, the phrenic diaphragm moves downward. (The phrenic diaphragm is a strong muscle under the lungs.) As it does, the chest expands, so the lungs have room to expand. It can fill with air. 

During inhalation, we take in oxygen either through the nose or the mouth. It is subsequently transported into the trachea and into the lungs. It continues through the system of bronchi and bronchioles into the so-called alveoli. In this way it also reaches the capillaries (the smallest blood vessels). Now the oxygen is absorbed by the blood and transferred to the cells. Once the air is used up, the carbon dioxide produced is sent on its way back for exhalation.

Nasal breathing vs. mouth breathing

We can breathe either through the nose or the mouth. If we breathe through the nose, the air is warmed up, cleaned and moistened before it is transported to the lungs. Most of us breathe automatically through the nose and only through the mouth when there is insufficient oxygen absorbed through the nose.

Sports and breathing

Proper breathing is important for sports. Our body consumes more oxygen during sports. In order to support it specifically in the oxygen intake, you can pay attention to your breathing. Especially deep exhalation is important to provide “enough space” for fresh oxygen. The better you can fill and empty your lungs with air, the more oxygen will reach your body. This is good for your performance. Most runners tend to breathe correctly during exercise. In everyday life, however, many people breathe “wrong”, namely shallow and fast. Often we pull in our belly. As a result, there is much less space in the abdominal and chest area that can be filled with air. This results in the well-known side stitch. If you breathe exclusively into your chest while running and pull your shoulders up, you also limit the space for the lungs to expand. 

The problem: If you start to concentrate too much on breathing, you will quickly start to strain. A popular tip to counteract this is to hold a small object, a stone or something similar in your hand while running. This way you focus on the stone and not on your breathing. It sounds crazy, but it can actually help!

The diaphragmatic breathing (abdominal breathing)

The diaphragm is the most important muscle involved in breathing. Up to 80% of your breathing volume depends on it. You can recognize diaphragmatic breathing – also called abdominal breathing – externally, because your abdominal surface will raise and lower when you breathe this way. This creates space for the lungs. Since the lowest third of your lungs contain the most blood that can be oxygenated (hello gravity!) it is important that you create as much space as possible for your lungs. 

It can also help to practice abdominal breathing regularly: anyone who is stressed can counteract stress symptoms by breathing consciously. This way you will also become more relaxed in everyday life! (Many people don’t like to breathe into the abdomen because we are often given the feeling that we might then appear “too fat” or that our bellies should not be seen. This is totally nonsense, of course!) 

While inhalation is very active, exhalation is more passive. The diaphragm muscles, which are tensed during inhalation, relax again. The lungs shrink to their original size. The air escapes.

Breathing while running

Unlike yoga, for example, breathing during running is not necessarily linked to specific movement sequences. Breathing in and out can take place independently of the rhythm of the steps, but often breathing and steps align.

Which breathing type are you?

You can easily find out how you breathe. To do this, place your hand flat on your stomach while running. If your belly doesn’t rise and fall, then that’s a sign that you’re breathing more into your chest. It is possible that your chest does not rise, but only your shoulders. However, the most efficient breathing is chest and abdominal breathing.

This breathing occurs in a wave motion: First your abdominal wall rises (diaphragmatic breathing), then the lower rib arches and the back expands. Only at the end the shoulders lift slightly. This is also called full breathing, because you use all the space available to you. 

Your body does all this naturally. Nevertheless, it’s worth training your breathing.

Train your breathing

Lie flat on your back and breathe freely. Then place a book on your belly and on your chest. Now try to control your breathing so that when you breathe in, the book on your belly rises first, followed by the one on your chest. Afterwards, exhale again. 

You can increase the duration of the exercise as you wish. At the beginning maybe only for two or three minutes, later up to ten minutes. You can also do the exercise while walking. In this case, use your flat hand to control the lifting of the abdominal wall and chest. 

If you are comfortable with full breathing, try breathing more consciously for a few minutes at the beginning of your runs – your body will eventually adopt this process on its own. With regular practice, you will be able to use significantly more of your lung capacity after about four weeks.