For the longest time I had been taught to breathe in through your nose, out through your mouth. This is practised especially when exercising, where I will lead my participants to do the same during cardio classes.
However recently, I was told otherwise. I was attending an aqua aerobics class where at the cool-down segment, the instructor said to breathe with your nose at all times. In her words: “Do not make the common mistake of breathing in through your nose and out with your mouth – that is not the correct way!”
Seriously? I need to verify this ASAP.
We think breathing is involuntary and instinctive. But there is a science behind the correct techniques. Especially when doing exercises, breathing right allows maximum oxygen to be transferred to our muscles while quickly passing out waste gases like carbon dioxide out.
Keeping the oxygen flow
Proper breathing during exercise is important as part of safety precautions for any workout, to be comfortable. As for athletes and sports professionals, correct breathing is subject of study to achieve improved performance.
As we exercise, oxygen is required to work the muscles. The circulation of oxygenated blood from our lungs to our heart and muscles starts with breathing. Without adequate and timely replenishment, our body faces risks of blood pressure spikes, muscle cramps and in worse scenarios – back pain, dizziness and even risks of hernia.
Here are some basic rules for breathing during exercising:
- Be conscious of maintaining the right body posture:
- Stand up straight
- Relax and open your chest
- Lift your chin
- Make each breath you take in deep and equal to each breath you push out.
- Do NOT hold your breath at any point
- Slowing your pace if you cannot catch your breath
- Simple rule of thumb (esp during weighted or endurance exercises): Inhale at rest position, Exhale at points of exertion.
- Focus on maintaining slow, even, and deep breaths until your breathing returns to normal as you cool down after your workout
As easy as breathing
It will be difficult at the start to relearn and be mindful of the entire process, slowing down and focusing on every step of our breathing. But once our body readjusts to the right breathing method, we get pass the tiring stage and will start to enjoy the benefits of breathing right.
TL:DR, breathing by mouth is definitely not recommended. It skips the filtering function of our nostril hairs and regulates the volume of air into our body, preventing risks of hyper-ventilation; amongst other health problems eg. sleep apnea. Plenty of online articles have covered this topic, such as this.
But, in through nose and out through mouth … or not?
Inhaling by the nose and exhaling by mouth is a common practice in martial arts and yoga. It is a good technique to be practised consciously, calming the mind with controlled, regulated breathing and experiencing a more complete recovery for the body after a workout.
So going back to our initial discussion in this debated topic – is it still okay to breath through nose and out through mouth? Just consider these points:
- The way that we breathe is often determined by factors including activity type and intensity.
- We need to feel comfortable on our breathing style and not force a certain breathing pattern.
To encourage our body to gently return to our initial pre-workout state, this method of using our nose to breathe in, and out using our mouth will be an easy and effective way. to achieve the recovery our body needs.
Inhale the future, exhale the past.
– Author Unknown