11 Easy Breathing Techniques for Better Running Performance

Are you struggling to catch your breath every time you hit the pavement? Are you gasping for air just a few minutes into your run?

You’re not alone. Many runners, both beginners and seasoned athletes, face challenges when breathing correctly during their runs. But what if we told you that mastering simple breathing techniques could revolutionize your running performance?

This comprehensive guide will walk you through 11 easy and effective breathing techniques to help you run longer, faster, and more efficiently. From understanding why you might struggle to breathe correctly while running to learning how to synchronize your breathing with your foot strikes, we’ve got you covered.

Ready to take your running to the next level? Keep reading to discover the secrets to better breathing and improved running performance.

Before we dive in, lets take a quick look at some of the medical reasons you might have trouble breathing while running.

Why Can’t I Breathe Properly When Running?

Running can be challenging, especially when your body is still adjusting to the increased heart, lung, and leg demands. Initially, this can feel quite strenuous.

However, with consistent practice, you can build strength and learn to synchronize your breathing with your activity, reducing the feeling of breathlessness. The primary goal for your breathing while running should be to maximize oxygen delivery to your muscle cells.

Let’s explore some factors that might be hindering your ability to breathe properly when running.

Physical Stress

You may find yourself out of breath while running due to physical fatigue. Several factors contribute to this stress, including your overall physical condition and environmental elements like heat and humidity.

Additionally, running activates your cardiovascular reflex, forcing your breathing muscles to work harder and restricting blood flow to your limbs. If you’re not engaging your entire body effectively, you limit the blood transported to your cells, reducing your legs’ power.

Respiratory Condition

Breathlessness can also stem from issues with your lungs or airway passages. Insufficient oxygen intake hampers your respiratory system’s efficiency.

If you experience heavy breathing at rest due to a respiratory condition, you’ll likely find it even more challenging during exercise, making running particularly difficult.

Blood’s Carbon Dioxide Content

Understanding the relationship between oxygen and carbon dioxide is crucial for proper running breathing. Your muscles produce more carbon dioxide, which poses a problem.

Hyperventilation decreases carbon dioxide levels in your blood and tissues, causing your blood vessels to constrict and reducing blood flow to vital organs and large muscles. This decrease in carbon dioxide also means your blood cells release less oxygen to your tissues, leading to breathlessness.

Asthma-Prone System

Exercise-induced asthma can significantly impact your breathing while running. Symptoms like wheezing, coughing, and chest pain arise because airway constriction and increased phlegm production make it hard to move air in and out. Poorly controlled asthma will exacerbate these issues during running.

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)

COPD, encompassing conditions like emphysema, chronic bronchitis, and chronic asthmatic bronchitis, can make breathing difficult for runners. While running can improve COPD symptoms over time by increasing blood oxygen levels, it’s crucial to consult a physician before starting any exercise regimen if you have COPD.

Alleviating Shortness of Breath

Whether or not you suffer from these conditions, you might still struggle with breathlessness while running. Proper breathing techniques can help conserve your breath and make running more manageable.

Infographic: 11 Tips for Breathing Properly When Running

Tired of catching your breath when running? Learn how to make running easier from this infographic of the 11 strategies to breathe correctly when running. 

How to Breathe Properly When Running

There are several ways you can improve your breathing while you’re running, but the two most common techniques involve your actual method of breathing—meaning how you breathe and where you breathe.

Two Primary Breathing Techniques

1. Breathe in through your nose then breathe out through your mouth.

There is ongoing debate about where one should breathe when running. However, most agree that the best technique is to breathe in with your nose and then breathe out through your mouth. When you try to breathe in through your mouth, your body tends to take in less air than when you breathe in through your nose, which can result in oxygen deprivation.

Concentrate on your breathing while running until you get the hang of it. Try breathing in through your nose for two counts and then blowing the air out of your mouth with pursed lips for two counts until it comes naturally. Breathing with pursed lips reduces the work you must do to breathe by keeping your airways open longer. This way, it is easier for the lungs to function, and oxygen and carbon dioxide exchange is improved.

2. Breathe with your belly instead of your chest.

Athletes and sports experts prefer belly or diaphragmatic breathing over chest breathing. This is because belly breathing allows you to perform deep breaths, expanding your lungs and filling them up with enough air.

When you breathe with your stomach, you take breaths that use your entire lung capacity. This is because your diaphragm and stomach muscles pull the abdominal cavity downward in order to inflate the lungs fully.

Your chest expands very little, if at all, while you’re stomach breathing. Instead, your abdominal area expands as you inhale. These breaths are slow and deep. You take your time inhaling and exhaling and provide a large amount of oxygen to your bloodstream. These large breaths of oxygen also allow you to exhale more carbon dioxide, letting it escape your body faster.

These are the two primary techniques you should take note of if you want to maintain proper breathing while running.

But here are more tips to improve your breathing for a better running experience:

1. Find your own rhythm.

Don’t merely follow the rhythm ratios you see on the Internet. Our bodies are different from each other. It’s a trial-and-error process until you figure out the best breathing pattern for your system. Most runners sync their breaths with their steps to ensure consistency. Once you move to a greater speed, you may need to alter your pattern or ratio, which will also help you keep track of your running intensity.

A standard ratio is to breathe in for two-foot strikes and then breathe out for two. However, you must play around with your pace and preferences to find what works for you.

2. Take longer and deeper breaths.

Taking longer and deeper breaths allows your body to get the right amount of oxygen it needs. Likewise, it prevents your muscles and lungs from experiencing fatigue. Most people typically only use the top third of their lungs while breathing.

But taking longer and deeper breaths while running helps you consume a lot of oxygen, preventing you from getting dizzy or nauseous. You will increase your endurance once you learn to breathe to your full potential.

3. Practice proper breathing even when not running.

Even when you’re not exercising, you should be able to breathe correctly. This allows you to apply the appropriate breathing technique once you start running. Practice taking deep breaths from your abdomen while sitting still or lying on your back.

Place your hand on your stomach to ensure that you are moving properly. You want to ensure your abdomen rises and falls with each breath. Count to eight during each inhale and exhale during your breathing exercises when you are not running. Do this for three to five minutes.

4. Keep your mouth slightly open when running.

Since your mouth is wider than your nostrils, you can breathe in more air. You can naturally breathe in through your nose and mouth when your respiratory rate increases. If your mouth is already slightly open, you can do this without additional effort.

5. Try doing the “talk test” to check how long you can hold your breath.

Doing the “talk test” is an effective (and cheap!) way to connect with your pace, effort, and heart rate. It’s helpful for running in adverse conditions like heat, humidity, or wind. Your pace may lag in these conditions, but you may still get an excellent workout.

This test removes any pressure to hit a certain pace and keeps your training on track so you can do a great workout, no matter the conditions. Experts say that if you can speak a full sentence without huffing when running, you’re doing well with your breathing patterns.

When doing the “talk test,” you should be able to carry on a full conversation if you are running in the “endurance” zone. If you move up to the “stamina” zone, you should be able to speak one to two sentences. If you are in the “speed” zone, you should be able to speak one or two words, but not enough to make a conversation.

6. Prepare for possible weather changes.

While too-hot weather is not ideal for running, too-cold weather is not good either. Runners agree that temperature affects performance. But since you can’t control the weather, you need to be able to train your body to adjust for any change.

For example, shortening your stride and keeping your feet closer to the ground if you are running in the cold. This will help you run more efficiently and reduce your risk of slipping or straining muscles. You will also want to take some extra time to warm up while running in the cold.

Alternatively, when you are running in the heat, you want to stay hydrated, choose shade routes, slow down, and listen to your body. You will exert more energy by running in the heat, even if you are not running as fast as you usually do.

7. Quit smoking and regularly drinking alcohol.

Cigarette and alcohol content damage your heart and lungs. They are two of the major causes of difficulty in breathing. People who smoke have smaller coronary blood vessels (making it difficult for their blood to flow through their bodies), and an elevated average heart rate (which makes running hard).

While runners who also smoke or drink regularly can improve their performance with training, this cannot be done as effectively as with people who do not have these habits. Studies show that the carbon monoxide content of your blood increases when smoking, which greatly interferes with your body’s ability to transport oxygen to your cells.

For endurance sports, running, oxygen transport and supply are critical. But this doesn’t mean you can skip that last cigarette before your run. Oxygen transport is impacted for up to 24 hours after you smoke because the nicotine in the cigarette hinders your blood vessels’ regulation and your lung function.

Alcohol can impact your running in a few ways, but one huge factor is dehydration. Drinking alcohol makes you dehydrated, which can be dangerous if you are going for a run. Without proper hydration, you are more at risk for muscle injuries and cramps—and your body cannot regulate its temperature. Drinking in moderation now and then may be ok, but drinking in excess will undoubtedly hurt your training.

8. Synchronize your breathing and foot strikes.

Your breathing and foot strikes should match with each other. A 2013 study indicates that locomotor-respiratory coupling (LRC) is an effective way to regularize your breathing.

Most animals and humans utilize some rhythmic breathing pattern while running. This means they synchronize their breathing to their foot strikes. Researchers refer to these patterns as LRC. Humans show the most flexibility in their range of possible patterns with their LRC. There are a lot of alternatives to the typical ratio pattern of 2-2, such as 2-3 or 3-3. Experiment with various breathing patterns until you find what works best for you.

9. Improve your physical endurance.

Developing your strength and stamina can help your body endure the pain of exercise. It also helps increase your ability to breathe more air when running. There are a few ways you can mix up your exercise routine to keep your body engaging more muscles and building more strength.

First, you can do some interval training to help you mix up your speed and intensity so your body doesn’t get complacent moving at one pace. You can also do cross-training, which will engage more of your muscles and give you more overall body strength to help you increase oxygen while you’re running. Finally, you can run slower for a longer period. This will help you with stamina while allowing you to not worry about your speed. This will also help boost your mental stamina.

10. Assess your breathing pattern.

Before anything else, you need to know why you’re having difficulty breathing. You can do this by monitoring your breathing patterns. Are you making sure to breathe in through your nose, or are you finding yourself gasping for air through your mouth? Are you breathing in with your stomach muscles or taking shallow breaths? If you feel like you are taking all of the recommended steps, consult your doctor, as you might have more serious respiratory problems.

11. Make running a consistent habit.

The best way to regularize your breathing pattern is to keep exercising or running. Otherwise, you’ll find it hard to maintain momentum every time you try to start. Research has shown the significance of consistency for effective running, as studies have found that the most reliable predictor of running performance is the amount of training one has consistently done over the past five years.

While recent training is a more accurate predictor of results than either age or early life training, it is still not as important as what runners have explicitly done in the past five years. Studies show that a consistent training schedule followed for at least five years before a performance makes the most significant difference in a runner’s performance. The research showed that successful runners have learned that their training must be systematic and continual for them to maintain their running skills and fitness.

A Final Word on Running Breathe Techniques

Mastering your breathing can significantly enhance your running performance and overall endurance. You’ll run more efficiently and comfortably by incorporating these 11 easy breathing techniques.

Whether synchronizing your breath with your foot strikes, practicing belly breathing, or preparing for weather changes, each tip offers a unique way to improve your running experience.

Remember, consistent practice is key. So, lace up your running shoes, take a deep breath, and hit the road with newfound confidence and stamina. Happy running!

We hope that we were able to help you with this article. But if you are a beginner looking for a comprehensive guide on starting your running regime, check out this post.

Related Posts to Help Improve Your Run Game:

• 23 Best Half Marathons in the U.S.A.
• How to Train for a 5K in 8 Weeks or Less
• 46 Hilarious Marathon Signs That Runners Will Love
• 8 Cardio Alternatives to Running When You’re Injured
• 9 Best Running Shorts with Phone Pockets [2025 Update]
• 13 Best Running Podcasts to Inspire & Motivate Your Next Run
• Which is Better for Your Knees: Running on a Treadmill or Outside?