Nose Breathing Hot Take (Part 2) - Heart Rate

June 21, 2020 by Stephen Hallgren in Training

I’ve been reading articles about what nose breathing is supposed to do regarding heart rate, and it seems that they are contradictory. Some have said that it helps lower heart rate, while others indicate it increases heart rate. I previously wrote that nose breathing is supposed to naturally reduce heart rate, but I’m not fully convinced of that anymore. Heart rate seems to mostly track with my effort. Using my nose helps reduce pace, reducing overall effort, which in turn reduces heart rate…

Nose Breathing Hot Take (Part 1) - Winter Sucks

March 12, 2020 by Stephen Hallgren in Training

Of all the posts that I’ve posted this far, my nose breathing articles have been my most popular. I’m not particularly surprised by this, since there’s not a lot written about using breathing for regulating running pace. Most articles that I’ve read address proper breathing techniques, the negative affects nose breathing has on overall performance, or why breathing through your nose can be healthy for your body…

How To Use Your Nose To Go Slow

October 01, 2019 by Stephen Hallgren in Training

Being slow is not usually what runners want to be, but the virtues of training with slow runs is well documented. The only issue is that running slow and easy on the runs that you are supposed to take slow is possibly one of the harder parts of running.

Like most runners, I struggle with going slow. I have tried many different techniques to keep myself slow, but no matter how hard I try, I still seem to run too fast. I’ve tried stopping, walking, shorter strides, sheer willpower, but nothing works. I end up resuming my previous pace or sometimes going even faster…

Breathe Through Your Nose

September 13, 2019 by Stephen Hallgren in Training

10 minutes into my run I feel like my lungs are burning and I’m going suffocate. It feels like when I try to hold my breathe for as long as I can underwater. I’m dying to stick my head above water and take a giant gulp of life-giving air. Nothing is actually preventing me from opening my mouth to get more air, but I continue to fight the urge to breathe through my mouth. My body instinctually responds to the oxygen limit I’m putting on it and slows my pace down until I don’t feel like I’m suffocating anymore.

If you do a quick Google search about running and breathing you’ll find a lot of great articles about how to breathe efficiently (belly breathing) and how to keep a rhythmic breathing pace. You may even find articles about using both your nose and your mouth for breathing, but there is a lot less about the benefits of only nose breathing…