Nose Breathing Improves Fitness

The slower you breathe, the better. Imagine an amusement park that has a merry-go-round that doesn’t slow down. The ride doesn’t work if one child is trying to get on a horse while another is unable to dismount. It’s not fun and is potentially dangerous.

When you breathe too fast, you aren’t really breathing because the point is to get rid of waste product (carbon dioxide) and bring oxygen into your lungs. The slower you breathe the better these gases can jump off (C02) and on (O2) the carrier molecule.

Breathing in through your nose is harder because there is more resistance as the air needs to travel through the narrow passage ways. When the air moves from the atmosphere into your lungs through your mouth, it’s EASY! The increased difficulty of inhaling through your nose improves gas exchange efficiency just like a thrill ride that slows down enough (or stops) so the riders can exit and enter.

The other major benefit of nose breathing is that it TONES UP your tissues. Take a flashlight and look at the tissues at the back of your throat. They are soft and slightly flabby. The resistance you get with nasal inhaling firms them up, like core training for your midsection.

The more you do it, the easier it gets because your muscles and soft tissues are toned and efficient.

What to do if it’s too cold to breathe in through your nose? What if you are working really hard to climb a hill? Place your tongue up on the roof of your mouth when you inhale. It will give you quite a bit of the same benefit.

Even if you only practice this for HALF of your workout, you’ll get stronger and more efficient.

Learn more about the science here:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41898128/