How you breathe in running or in exercising plays an important role in relation to how effective your run or exercise will be. Almost always, if you breathe naturally, i.e., let your body dictate your breathing pattern with no conscious thought given to breathing, your breathing will be effective.
However, all too often, you hear that you should breathe in a particular manner and override what your body will naturally do. As a result you superimpose a different breathing pattern which is often difficult to learn.
In general, it is difficult to learn because your body unconsciously rebels against breathing in this particular pattern. Rather than trying to establish a different breathing pattern, you should learn a breathing pattern which is natural and one that your body usually does automatically.
The pattern that is most effective is one in which you inhale and to hold your breath on exertion – that is, on the hardest part of the exercise, when you are overcoming resistance. Thus in running, you should hold your breath during the push-off and when lifting weights, you should hold your breath as you overcome the resistance.
You should exhale during the flight phase in running and when returning to the starting position when lifting weights. But don’t be surprised if you read or hear the opposite from other sources. They maintain that you should exhale on the exertion. This means that you should exhale when you are doing a forceful push-off, knee drive and pawback. Also, you should exhale when overcoming the resistance (lifting the weight) in strength training.
The widely used recommendation to exhale on exertion is based on theory, not research, and applies mainly to people with heart and circulatory system problems. For example, if you hold your breath too long you could pass out.
The breath holding with maximum exertion should not be done for 8 seconds or more. Blacking out occurs because the internal pressure in the chest and abdomen increases to a point where it squeezes down and shuts off the blood vessels that transport the blood and oxygen to and from the heart
If you are without cardiovascular problems and do not hold your breath for more than a few seconds as needed in execution of power phase in running and in strength exercises, the breath-holding on exertion is perfectly safe. It makes the movements safer and more effective.
If you have high blood pressure or other circulatory system or heart problems, you should avoid heavy resistance or any maximal exertion which calls for breath holding. It is important to distinguish between someone with and without circulatory or respiratory problems.
Inhaling and holding the breath briefly on exertion in all sports, including running and strength training– comes naturally. Many studies have shown that whenever athletic skills are executed properly, athletes hold their breath on the exertion – during the power phase – when maximum force is generated.
Inhaling and holding the breath on exertion provide up to 20% greater force, stabilizes the spine, and prevent lower back injuries. The breath holding transforms the trunk (and, in fact, the whole body) into a stable unit against which your hips, shoulders, and arms can move more effectively.
The need to hold your breath when doing heavy lifting can also be inferred from the recommendations given for relaxation. In order to relax, you are told to inhale and then exhale. As you exhale, you relax the muscles. In essence, exhalation is associated with relaxation. Therefore it is not wise to exhale when you are lifting a heavy weight. It is natural to hold hour breath in this situation.
Breathing exercises can also help you relax before a race. Inhaling and then exhaling before starting a race is a good technique to help you relax. But before starting, it is important that the muscles have some tension – not excessive tension, but sufficient tension to take off running with power.
In effective breathing, do not inhale to your maximum capacity and then hold it. You only need to take a breath slightly greater than usual and then hold it to experience the positive benefits. This is especially important for stabilizing the body, holding the spine in position, and getting greater power in your touchdown and take-off.
For more information on effective breathing and exercises to help you strengthen the respiratory muscles to make your breathing more efficient, see Explosive Running and Biomechanics and Kinesiology of Exercise