Breathing

[Hats26]

First of all, apologies for this basic question! I have been on/off with exercise over the years and my fitness isn't really getting very far. My boyfriend if anything cycles (excluding the Winter), walks and occasionally swims (when I swim) and he is still fitter than me! 

Being a new runner, I struggle with breathing... Sometimes stop to get my breath back. I finish a ParkRun and the First Aid come up to me as I finish and ask if I am okay. All I can do is give them the thumbs up because it looks like I am genuinely struggling to breath! However, it is pretty much due to not being fit. 

At the moment, I am doing circuit training with Viprs, Kettlebells, then run club (outdoor gym class) and I am extending another off road run. I am thinking to do more runs a week and stick to one circuit a week? Time can (genuinely) be an issue. 

I feel that to improve breathing, I need to swim more laps without stopping? Interval training again? Can anyone suggest other ideas to help with this? I am not into running long distances and at the moment I am still trying to improve my running style. I did wear a pair of trail trainers and they have caused issues with my shins, so I am learning to use Vibrams and my vivobarefoot ones help complement them. 

[Gershon · Accepted solution]

My suggestion is when you are getting out of breath, slow to a walk until you get your breath. Then start running again. Your body and your mind will adjust in time, and the walking periods will get shorter. The best way to learn to run is to run. Swimming may not cross-over as well as you might like.

[Mel_Linn]

I know this is going to sound crazy, but chew gum. Like I said, I know it sounds crazy, but it works. I don't know why. An old track -mate gave me this tip back in school and it made a world of difference for me. Plus, it keeps your mouth from getting too dry if you end up breathing out of your mouth. And you never know when a make out session is going to occur. 😉

When you break or have to slow your speed down, lift your arms and interlace your fingers behind your head. Deep, slow breaths in, filling your lungs through your nose, controlled exhale from your mouth. Keep moving while catching your breath. 

[Hats26]

Thank you Gershon and Mel_Linn. I will try out all of your suggestions soon! Gershon, yes I am probably being a little impatient, so will give it time. 

Mel, yours make me laugh a lot. I thought chewing gum wasn't very good for your stomach? It can cause stomach ulcers as your stomach is expecting food and not getting any, so confusing the system. Nevertheless I will try it out. I like your second suggestion too. 

[Mel_Linn]

Yeah, I'll be completely honest, I never looked in to the "chewing gum" thing. What you're saying makes sense and you're probably right;  I did notice that it personally helped me, though. Perhaps it's an anomaly, b/c I've never had an ulcer, but I've also never really gone without food in my belly. I like to eat. I'm literally eating a fig bar right now, in fact.

[Dominique · Accepted solution]

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@Hats26 wrote:

Being a new runner, I struggle with breathing... 

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Could it be that you're simply out of shape? Your symptoms sound very similar to what I had one year ago. I hadn't done much exercise at all for many years and I would get out of breath from even the slightest effort. Running for even two minutes in a row felt like an impossible task. It took me several months before I could sustain continuous running for more than 5-10 minutes. If you can't run right now, walk instead, to build your endurance. And instead of starting to run right away, alternate walking and running (google Jeff Galloway, run-walk-run).

[Hats26]

Yes quite possibly! However I had been training for Survival of the Fittest at the time on top of doing ParkRuns, which was only in 2013. I'll certainly google Jeff Galloway and walk about the Pentland Hills very close to my house 🙂 thank you Dominique for your post. 

[Mary]

Cardio fitness improves pretty quickly but you might find you do better and are less uncomfortable if you slow down so you're not gasping for air.  A heart rate monitor can be a good tool to help you gauge your intensity.  

I think if chewing gum caused ulcers it would've been removed from the market long ago.  

[Dominique]

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@Hats26 wrote:

Yes quite possibly! However I had been training for Survival of the Fittest at the time on top of doing ParkRuns, which was only in 2013.

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I'm not familiar with either event, but if you were able to do these just one year ago and can no longer do it now, the cause must be elsewhere: I can't believe anyone could go totally out of shape in less than one year. In my own case, I was inactive for most of my adult life, so we are talking about several decades. Could you have a heart condition? I thought I had one and I consulted with a cardiologist. I had a throrough check, complete with echocardiogram and effort test, which (fortunately) indicated that I was only out of shape, but my heart was healthy otherwise. The suggestion by @Mary  of getting a heart rate monitor is a good one. I used mine for doing run-walk-run workouts. I would run until I reached HR zone 4, then switch to walking until my pulse went down to HR zone 2, then run again and so on. My HR would look like this:

The good thing is that you never go out of breath, since you start walking as soon as your pulse is too high. I didn't have to look at my HRM, the Runtastic lady would tell me each time I entered a new HR zone. I found this an effective way to build endurance.

[Mary]

http://running.competitor.com/2013/05/training/how-long-does-it-take-to-get-out-of-shape_70267

It sounds like you're doing the right thing, with cross training.  

I'm surprised you call yourself a new runner if you were running regularly as recently as last year.  Was running new to you then?  I get breathless while running, always, but I'm weird that way so I stick to other cardio, for the most part.  

I have a teen who does a seasonal sport and not much in the off-season and her cardio capacity comes back quickly each year.  But she's a teen, too.  

[memeD]

Recommend reading: Runner's World RUNNING ON AIR The Revolutionary Way to Run Better by Breathing Smarter by Budd Coates and Claire Kowalchik. As a new runner, I have found this book to be very helpful for building up my endurance. There's also a great article (free) on the subject that includes a video http://www.runnersworld.com/running-tips/running-air-breathing-technique The rhythmic breathing applies to walkers as well as runners.

[KatchMe]

In races I hear a lot of people struggling to breathe. Personally I think they are tightening their neck muscles, arm muscles and have poor posture as I look at them. They are leaned over too far forward and looking down and arms are tight and up high. My coaches from my younger days always told me to look up where I am going, enjoy the scenery, keep my shoulders back and relax my upper body and let my arms hang a litlte lower so hands are closer to the hips. I automaticly use controled breathing in sync with my stride. Example inhale while I run 4 strides, exhale while I run 4 strides. Long deep breaths. What is funny to me is when I am in a race running up hills I sometimes find people I start to pass get into my breathing and running rythm and start to keep up. That's when I have to change the steps and rythm for a minute to throw them off. After all, it is a race. I'm not perfect, but staying relaxed and getting into a rythm is what works for me. Music can also help with the rythm. I highly recommend going to a running store that can analyze your foot fall and suggest the correct running shoe for you. It usually doesn't cost any more and your body will thank you.

[Hats26]

Thank you, I loved reading your post! I sometimes look straight ahead, however I am a bit of a clumsy runner and trip if I don't look what I am doing. I will try the inhaling/exhaling method during my next run. I seem to be a bigger fan of off road running/trail running because the ground is softer? This can help me gain confidence again in my running style before getting back into parkruns on hard tarmac. Yes! I need to get my music better. I was using my phone, but sometimes it wouldn't play properly and I ought to get music on my ipod/top it up. List of things to do. I got the analysing done, and the guy suggested vivobarefoot and vibram barefoot. I am currently using the vivo ones more outdoors and the vibrams indoors as I am still breaking them in.