Breath Right while Running

B. You are shallow breathing
If you're only breathing from the upper part of your lungs, you're not getting as much air as you could if you were breathing more deeply from the bottom of your lungs. A doctor in one of my classes reassured me that there are no alveoli (those little air sacs in your lungs that exchange carbon dioxide with the oxygen from the air) in your upper lungs. Therefore, if you're only breathing into your upper lungs, you're not getting as much air into your blood supply even though you might be breathing really hard and fast. The cure for this is to breathe deeply, into your lower lungs. If you're short of breath, it's not because you're not breathing IN enough it's because you're not breathing OUT enough.

Here's how to "belly breathe ". Place your hands over your belly button. Now purse your lips like you're trying to blow a candle out and exhale, emptying your lungs by pulling in your belly button towards your spine. After you've blown out as much air as you can, just relax your belly and the inhale will take place on its own. Practice breathing this way when you're not running so that you can learn the technique while under any physical duress. Then, once you get comfortable with belly breathing you can introduce it into your running. Try matching up your breathing with your cadence. I usually breathe out for 3 strides and breathe in for 2, but do what works best for you. The main thing to remember is to fully empty your lungs before inhaling again.

C. You are carrying tension in your muscles
If your muscles are tight or tense it is much more difficult for oxygen to squeeze its way into your muscle cells because the oxygenated blood from your lungs cannot enter dense (tense) muscles. As I've said in class "It's like the difference between pouring syrup onto pancakes or bagels. The bagels are so dense that they don't absorb anything. On the contrary, soft muscles act like sponges and do quite a good job of soaking up all that oxygen-laden blood.

excerpted: http://www.chirunning.com/shop/pages.php?id=23&pageid=18