The secret of eternal youth…

No, it’s not an advert for Oil of Ulay, or Olay, or Marathon or Opal Fruits.

Since beginning reading the Breath book people were raving about on the Wim Hof thread I seem to have ‘solved’ a DOMS issue that i’ve had for years. Thought i’d share it in case there’s anyone else that has the same. I looked online heaps of times but didn’t find anything conclusive – ice, stretching, massage made absolutely no difference.

I started cycling for exercise a few years back because running was causing me serious quad pain. If I ran the trails I like most it was agony for days – I couldn’t often run more than once a week. I’d almost be in tears trying to go up or down stairs. Sometimes walking would cause the same pain.

Anyway the weather has been so bad here that i’ve barely been able to ride the trails the last few weeks so figured i would sacrifice the ability to walk just to get my nature fix. But it seems that simply solely nosebreathing has enabled me to run so much better. I’ve done two fairly intense runs this week. While i’m running I can get quite sore, but instead of the pain getting worse after I finish, it’s actually disappearing throughout the day. It’s **** weird to be honest.

So, yeah. Nosebreathing. It’s a thumbs up from me (not up the nose obvs).

A mate does the breathing thing and says it’s helped him with his running and cycling.

Less effective with a deviated septum, I fear.

Nose breathing whilst exercising?

That would jsut ensure you remained in zone 2, below LT1?

Is nose breathing any different to just breathing normally?

I seem to remember ‘mouth breather’ was an insult when I was a lad as it implied a think idiot

Nose breathing at the minute (for me, with hayfever) could get very messy, very quickly! Remember Gilbert the snotty Alien? That.

I think it takes a certain level of focus to purely nose-breath when running, perhaps that’s an element of the difference.

Like barry up there, I used to do it as a way of keeping my effort down when doing a longer Z2 type run for marathon training. Maybe it had the side effect of preventing DOMS that I was unaware of as I never really did suffer from it!  Bonus. 🙂

Massively different, they have discovered that nose breathing causes a substantial number of changes related to stress etc, it releases different hormones that help with body regulation.
I can now nose breathe during exercise particularly running up to zone 4/5 although i tend to mix in mouth breathing at the higher levels.
It is well worth spending the time reading that book, i ended up rereading a number of chapters and looking up the articles cited as honestly some of it i just simply didn’t believe

Nasal breathing, as opposed to mouth breathing, has another important advantage, especially for effective and efficient exercise: It can allow for more oxygen to get to active tissues. That is because breathing through the nose releases nitric oxide, which is necessary to increase carbon dioxide (CO2) in the blood, which, in turn, is what releases oxygen. Mouth breathing does not effectively release nitric oxide, which means the cells are not getting as much oxygen as through nasal breathing, which could lead to fatigue and stress.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/wellness/when-it-comes-to-breathing-during-exercise-youre-probably-doing-it-wrong/2019/01/23/b4d3c338-1e59-11e9-8b59-0a28f2191131_story.html

Is nose breathing any different to just breathing normally?

I seem to remember ‘mouth breather’ was an insult when I was a lad as it implied a think idiot

AIUI your nose has filtration that your mouth does not.

“Mouth breather” was a reference to slack-jawed folk who have their mouth perpetually open. Nothing really to do with breathing.

Interesting!

I’ll give it a go. Despite being equiped with a good size nose, I always mouth breath at high intensities and I’m usually having to “clear” my nose frequently.

Also better for preventing fly ingress at this time of year.

I might give this a go as well.

The fly thing is a major one, a mate who i ride with is constantly complaining about eating bugs, i just keep quiet now as i haven’t eaten one in ages

2 hour old thread and no jokes about breathing out of your arse during exercise? I’m disappointed.

Just grin inanely when you are hurtling downhill, your teeth should act as an effective fly filter.

Although personally I prefer to reserve mouth breathing for emergencies.

breathing out of your arse during exercise?

Maybe not exercise, but it is real

Anal breathing is a real thing

This podcast is worth a listen… it’s an interview with a scientist studying respiratory physiology, and they talk about nasal breathing (amongst other topics), including whether or not the nitric oxide thing ernie mentions makes much difference:

https://www.jasonkoop.com/podcast/nasal-breathing-breathing-techniques-nick-tiller

Also better for preventing fly ingress at this time of year.

A friend of mine is convinced that the Australian accent is just Cockney with the front teeth held together to keep the flies out.

but it is real

From the link : “As far as is known, no land vertebrate can perform this trick”. I think the scientific community would marvel at the ability of anyone to breathe through their arse.

So. Nose-breathing. Is it a technique you have to read loads of instruction about, or is is just a case of consciously cl8sing your mouth and breathing through your nose?

(Does it work for swimming too?)

I’m definitely not sticking in zone 2 (don’t monitor hr when running but I’m doing 300m over 10km so there’s no way on the hills I’m staying that low.

It’s definitely hard to not mouth breath at high intensity, but I think it’ll get easier with practice.

Well worth reading Breath, especially if you have hay fever, etc. that’s what got the author (James Nestor) interested in the first place.

I seem to remember ‘mouth breather’ was an insult when I was a lad as it implied a think idiot

A what now?

@hardtailonly no you don’t really need to, although I probably wouldn’t have tried it if I hadn’t read the details. I wasn’t thinking it would impact DOMS, was just hoping for immortality.

(Does it work for swimming too?)

I don’t think so, i did try but couldn’t get the air in quick enough for a breath between strokes. That was freestyle, breaststroke might work though

@reeksy cheers, will have a look. I get terrible hayfever

That was freestyle, breaststroke might work though

It’s not recommended for scuba diving though

Is it just the nose breathing or are you doing something else? Like filling your lungs fully perhaps?

I wasn’t thinking it would impact DOMS, was just hoping for immortality

I’m guessing the immortality bit is working so far?

is it just a case of consciously closing your mouth and breathing through your nose?

Hard to see how you’d need a whole book to tell you that. Although if that is all there is to it we’ve all just saved £8.49 (except the OP, obvs).

Yes, the book is a bit like a Michael Pollan scientific journalism approach. It covers the author’s journey around his own health with asides into the history of ideas around breathing techniques, physiology etc. There’s chapters on inhaling, exhaling, chewing and so on. I agree it sounds odd but it’s entertaining. I’m towards the end of the book and it’s all about advanced breathing techniques…

some friends of mine have got into nose breathing. they tape their mouths at night and say they only breath through their noses when cycling

they tape their mouths at night

What the actual?

What the actual?

that was my response, but they are reasonably normal, responsible adults.

if i remember correctly it helps train you out of bad breathing habits.

edit: they both confessed to waking up in a panic the first few times.

but they are reasonably normal, responsible adults.

You think?

they both confessed to waking up in a panic the first few times.

I probably wouldn’t actually wake up

A friend of mine is convinced that the Australian accent is just Cockney with the front teeth held together to keep the flies out.

these are the kind of friends folk should have.

It helps train your breathing and stops snoring and sleep apnoea apparently.

… the taped mouth not the accent. And guess what? There are actually regional Australian accents!

I’ve started Cto5k and been doing this, along with trying to keep breathing gentle into my diaphragm rather than chest. Only a few runs in so it’s not made an obvious difference yet from when I’ve dabbled with running before but I’ve enjoyed the focus it encourages on breathing and efficiency. Snot is an issue though!

Also been deliberately nose breathing at night and it’s really made a difference to my sleep. No waking up (I think I am prone to sleep apnoea), no dry mouth, no snoring.

This guy (as well as getting bonus points for the quite weird’first date/lecture/interview’ format) explains it quite persuasively over a couple of videos (this nose unblocking thing is quite handy and part of the same thing) You tube link

Edit: he does another one where he’s lecturing a little girl who’s sitting next to him with her mouth taped up 😂