We obsess over our rep counts, form and rest times, but could the way you breathe be the key to unlocking superior fitness? It’s not to be sniffed at
How often do you stop to think about how you’re breathing? Whether it’s deep or shallow; through your mouth or through your nose. We take about 25,000 breaths per day, yet we rarely pay any attention to them. And perhaps we should.
Chronic disordered breathing – which is likely linked to today’s sleep-deprived, anxietyriddled existence – has been linked to an elevated risk of asthma, sinusitis, snoring, allergies and even things like panic attacks and diabetes. Nasal breathing, it’s claimed, can help to control heart rate, manage stress and reduce inflammation. Could this be the marginal gain you’ve been missing?
01/ THE TREND
I thought of nasal breathing like I do ice baths and ayahuasca. I’d heard interesting things, but never felt inclined to dabble. But its performance-enhancing powers have become hard to ignore, ever since journalist James Nestor breathed fresh life into the subject with his book Breath: The New Science Of A Lost Art in 2020.
Pointing to a vast body of research and personal experimentation (plus a school of Himalayan monks who could raise their body temperature by 17°C), Nestor argued that we should all breathe with our mouths closed. Now, we have Wim Hof teaching celebrities the breath of fire on BBC; Erling Haaland talking nostril breathing on Logan Paul’s podcast; and Grand Slam champ Iga Świątek training with her mouth taped.
02 / THE EXPERT VIEW
Advocates say nasal breathing while exercising trains your respiratory system to better tolerate carbon dioxide. ‘Air hunger’ as MH fitness director Andrew Tracey puts it, occurs in the presence of rising CO2. ‘Breathing is signalled and mediated by the presence of carbon dioxide, not by a lack of oxygen,’ he says.
The feeling of panic and breathlessness that rises as your workout intensifies is your body’s response to what it considers an imbalance in blood gases. The involuntary ‘gasp response’ that follows is its attempt to redress this.
Suppress this impulse and keep nasal breathing, and you’ll spark a chain reaction known as the Bohr effect: levels of CO2 in your bloodstream will build; blood pH will drop; haemoglobin, the main carrier of oxygen, will release O2 more readily; and oxygen delivery to your working muscles will go through the roof.
There are, however, times when nose breathing can’t cut it. A 2017 study in the International Journal Of Kinesiology And Sports Science found that while nasal breathing was more efficient than oral breathing during 65% and 80% VO2 max efforts, the benefits fell away at higher intensities.
03/ THE TRIAL
