I have been practising nasal-only breathing for nearly 2 years.
But, Why?
My main reason was a personal experiment to see if I could improve my endurance performance.
However, there are many reasons why practising nasal-only breathing can help everyone from athletes to stressed workers.
Here are a few of the many benefits:
- Our noses are built with the specific purpose to support our respiratory system.
- Our nostrils are designed to protect our systems by filtering allergens and foreign bodies from entering the lungs. This can’t be understated – nasal breathing is a major defense against airborne pathogens. Just to add, the mouth has no defence system! You may see an improvement to your immune system … as well as your overall health and well-being.
- The nose also adds moisture and warmth to inhaled air for smoother entry to the lungs.
- Nasal breathing allows for more oxygen to get to active tissues. In short, it is a far more efficent way for us to breathe.
- When we are stressed we breathe through our mouth, this is counter-inituitive as it prevents fresh calming oxygen from entering our bodies. So, we begin to breathe short, shallow breaths. Nasal breathing helps alleviate stress because this practise we breathe slowly and deeply.
- To begin with nasal breathing is difficult BUT it is far more efficient and recover quicker!
So, where to begin?
First, pay attention.
Do you breathe more often through your nose or your mouth? If you find the latter, then start to implement some nasal breathing throughout the day. Try to keep your mouth closed during a walk or light exercise, or if you find that too difficult, just try it resting. This will take some time to get used to.
Once you can complete a walk or light exercise using only nasal breathing, you can then start to implement it during higher intensity sessions. At first, the high intensity may feel challenging with nasal breathing. Be patient, the body needs time to adapt to this new approach to breathing especially if it has been used to mouth breathing. Be persistent – it will be worth the effort.
What did I learn?
It honestly took me close to a year before I could complete a Crossfit style workout using only nasal breathing, and get close to my previous times when I use mouth breathing. Even though my times for each workout were similar, what I found was that I recovered much faster than previously. It is now part of my training routine and has definitely helped me to achieve my goals.
In my opinion, it’s well worth trying out for yourself.
Give nasal breathing a go and let me know what you think – If you want to learn about nasal breathing I can help you get started and give you tips on how to build it into your training routine!
