That’s common among most/all ‘calming’ and ‘focusing’ programs. It does help slow things down, which plays into the calming goal. On the flip side is urging participants to deep mouth breath holding the inhale and slowly exhaling.
Funny, perhaps, when I was riding like a maniac during the pandemic, I would catch myself gasping for breath and repeat what Morpheus asks Neo: ‘Do you think that’s air you’re breathing now?’. It worked to make me aware of my rapid breathing and calming the f down. It sounds silly, perhaps, but it did work. I calmed down, HR decreased, and I just kept on. Kind of like a biofeedback thing that worked.
And somehow mouth breathing became a notorious marker for a lack of intelligence. No idea how that connection started. Getting into the whole thing, it’s very possible that some people have higher gauge nostrils than others, and for those ‘well endowed’, don’t look down on us that aren’t. It’s so amazing that of something is ‘easy’ for one, they assume that it’s also going to be easy/beneficial for everyone. It’s also amazing, the gullible that assume they are deficient if they can’t measure up to a perceived ‘new standard’. And it’s not just breathing. shrug
As noted repeatedly in this thread, nose breathing is not appropriate for intense exercise, but its benefits for health when we’re talking about non-exercising life are significant and underappreciated.
Most healthy people already breathe through their nose 99% of the time, and will find little benefit by focusing on it. For all of you in that group, “just breathe”. There are far more and greater improvements to be found elsewhere.
But some people (myself included) find out at age 50 that they have a deviated septum, and that’s why they always had a clogged nose, and they read a book like Oxygen Advantage and realize they DO breathe through their mouth most of the time. And for those of us in that profile, focusing on nose-breathing as much as possible (again, when NOT exercising) proves highly valuable.
I used to think nose breathing is complete nonsense, but was intrigued and have since learned a thing or two about why it makes sense; for example CO2 threshold and its impact on oxygen uptake efficiency and therefore endurance/aerobic capacity.
I now do some of my 5 mile Z2 runs only nose breathing.
I did rather enjoy the idea whilst nose-breathing throughout my sweetspot intervals yesterday that my ability to do so could psych out opponents in a race scenario. Thankful for what seems like larger volume nasal passages.
I did a bunch of exercises to raise my CO2 tolerance last year (mostly freediving-style CO2 tables). Not for any of the pretty poorly supported benefits (literature-wise), but seeking just plain CO2 tolerance. I need to be able to ride long distances through extremely dry climates wearing a mask without feeling like I’m suffocating. CO2 is the main driver in the sensation of breathlessness. More CO2 tolerance, more ability to wear a mask without going crazy, less bronchoconstricted lungs (the latter of which has a dramatic impact on performance, as it turns out).
Well, that all worked as planned and I can mask and/or nose breathe through multi-day races. Lungs are so much happier.
So I come back from the off-season, start base training, and to my surprise I can do whole threshold workouts without opening my mouth. (And yes, my zones are accurate, afaik.) Now that I’m at this point, I’m kinda curious what will happen if I just keep this up. Experimental year!
Yeah Nester and McKeown hype up nose breathing like it’s going to cure everything, help you find true love, and do your laundry for you. I did use some of McKeown’s exercises though.
I want to call BS, but you said are now able to do threshold via the nostrils. That’s pretty impressive…but is it making you a stronger rider? Even if it’s not, I’d admit the ability to do that would be pretty cool.
I was skeptical initially (did I underestimate my FTP?), but at this point I have too much HR and power data to confirm it. I have no idea if it has any benefit outside of super niche events where nose breathing will save my lungs. You do feel a little smug when everyone around you is huffing and puffing and you’ve got your mouth wired shut. But I ride solo most of the time so even that benefit is wasted on me.
FWIW: ~3 years ago I did a nice faceplant mtbing and damaged the cartilage in my nose. It was fine before, but afterward I couldn’t breath through my nose adequately, especially lying down to sleep. I got it fixed and now nose breathe significantly better than before the accident.
I fully nose breath at lower intensities, and then switch to nose inhaling + mouth exhaling at higher intensities, rarely mouth inhaling unless towards my highest breathing rates. At threshold and somewhat above I’m normally still nose inhaling, consciously doing very deep inhalations with a slight pause before exhaling. NB I’ve slightly experimented with nose exhalation at higher intensities, as you’re describing, but for me it hindered rather than helped so didn’t pursue that further.
For me, then, this nose-in/mouth-out at quite high intensities reduces RPE by making me feel calmer and in better control of my effort, making, for example, sustained climbing efforts feel more comfortable. I adopted this breath style on the turbo initially, 7+ years ago (prompted initially I believe by some TR in-workout Chad-text about doing deep diaphragmatic breaths) and found it worked well for me. On the turbo, the calmer state seems to leave me with enough mental bandwidth to better watch and follow videos, even usually at threshold or sometimes above, which is handy for passing the time or making that turbo time more productive by watching something useful.
It’s usually difficult to tell how fellow riders are breathing, but the ones I notice are the loud “panters” doing what sound like shallower breaths through their mouths like my dog trying to cool down, which sounds like high RPE and non-calming vs the diaphragmatic deep breathing that I’m trying to do. I suspect they might benefit from deeper breaths, whether that’s through the mouth or nose.
Currently experimenting with Z1 and Z2 running and cycling with nasal breathing. I will report back with findings. I bought a nasal dilator which I find mildly beneficial to open the airways slightly more. It’s definitely not essential, just makes things slightly easier.
Came here to mention this too. It’s a fascinating book. I’ve trained myself to nose breathe in daily life and one of the biggest differences I’ve noticed is in hydration. I just don’t seem to lose as much water with normal breathing. I drink less and never feel thirsty. I’ve carried this over to endurance rides as well. This is all anecdotal of course. Ymmv
Hey, don’t underestimate the psychological “marginal gain” of looking chill and relaxed while everyone else is huffing and puffing. If you can pull that off on a climb, that would be pro-level domination
