Other/Mixed Best resource to learn how to nasal breathe by default?
- Thread starter Dayz
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Other strength modalities (e.g., Clubs), mixed strength modalities (e.g., combined kettlebell and barbell), other goals (flexibility)
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Bauer
Level 8 Valued Member
Old technique: Have a mouthful of water, don't swallow it. I have used this succesfully for easy runs.
Some people recommend taping your mouth at night (recommended in Oxygen Advantage).
As for systems, I like Second Wind the most (I have only used the Express online course and haven't attended the full seminar).
Some people recommend taping your mouth at night (recommended in Oxygen Advantage).
As for systems, I like Second Wind the most (I have only used the Express online course and haven't attended the full seminar).
mikhou
Level 3 Valued Member
I haven't ascribed to a particular system other than just practicing nasal breathing. Just as strength is a skill so is nasal breathing. Regular intentional practice makes regular unintentional practice that much easier. So a few things to try are:
- When practicing nasal breathing, keep the tongue on the roof of the mouth.
- Lie on your back and taking 10 slow deep nasal belly breaths. Do this at least once daily if not 2-3x/daily.
- When you're doing strength work, intentionally focus on nasal breathing.
- When doing cardio work, if you begin to work so hard that your mouth pops open, stop and recover before continuing (with nasal breathing).
Benjamin Renaud
Level 8 Valued Member
I just started with OS diaphragmatic breathing (nasal) while doing resets and added 10 minutes of crocodile breathing per day. I tried to be mindful of always breathing through the nose with the tongue on the roof of the mouth during the day.
Last year I read Oxygen Advantage. Great read, more to it than just nasal/diaphragmatic breathing. Great book to start with.
Last year I read Oxygen Advantage. Great read, more to it than just nasal/diaphragmatic breathing. Great book to start with.
PeterLuffman
Level 5 Valued Member
Do the nose unblocking exercise as described by Patrick McKeown in Oxygen advantage. I didn't realise mine was even blocked until I did! Makes breathing much easier obviously.
I don't know what else to tell you other than to bring attention to your breathing every day. It'll soon become habitual.
I don't know what else to tell you other than to bring attention to your breathing every day. It'll soon become habitual.
Rumsmike
Level 6 Valued Member
As others have suggested above, practice makes perfect. I did the mouth taping at night for a few weeks, which is a bit odd admittedly, but not too uncomfortable. Seven to eight hours per night of practice really helped me get used to it during the day. What I thought were plugged nostrils on and off for years disappeared almost immediately.
During the day I'd just pay attention and if I caught myself mouth breathing I'd bring it back to the nose (kind of like some meditation practices).
I also really focused on nasal breathing during my LISS activities.
Within a few weeks it was totally natural and I now find I notice other people's mouth breathing constantly and it drives me crazy! haha. I've actually continued the mouth taping at night for the most part because I find I wake much more rested than without.
I should also mention that my lifelong snoring essentially disappeared very quickly according to my wife, so she's happy too!
During the day I'd just pay attention and if I caught myself mouth breathing I'd bring it back to the nose (kind of like some meditation practices).
I also really focused on nasal breathing during my LISS activities.
Within a few weeks it was totally natural and I now find I notice other people's mouth breathing constantly and it drives me crazy! haha. I've actually continued the mouth taping at night for the most part because I find I wake much more rested than without.
I should also mention that my lifelong snoring essentially disappeared very quickly according to my wife, so she's happy too!
bluejeff
Level 7 Valued Member
In my experience, changing “automatic” body behaviors does not come with an any easy trick. It has taken me months and sometimes years to really change habits. The more you become aware of when you’re not doing something the way you ought to, the more often you correct it. The more often you deliberately practice it, the more easily it starts to come throughout your days.
Bauer
Level 8 Valued Member
The unblocking stuf is great. Just take the "breath light" stuff with a grain of salt. If taken to its extreme it might lead to a decrease in Vital Lung Capacity., which is covered a bit in Second Wind.
Kev
Level 6 Valued Member
I’m not well versed in some of the methods you mention but I like to relay things I’ve read if they are interesting. Apache warriors were partly trained by being made to do hill sprints holding a mouthful of water in their mouths. If they got to the top and had either spat the water out or swallowed it so as to “mouth breathe” they caught quite a beating apparently. Fairly simple and cost effective.
Steve W.
Level 8 Valued Member
I don't really care what hole air comes in when I breathe, but I use nasal breathing to set a comfortable sustainable pace for locomotive activities. I've never bothered with a heartrate monitor, but I find that a nasal breathing pace is always comfortable and sustainable, which is what I'm interested in more than what might be the theoretically optimal heartrate range.
For instance, when I use the NordicTrack cross country skier (my main low intensity steady state cardio activity) I keep my mouth shut. When I walk my dog I keep my mouth shut. I also do hill "runs" (more like hill shuffles) where I run up a pretty steep quarter mile hill on the street where I live, nasal breathing the whole way. After I get to the top, I breathe through my mouth while I walk back down, and then run back up nasal breathing, for however many repeats. I'm not sure exactly what training effect the hill runs have. I think of it as "low intensity high intensity interval training."
But I have no idea whether this has any carryover to habitually nasal breathing outside these activities, since I don't pay attention to it and it isn't really a goal.
For instance, when I use the NordicTrack cross country skier (my main low intensity steady state cardio activity) I keep my mouth shut. When I walk my dog I keep my mouth shut. I also do hill "runs" (more like hill shuffles) where I run up a pretty steep quarter mile hill on the street where I live, nasal breathing the whole way. After I get to the top, I breathe through my mouth while I walk back down, and then run back up nasal breathing, for however many repeats. I'm not sure exactly what training effect the hill runs have. I think of it as "low intensity high intensity interval training."
But I have no idea whether this has any carryover to habitually nasal breathing outside these activities, since I don't pay attention to it and it isn't really a goal.
Nasal breathing at rest is better. For health purposes, one should try to breath nasally whenever it's possible. Perhaps you do and aren't aware of it ...
As I and I think others have mentioned previously on the forum here, some of us are able to hit a max heart rate while still breathing nasally. Personally, I've hit 179 bpm, higher than many formulas suggest for someone like me in my mid-60's, when running while breathing only through my nose. This isn't a skill I intended to learn, I'll be the first to admit.
My wife tells me that the best thing about me breathing nasally is that it means I'm not talking.
-S-
Steve W.
Level 8 Valued Member
Thank you, but I am really not concerned about either of these things.
Upon reflection, I should not have posted in this thread in the first place, since the experience I shared does not directly address the OP's question and doesn't reflect his goal.
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Thank you, Steve. My reply was to your comments, but directed to everyone who might be following this thread.
-S-
Opiaswing
Level 5 Valued Member
Am I missing something here; youre looking for a how to on how to breathe through your nose? Just close your mouth..
Make an effort to be more conscious of your breathing... And breath through the nose. You don't need to read a book or study the theory of breathing to close your mouth and breath through your nose.
Make an effort to be more conscious of your breathing... And breath through the nose. You don't need to read a book or study the theory of breathing to close your mouth and breath through your nose.
That is really it in a nutshell, isn't it? I was out cutting the grass and raking leaves yesterday, and whenever I noticed myself breathing through my mouth, I just closed it.
-S-
Dayz
Level 8 Valued Member
Yes but it's like posture - no amount of conscious effort will result in automatic, unconscious good posture, though it does help to practice.
I'm interested in the techniques to assist this becoming a default setting, even when sleeping
But yes I take your point!
Opiaswing
Level 5 Valued Member
It's not like posture though. Correction of posture often requires mobility work, flexibility, spinal decompression sometimes, etc.
Breathing through your nose requires you to close your mouth. Make a conscious effort throughout the day to check in on your breathing and breathe through your nose. Set an alert on your phone every hour if it helps. Eventually you will automatically check-in with your breathing more and more regularly and close your mouth, until breathing through the nose is automatic.
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