5 replies to this topic

[myles]

Hi all,

Am new to running and new to this site as well.  I have been trying to co-ordinate my breathing with my running.  eg: 3:3 ratio   "inhale left-right-left... exhale right-left-right... the only problem is i keep getting muddled up.  eg:  once i start to exhale my foot has already moved from the right to the left and all of a sudden my feet are getting all muddled up and out of whack and i try to recover, but then my breathing stuffs up, and it all goes pear shaped.  It seems to happen once i have finished counting to 3 (on the inhale) and am shifting over to exhaling and starting my counting again. my feet get ahead of myself and i'am starting my exhale from my left foot instead of my right.......  i hope this makes sense


myles

[Bellthorpe]

Stop counting breathes or strides. You don't have to do anything, your lungs will sort it all out for you.

[slowmo]

Hello Myles - welcome to CR.

Short answer is don't stress about it

I used to count my breaths when I first started running too. I found it very helpful at the time - perhaps because it encouraged me not to become too ragged in my breathing. But I think you'll find that once your fitness builds up a little more you will breathe more easily and with less conscious attention - more naturally in other words.

slowmo

Edited by slowmo, 03 March 2012 - 04:39 PM.

[Brenda]

Hello Myles and welcome to the site !

I agree with Bellthrope and slowmo.

I find that if I Stress less about it and enjoy what my body is doing my body finds it’s natural rhythm and then your breathing will look after itself.

I 'try' to start slow and warm up.....breath to the rhythm of my body rather than focusing on the actual stride and strike rate.

Happy running

Brenda

[myles]

thanks slowmo and bellthorpe, appreciate your responses... i think you guys are right, it was just that i have seen so many things on the "net" about breathing and combining it with your stride (cadence), i thought i must be doing something wrong..

myles

thanks brenda  

[Quill]

I used to always match my breath to my strides but have noticed, as commented above, that your body eventually sorts it out for you. I only noticed this recently when counting my strides to work out my cadence - it's natural to match your breathing to it when you're counting and it bugged me. This was when i noticed I don't bother anymore - I guess this illustrates how naturally it comes to you in the end.

Hope this helps!

Edited by Quill, 06 March 2012 - 12:04 AM.