Breathe Deeply - Improve your Running

Breathing, it’s a natural every day occurrence within your body. You're doing it right now without even thinking about it. Summertime is a season for outdoor workouts such as running, swimming, cycling, and rowing. When you're doing these activities you need to power your muscles with fresh oxygen. To do this, you need to breathe deeply. Unfortunately, most of us are just breathing into our chest and not fully utilizing our lungs. Cross-training with the non-cardio workouts of yoga and Pilates can help. Along with strength and flexibility, these forms of mind-body exercise help you learn to breathe deeply and effectively.

Basically, your lungs are just a bit smaller than your ribcage, but we all tend to breathe just in top third of the lung. One reason being that like all muscles the intercostals, which run between the ribs, can get tight and inflexible limiting the expansiveness of your lungs. With a little training and some stretching you can breathe to your full potential, and increase your endurance.

How to breathe deeply:
Sit upright in a chair or cross-legged on the floor. Align your head over your pelvis while maintaining the natural curve and keeping the spine long.
Place your hands on the sides of your low ribs with your thumbs pointed back and your index fingers forward.

Inhale into the back and sides of your ribs filling your entire lung with air, not just your chest. Don't let your shoulders rise to your ears, since this causes unnecessary tension in your neck. It helps to remember that your lungs are three-dimensional and to imagine them expanding like a balloon filling with air, from the bottom up and outward.

Melissa’s note:
Running is one of the few exercises besides Pilates that connects the mind and the body. The next time you run be mindful of your breathe and make sure you breathe fully and efficiently trying to relax your muscles and focus the mind. Also be aware of your core connection, namely that pelvic floor. A strong center will protect your back as you run as well as give your legs the power they need to do their best. Try these tips the next time you go running and you will be feel rejuvenated and refreshed, kind of like how you feel after Pilates!

References:
Pilates Style Magazine June 2010
Fitsuger.com - http://www.fitsugar.com/Pilates-Breathing-Can-Help-Your-Running-8658546