Breathing in through the nose - Out through the mouth

[marvy1]

Hello - I am having some issues with proper breathing technique while rowing. I have been told a proper technique may be to breath in through the nose and out through the mouth.

Does this sound correct?

Also, should I breathing in during the drive stroke and out on the recovery?

Thanks for your replies - Marvin

[Snail Space]

It's in and out through the gob for me. Many people use the breathing rhythm that you describe, but others breath twice per cycle.

I suspect that it doesn't matter which you use as long as the phases of breathing are timed to coincide with particular phases of rowing.

Cheers
Dave

[tbartman]

I would breath however it feels best for you - that's your body telling you it is right.

I would be surprised if you can sustain high-level activity with breathing through the nose. The radius is much smaller, thus creating much more resistance and less airflow. As snail said, using the mouth will allow you to move much more O2 and CO2.

In on the drive and out in the recovery is typical, since you're crunching the abdomen a bit on the recovery and you'll naturally exhale then. As snail said, you may need to go to two breaths per stroke (in and out during each phase) as work increases.

[TabbRows]

The one thng you have to watch out for in breathing either in or out through the mouth is the rush of air can give you dry mouth as it evaporates your salva. Then you'll feel thristy and want to stop and take a drink. Especailly true if you breath in and out through the mouth.

Try in and out through the nose only during warmups to see if that can work for you. I can do it through most of a pilates classes but when erging and otw rowing I don't feel I expel as much air through the nose as I do through the mouth. And that's a real key, getting all the air out of the lungs so you get plenty of fresh stuff.

If you're using a two breath cycle--long inhale during the leg drive, quick exhale at the finish, quick inhale and then long exhale during the recovery, be sure to use the second exhale to force as much air out as possible just before the catch.

[parishd]

No way I can get enough air through my nose to sustain even a moderate level of exertion. For me it's in on the drive, out on the recovery. both through the mouth.

Daniel

[bscastro]

This may sound strange, but I start out with in-through nose, out-through mouth (out on drive, in on recovery), but as I get more tired, I sort of breath through both mouth and nose at same time, and out through mouth. My wife, who's a long distance runner, showed me how she does it, and it helps me get in all of the air with the same "rhythm" as just breathing through nose.

Hope that makes sense. In any case, works for me.

Bryan

[igoeja]

The ability to take in air during rowing is a limiting factor, or at least when increased an enhancement, so the idea of restricting inhalations seems counterintuitive.

On the other had, I have wondered if increasing exhalations would make a difference, if only because a few studies in the 90's, one of which included a high-level cyclist, showed increased performance from such; the actual technique was a patterned breathing of 2 'beats' in and 3 'beats' out.

[JohnFlynn]

I have some good insight on this.

First, I myself take 2 breaths per-cycle, one which is usually more pronounced than the other. You usually want to exhale when contracting muscles (because when you contract there is less space for oxygen in your body). One thing I try to never do actually is think about breathing. when I do, my brain stops "auto-breathing" and since I'm in control I miss breaths. One major thing you should focus in is exhaling, not inhaling. Get that old air out of your lungs, and get the fresh air in. Some rowers have a powerful exhale at the finish to get it all out. It creates a whoosh sound commonly too, which can be intimidating when combined with the noise from the ores.

[TabbRows]

One analogy with exhaling comes to mind...swimming. In freestyle (crawl), for example, if you're doing alternate side breathing, when your face in in the water as you're rolling your body you need to exhale so that you "automatically" take in air when your nose and mouth just break the surface during your glide phase. Shallow breathing forces you to breathe every stroke and slows you down. Deeper exhales give you more intake and allow you to go a 4 stroke cycle and a longer time to exhale (two strokes). Even same side breathing, deeper exhales can help you go every other stroke.

When I'm tiring during a set, a few strokes of focus on the exhale can put me back into my pace. Last night, for example, I was doing 4x11.25 minutes, with 1 minute rests, at a 2K +10 pace, 22 rating for long endurance intervals, right around the 8 minute mark my stroke rate started going up to maintain the pace. I did a 10 stroke focus on exhale during the recovery, dropping the rating and was able to pick back up to the pace for the final 2:30.

[Ducatista]

When I'm stuffed up (which can be often, depending on what's in bloom), in-through-the-nose isn't an option.

I chew gum to prevent dry mouth, and it works like a charm. In fact, I can't imagine erging without it.

[Snail Space]

When I'm tiring during a set, a few strokes of focus on the exhale can put me back into my pace.

I do exactly the same thing. When I get tired towards the end of a long session my technique goes awry and my rate creeps up to maintain the pace. If I focus hard on the rhythm and pattern of my breathing the rowing technique, rate and pace seem to correct themselves.

Cheers
Dave