Breathe through mouth or nose?

tomlockbart

Silly question but when gasping for air, do you breathe through your mouth or nose?

My gf reckons breathing through the nose gets more air into the lungs quicker but I'm not convinced. I tried both yesterday but can't say I noticed much difference.

Anyone got a view on this?

goonz

Breathing through the nose is more difficult well in my case it is. One of my nostrils doesnt work properly.

arran77

Seeing as breathing is one of those reflex actions that the body is pretty good at I don't give it too much thought to be honest

You sometimes see sports people wearing those plaster things on the nose that supposedly open things up so maybe in through the nose is the pro way?

seanoconn

Wax on, right hand. Wax off, left hand. Wax on, wax off. Breathe in through nose, out the mouth. Wax on, wax off. Don't forget to breathe, very important.

crispybug2

When going uphill I'll settle for just breathing.....any orifice will do, at moments like that I'm not fussy.

arran77

seanoconn wrote:

Wax on, right hand. Wax off, left hand. Wax on, wax off. Breathe in through nose, out the mouth. Wax on, wax off. Don't forget to breathe, very important.

Does the future Mrs O'Conn the second just rely on breathing in and out through her nose :P

imposter2.0

tomlockbart wrote:

Silly question but when gasping for air, do you breathe through your mouth or nose?

My gf reckons breathing through the nose gets more air into the lungs quicker but I'm not convinced. I tried both yesterday but can't say I noticed much difference.

Anyone got a view on this?

Seriously? Have you tried 'gasping' through your nose?

Nostril size v open mouth size - think about it.

Pross

Mouth when under heavy exertion. Normally it's best to breathe through your nose as it filters some of the crap but you just won't get the oxygen you need when exercising at any reasonable intensity.

sloppyschleckonds

Inhale through the nose with your mouth shut to stop you breathing out too soon.

Nick_M

I used to live in Wales. Gills would have been more useful.

vorsprung

If I want to train at "long steady distance" pace then I try to breathe through the nose. It's a useful natural limiter

On cold days I try to breathe through the nose more as this saves energy that would be expended warming the air: this is what your sinuses do, they are a heat exchanger.

Your GF is essentially wrong, air through the nose or mouth is the same. But you can get more in the mouth.

gethinceri

If you're not breathing through your ass you're not riding hard enough.

diy

When flat out I look like a basking shark.. I simply cannot open my mouth wide enough for the amount of air needed.

You will normally find of course that with your mouth open you are pulling air in and out through both your mouth and nose. Few people have the ability to close the nostrils.

elbowloh

On hills I have to breathe through my mouth as my nasal passages are very narrow and I don't get enough oxygen otherwise.

imposter2.0

vorsprung wrote:

On cold days I try to breathe through the nose more as this saves energy that would be expended warming the air: this is what your sinuses do, they are a heat exchanger.

That doesn't make any sense. How would you 'save energy' breathing through your nose?

vorsprung wrote:

air through the nose or mouth is the same. But you can get more in the mouth.

So not the same, then?

team47b

Gethinceri wrote:

If you're not breathing through your ass you're not riding hard enough.

Doesn't that make it difficult to speak?

buzzwold

Really? All these posts? Have we run out of things to discuss? I think I'll start a discussion on whether to dress on the right or the left. Or, how much chamois cream to rub on. Is it length dependent? (length of ride that is).

I'm now going to breathe out through my nose whilst breathing in through my mouth for three 5 minute repeats then rest for 30 seconds and then do three repeats of breathing in through my nose whilst breathing out through my mouth for another 5 minutes. Then I'm going to lie down.

timothyw

Graeme Obree dedicates a chapter to breathing technique in his book on training 'The Obree Way'.

I can't say that I've followed it to the letter, but the advice therein seems to make sense, and I don't want to republish it in full here as it's a decent book and a fair few of the tips have stuck for me.

In regards of this specific question, he says to breathe in through both the mouth and nose, and breathe out through the mouth. When inhaling, the tongue should be pressed near the roof the mouth forcing the air over it - the idea being to help warm the air before it hits the lungs.

The thing worth remembering is that breathing is as much about expelling 'bad' air as it is inhaling new air - you don't want to re-breathe air that you have just exhaled, as this will be oxygen low and co2 rich. Breathing only through your mouth will inevitably bring back a literal mouthful of 'bad' air.

Either way, breathing technique is something worth putting some effort into, the comparison given is that the instinctive gasping that we all undertake when faced with a tough climb, is like the doggy paddle that people might adapt when placed in deep water - it does the job, but isn't optimal when compared to a practised freestyle (front crawl) stroke.

BrandonA

arran77 wrote:

Seeing as breathing is one of those reflex actions that the body is pretty good at I don't give it too much thought to be honest

+1

I couldn't tell you what I do when I'm cruising along as I don't pay much attention to it.

When I'm going full throttle though and am gassing it is definitely mouth breathing.

CiB

Stick some gaffer tape over your mouth then see how far you can get up your favourite hill at a decent pace. Then come back and tell us.

HTH.

ETA I'm with Buzzwold on this.

HellsCyclist

tomlockbart wrote:

Silly question but when gasping for air, do you breathe through your mouth or nose?

My gf reckons breathing through the nose gets more air into the lungs quicker but I'm not convinced. I tried both yesterday but can't say I noticed much difference.

Anyone got a view on this?

I use my big gob when I need lots of air. Ideally I would like to be able to breath out with one lung while simultaneously breathing in with my other lung, alternating constantly. This is probably the most efficient way but I have no idea how to do it. In and out through my gob it is.

Pross

Imposter wrote:

vorsprung wrote:

air through the nose or mouth is the same. But you can get more in the mouth.

So not the same, then?

It's still the same air, just in lesser quantities

darkhairedlord

Concentrate on (fully) breathing out through the mouth (exhaling) and then breath in (inhale) through the nose. It's the breathing out bit that most struggle to do properly therefore reducing the effective volume being inhaled.
I'm off to start a thread on torque wrench settings for valve cores....

fat_cat

Relaxing = nose.

Exercising = mouth

Exercising hard = @rse

gethinceri

team47b wrote:

Gethinceri wrote:

If you're not breathing through your ass you're not riding hard enough.

Doesn't that make it difficult to speak?

darkhairedlord

Gethinceri wrote:

team47b wrote:

Gethinceri wrote:

If you're not breathing through your ass you're not riding hard enough.

Doesn't that make it difficult to speak?

And the advert I had displayed under this? Reduce cycling wind noise .....

dilatory

I don't know about anyone else here but I have to blow my nose a lot - I've put it down to wearing glasses, if it's really misty/wet I stick 'em in the back pocket (my un-spectacled eye-sight is still better than fogged up glasses) and it isn't a problem. Otherwise I think I blow my nose every 30 minutes or more!

magoo289

HellsCyclist wrote:

tomlockbart wrote:

Silly question but when gasping for air, do you breathe through your mouth or nose?

My gf reckons breathing through the nose gets more air into the lungs quicker but I'm not convinced. I tried both yesterday but can't say I noticed much difference.

Anyone got a view on this?

I was told that or read it sometime ago. I have asmthna and a couple of months ago asked my GP if this makes a difference. He told me it was rubbish! So what I took from that if you think it helps breath in your the nose.

Bordersroadie

On today's ride, mostly through my teeth - lots of flies.

rickeverett

BOTH at the same time!

Seriously try it.

foggymike

Woah there, that's a crazy suggestion. You'll do yourself some damage doing that!