I once had a personal fitness trainer who told me to breathe (inhale and exhale) through my nose while exercising and exerting myself. The reason, as he told me, is because I mostly breathe through my nose when I’m not exercising, and breathing through my mouth while exercising activates the same systems that are activated with my body’s “fight or flight” response to something potentially harmful. He said that even though my metabolism increases and I’m burning more calories and fat while I’m in that state, once I return to my normal, nonreactive state and breathe through my nose again, my metabolism in my normal state is not impacted by the exercise. So there’s no benefit or improvement to my metabolism when I’m not exercising.
He told me that by breathing through my nose while exercising, I’m still using my normal system for breathing, which works more efficiently and increases my metabolism while resting. In other words, if I breathe through my nose while exercising, I will burn more calories and fat while resting!
I began breathing through my nose while exercising back then, about three years ago, and I still breathe through my nose while exercising. It took a little getting used to, and now I don’t even think about it. That is, until today. I decided to do a little research to find out more about what he told me (and what I have adopted).
It turns out that those two systems the personal fitness trainer spoke of are the parasympathetic nervous system (PSNS) and the sympathetic nervous system (SNS). The SNS excites us and activates our “fight or flight” response while the PSNS calms us. The SNS is activated by breathing through the mouth and the PNS is activated by breathing through the nose.
So which is better, breathing through our nose or breathing through our mouth? According to Dr. James Shaffrath, lecturer in Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior at UC Davis, he looks for and has never seen a study showing that either pattern of breathing did anything to performance, oxygen consumption, efficiency, or fatigue. Breathing naturally is what’s important. The bottom line is it doesn’t matter if you breathe through your mouth or your nose, just breathe.
I'll probably continue to breathe through my nose just because I'm used to breathing that way now.
I never did find anything about metabolism and breathing through your nose. Please leave a comment if you know anything about this.
Resources
He told me that by breathing through my nose while exercising, I’m still using my normal system for breathing, which works more efficiently and increases my metabolism while resting. In other words, if I breathe through my nose while exercising, I will burn more calories and fat while resting!
I began breathing through my nose while exercising back then, about three years ago, and I still breathe through my nose while exercising. It took a little getting used to, and now I don’t even think about it. That is, until today. I decided to do a little research to find out more about what he told me (and what I have adopted).
It turns out that those two systems the personal fitness trainer spoke of are the parasympathetic nervous system (PSNS) and the sympathetic nervous system (SNS). The SNS excites us and activates our “fight or flight” response while the PSNS calms us. The SNS is activated by breathing through the mouth and the PNS is activated by breathing through the nose.
So which is better, breathing through our nose or breathing through our mouth? According to Dr. James Shaffrath, lecturer in Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior at UC Davis, he looks for and has never seen a study showing that either pattern of breathing did anything to performance, oxygen consumption, efficiency, or fatigue. Breathing naturally is what’s important. The bottom line is it doesn’t matter if you breathe through your mouth or your nose, just breathe.
I'll probably continue to breathe through my nose just because I'm used to breathing that way now.
I never did find anything about metabolism and breathing through your nose. Please leave a comment if you know anything about this.
Resources
- http://sacredsourcenutrition.com/breath-through-your-nose-to-improve-digestion/
- http://www.outsideonline.com/fitness/fitness-coach/Should-I-Breathe-Through-My-Nose-or-My-Mouth.html
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