So he recommended practicing diaphragmatic breathing while you’re calm and relaxed.
He suggested practicing diaphragmatic breathing first while you’re either lying down, sitting or standing, and then trying to incorporate it into walks. Once diaphragmatic breathing starts to feel easy and natural on your walks, you can graduate to using it on longer or more vigorous walks, then to jogs and eventually to more intense runs, Mr. Shayne said.
The technique becomes more challenging to maintain as the length or intensity of the exercise increases, he said.
After you have the technique down, Dr. Hagobian and Mr. Shayne recommended figuring out a breathing pattern that works for you on runs. For example, Mr. Shayne likes to exhale every four steps. Dr. Hagobian, on the other hand, prefers to start by breathing in for three steps and out for two steps, and then breathing in for two steps and out for one step at faster paces.
Having a rhythm “helps you focus on your breathing technique and keeps it from becoming erratic,” Dr. Hagobian said.
As you get better at taking full diaphragmatic breaths, you should see subtle but noticeable changes to your runs, Dr. Konkol said.
You should require fewer breaths per minute and you may feel more energized — all because you’re getting better at supplying your body with the necessary oxygen.
