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Breathing is something that we all do naturally, but is often a cause for concern in [[Starting to run| new runners]]. Because their fitness is low, they often find themselves out of breath after a short time because their easy running pace is anaerobic. Some general guidelines for breathing:
* As fitness improves, breathing at a given pace becomes easier. This is not because of changes to your lungs, as they don't need to [[Endurance Adaptations| adapt to exercise]]. The limiting factors for fitness are not related to lung function.
* An easy running pace should be one where you can breathe easily enough to hold a conversation. If you're struggling to breathe, then slow down, but don't run slower than 13 min/mile (7:30 min/km) pace. If you can't maintain that pace, take walking breaks[[Walking Breaks]].
* Try to avoid forcing your breathing. Instead, let your breathing come naturally and relax it as much as possible. Breathing hard uses energy, and it's estimated that during maximal exercise breathing takes 10% of the overall energy usage<ref name="Shephard-1966"/>.
* Breathe naturally through your mouth and nose. Trying to breathe just through your nose will increase the energy cost of breathing due to the added resistance.
** Because there is less air at altitude, breathing becomes increased. The lack of oxygen confuses the body, as breathing is generally driven by the need to remove CO<sub>2</sub> rather than the need to acquire O<sub>2</sub>. So when the level of CO<sub>2</sub> is right, your body does not get enough O<sub>2</sub>. This tends to cause a feeling of suffocation and trigger conscious breathing to get more O<sub>2</sub>, which in turn causes the level of CO<sub>2</sub> to go too low. When CO<sub>2</sub> levels go low, it changes the blood acidity and that messes up the body causing Altitude Sickness, a dangerous and potentially lethal situation. [[Altitude Training]] can help prepare for higher altitudes, though it will never compensate completely.
** Obviously asthma can cause breathing problems and it's possible that [[Intermittent Hypoxic Exposure]] may [[The Science of Intermittent Hypoxic Exposure| help]].
In summary, don't do force or attempt to modify your breathing, but do what comes naturally. Here's a quote from Essentials of Exercise Physiology<ref name="physiology-302"/>: <br/><br/>
''Conscious attempts to modify breathing during running and other general physical activities do not benefit exercise performance. In most instances, conscious manipulation of breathing detracts from the exquisitely regulated ventilator adjustments to exercise. ''<br/><br/>
[[File:Breathing.png|none|thumb|700px|A simplified graph representing the change in breathing as exercise intensity increases. Note that the increased breath volume comes from both greater inhalation and greater exhalation<ref name="physiology-301"/>.]]