Originally Posted by
philbob57
I'm 210 lbs, 5' 7", and 75 years old. I ride between 20-30 miles 2-4 times a week. When I ride, I tend to exhale quickly and breathe in quickly but shallowly. I can easily breathe deeply, so I'm not short of breath, but I feel deep breathing slows me down.
Does anyone have any data on recommended breathing technique while exercising? Is it individual, or is there data that indicates I'd have more endurance or speed if I did slower, deeper breathing?
Thanks in advance.
Everyone is different so there is no set breathing method that I know of.
My main issue is just try and relax my breathing. I find that if I huff and puff (I'm 63) it tends to get me more exhausted than just trying to relax my breathing. I just try on climbs to take in a deeper breath and exhale slowly. I'm trying to slow things down a bit and just stay in a rhythm. Sort of like telling myself to calm down. For me, rapid breathing tells me either the hill is really steep and long or I am in a hurry trying to catch up when in fact I am not. Waste of energy for me and I usually see this on hills especially. I liken it to what I have seen and heard from scuba divers that talk about new divers that get excited and breath way to rapidly and use their tank up far to quickly.
So, I just try and relax my breathing a bit.
John
john