Why is good breathing important in running  

Oxygen is not just important for your running, it’s important for everything you do. When you draw in oxygen, your body uses it alongside food to turn into ATP through aerobic respiration. This is what your body runs off for energy.  

When you have more oxygen in your system, you have more energy. And that energy will fuel your runs. So when you’re able to take in more oxygen, you can run for longer without feeling so tired. 

How posture affects breathing 

Good posture is crucial for improving your breathing and driving endurance in your runs. When you’re carrying yourself upright, rather than slouched over, you can fully expand your lungs. When that happens, you can move away from chest breathing and breathe into your diaphragm instead.  

Diaphragmatic breathing, or belly breathing, is most important for running because it means you get the maximum amount of oxygen possible into your body. That allows more oxygen-rich blood to flow through your dilated capillaries.  

On the other hand, when you run in a slouched position, your breathing becomes more shallow. You can feel more tired as a result, stopping you from going further in your runs.  

It could also explain why you have a burning feeling in your muscles. When your body is short on oxygen, it runs off anaerobic respiration which produces lactic acid as a by-product. But when you have lots of oxygen coming into your body, you’ll run off aerobic respiration where there is no lactic acid build up.  

How to keep good posture during a run  

Diaphragmatic breathing is the best for your runs because it helps your body more efficiently deliver oxygen to your working muscles. To do this, you’ll need good posture.  

Good posture in running means being upright with your chest forward, rather than crunching your body and restricting your breathing. You’ll still want to have a bit of a forward lean for best stability and running efficiency.  

Keeping a good posture may be difficult for some people. This can happen because of fatigue or because of a weak core. Your core is engaged every time you run and it’s a strong one that keeps your trunk upright. 

It’s worth investing time to strengthen your core because you might even see your running economy improve because of it. That means you may get through more miles on less energy and could even end up running faster.  

You can improve your core strength with classic conditioning moves like planks and crunches, but you can also try Pilates. Virgin Active Mat Pilates and Reformer Pilates classes feature exercises that are designed to isolate and target your core muscles alongside strengthening other parts of your body. 

Ready for your next workout? Check out all the group exercise classes available at Virgin Active.

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