What’s the big deal about breathing, anyway?
To begin to understand why Breath Runner taken this unique approach towards run training, a bit of a fundamental refresher course is in order.
If you’re serious about training for running, then it’s necessary to:
Train your muscles
Train you cardio-pulmonary system
Train your digestive system
Train your hormonal (Endocrine) system
Train your nervous system
Collectively, these are known as “Your Body”. That’s what you’re training - your WHOLE body. Yes, some parts will be given greater emphasis than others at points, but when you’re running, every part of your body is involved. For beginners, we find it’s helpful to flip that list upside down and prioritize training through that lens:
Train your nervous system
Train your hormonal (Endocrine) system
Train your digestive system
Train you cardio-pulmonary system
Train your muscles
We’ll get to each of these as we go along. First, Number One: the nervous system. This includes that grey, squishy supercomputer between your ears. When we speak about training for running, most automatically think about the legs. But the reality is that when we begin training, the thing that we’re REALLY training is our brain. Everything else follows.
So, what’s that got to do with breathing? Think about that old adage on how long you can survive without various necessities. Without food, you would perish after a few weeks. Without water, you would perish after a few days. Without oxygen, you will perish within minutes. On average, ten minutes without oxygen will result in severe, irreparable brain damage. Now compare that to the industry advertiser’s and social media influencer’s “priority” list for training. It is our opinion that no amount of things you wear or consume while running will ever do more for you than simply breathing as fully and powerfully as possible.
Breathing is a decidedly unique feature in our physiology, being that it is both autonomous — it requires no thought to operate — and yet it can be completely controlled by our thoughts. Have you ever been threatened by a toddler who told you that if you don’t acquiesce to their demands, they’ll hold their breath until they turn blue and pass out? This illustrates the power of the Brain-Breath connection. Our mind is so powerful that even as a child, we can consciously override our basic physiological need for oxygen! But our brains are clever enough that they are hard-wired to self-protect and will render our puerile selves unconscious so that our autonomous system can restore the life-sustaining flow of air before any serious damage can occur.
It has been known for years - Millenia, actually - that by focusing on the pace and depth of our breathing, it can have significant positive effects on our mind and body. More recently, scientific studies have revealed several regions of our brain linked to body awareness, attention, and emotion become innervated when we pay attention to our breath. In the past few decades, the importance of linking breathing to running in a focused manner has attracted the attention of some of the sport’s top coaches and athletes. To date, it seems to have been reserved for the elites, a way for them to gain that extra edge needed to conquer other elites in races. But what if focused breathing techniques could be brought down to a level where these incredible benefits would be something available to mere mortals?
Welcome to Breath Runner! We think we’ve found a way!
