Winter’s icy grip is upon us here in the Northern hemisphere.  Which for many means it’s time to stomp on Satan’s sidewalk (a.k.a., treadmill running).  While for most it’s definitely less appealing than running outdoors, safety considerations may make this the better alternative.  Besides, used effectively, treadmill running can set one up for some serious performance boosts once the season turns and it gets a bit more accommodating to revisit the countryside.

Here’s where it’s expected I spill out a litany of winter weather running tips, gear reviews, or whatever other treacle Chat-WTF autobots decided to dish out.  I’ll leave that stuff to the others.  Hang with me, and things might get interesting.

Most people use the treadmill for High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) sessions, working on speed, leg turn-over, and sustained pace.  Which is good!  However, it should be noted that too much of a good thing can be a bad thing.  Deep aerobic running is what “pays the bills,” to twist a phrase.  As we have previously noted, we can ONLY increase our VO2max by “pushing it up from below.”  And by breathing in a deep, intention manner while running, the Breath Runner Method helps strengthen the diaphragm and other respiratory muscles in an organic, sustainable way.  Research has found that people with fatigued diaphragms could not exercise as intensely as they usual did.

The Breath Runner Method is different than so many other “New Year, New You” programs or rehabilitations simply by virtue of its staying power.  Most people who try to do exercise AND breathwork practices tend to drift away from it after a while.  They work out too hard to be able to sustain the effort for very long, and the breathwork becomes a boring chore with little results, mostly due to the short window of time with which it was attempted.

With the Breath Runner Method, the breathwork is integrated directly into one’s run training program, so its a seamless assimilation of both.  The body is — by design — a self-healing organism (for relatively minor trauma).  Cuts or tears of the skin will scab over and then body will restore the skin.  Broken bones (assuming they’re not displaced, and proper rehabilitation is maintained) can mend themselves without any further  outside intervention.  And, of course, pathogens that wreak havoc on our health can be successfully repelled by our immune system, *if* its healthy enough.  Breathwork has been scientifically proven to be an effective therapeutic process to alleviate all manner of physical, mental, and emotional disturbances.  But if it’s not adhered to in a consistent fashion, the benefits never appear.

Breathwork has become a phenomenon in recent years, as people have re-discovered the power of engaging with and influencing different aspects of their Autonomic Nervous System (ANS).  For instance, it is historically known that deep, intentional breathing can help to regulate the body’s equilibrium.  Some 2,000 years ago, the Yoga Sutra of Patanjali suggested that “expiration (meaning breathwork, or at least breathing in an intentional manner) is linked to mood stability.”  In modern times, international scientific publications have published innumerable reports supporting the fact that breathing deeply at a controlled rate had benefits for mental health.

So it’s well known that running is good for us.  It’s well known that breathwork is good for us.  So why is it that as the days grow short and the temps go down, so many give up on their good intentions?  Recent studies suggest a more nuanced set of variables are at play, as opposed to the simple On/Off toggle switch most attribute to motivation.  At one end is Extrinsic motivation, or behaviors “pushed” by outside influences.  These are the “I *have* to do this, or else” activities, like taking a medicine that tastes bad.  At the other end is Intrinsic motivation, or internalized behavior; behavior that is done basically because it’s just so rewarding to do it.  Another way of thinking about it is the gamut between being uncomfortable to feeing very comfortable with a given activity.  This, however, does come with a caution: for some, it’s far more comfortable (emotionally) to ‘dance with the devil I know’ than it is to begin something unknown, even if that new thing is known (intellectually) to be the better choice.

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