Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art

by James Nestor

Conditioning the body to constant, slower nasal breathing takes time. Douillard warned his athletes that they should be prepared for a 50 percent decrease in performance after they first switched to nasal breathing. Some athletes had to wait several months to see gains, which is one reason so many of them, and other non-athletes, give up and just return to mouthbreathing. It’s also important to note that these kinds of long inhales and exhales aren’t beneficial, or even possible, for very high intensity exercise. Running 400 meters, for instance, would require much more oxygen to keep up with metabolic needs. Some elite athletes can breathe 200 liters of breath per minute during moments of extreme stress—that’s up to 20 times what’s considered a normal resting volume. But for steady, medium-level exercise like bike riding or jogging, long breaths are far more efficient.