My wife told me the other day that her spinning instructor told her that she should breath in through her nose and out through her mouth. My response was “hogwash”. Since the body needs oxygen to convert fuel into energy, I could see no reason why anyone would want to limit the amount of oxygen intake, even during training. She relayed that thought to her instructor and he insisted that breathing in through your nose is better for your heart.
So before I tell her that her spinning instructor is full of it, has anybody heard of this before and know if there is any logic behind it?
I’ve been to one spinning class in my life. That instructor told me that I didn’t know how to ride a bike. The comment was something like “you and all your triathlon buddies don’t know how ride.” That same instructor showed up at a group ride. I showed the guy how to find his max heart rate repeatedly. I also showed him what it was like to get dropped.
I’m not normally that nasty, but, I don’t do well with arrogance.
Isn’t that yoga breathing? My girlfriend goes to spin classes also. I would rather be outdoors and I tell her she needs to get out and ride and not hang out with the “gym people”. A few weeks she said she went on a ride with her spin instructor and the instructor didn’t know how to change those “gear thingies”.
Spin “Instructors” go to a one-day seminar taught by Schwinn. It’s all about how to create a Reebok step class using a v-bike, and it’s basically BS.
I led spin sessions for triathletes, and now I lead a spin group thrice weekly at my club. I get all the cyclists, and the step ladies go to someone elses “class.” You can’t get enough O2 through those tiny holes in your nose to stay with my spin sessions.
Breathing through your nose is a good way to keep yourself in zone 2 on long rides during base building season. If you need to open your mouth to get enough air, then you’re hammering too hard. Spin is about anaerobic hammering 1,2,3,5 minutes at VO2 max. No way nose-breathing works for that.
Glad you taught that boy some humility. Spin can be a great strength and speed booster, but not the way most teach it.
…her spinning instructor told her that she should breath in through her nose and out through her mouth. … he insisted that breathing in through your nose is better for your heart.
Perhaps by “better for her heart” he meant that it could help her to keep her heart rate down? I know that slow, deep breathing can help keep the lid on if you’re climbing out of the zone too fast, or if you’re going to blow…
Breathing through your nose isn’t better for the health of your heart, HOWEVER, it can actually increase cardiac output by decreasing intra-thoracic pressure (compared to breathing through a wide-open airway…your mouth), which facilitates venous return to the heart from the lower body. Really.
The heart acts as a sort of sump-pump in most normal situations…pumping out whatever is returned to it…if you return blood to your right atrium more rapidly by the “sucking action” of a more negative intra-thoracic pressure, your stroke volume will increase for a couple of beats. Exhalation should be done as non-obstructed as possible, for similar venous return reasons.
If you don’t believe it, try this. Exercise at a steady state that requires breathing at a rate and effort that makes it hard to carry on a conversation. Note your HR. Now, suck air in through your nose instead of through your mouth. You’ll see your HR drops a little…maybe 3-4 beats per minute. Your cardiac output hasn’t dropped, but your stroke volume has increased.
As long as you aren’t exercising so hard that you cannot get enough air exchange by inhaling through your nose, your heart will beat slightly less per minute by doing so compared to being a wide-open mouth-breather. Really.
But, it isn’t “better” for your heart from a health standpoint.
This has been a very informative thread. Thanks for all the replies. I think I’ll tell my wife her instructor is “full of it”. She needs to spend more time outdoors anyway.
Sadly, people with allergies have a tougher time working out. You also have to find your zone 2 for LSD rides and runs by a more precise means than “can I breathe through my nose?”
I’ve read and we all know that our ability to exchange oxy is limited by our bodies ability to do this exchange, not by how much you breath. The sensation to breath like a madman is more of a brain function to lessen CO2 in the body than what your actually using. Though it might not “feel” like it, your nose may supply the air you need. Perhaps this is what he’s getting at and theory at some point may run out of air. Try it sometime, when you feel like opening the mouth, keep er closed and try long deep breaths and see what your heart and body is actually doing. Balls out top of the hill thigh screaming–mouth wide open.
Breathing through your nose isn’t better for the health of your heart, HOWEVER, it can actually increase cardiac output by decreasing intra-thoracic pressure (compared to breathing through a wide-open airway…your mouth), which facilitates venous return to the heart from the lower body. Really.
The heart acts as a sort of sump-pump in most normal situations…pumping out whatever is returned to it…if you return blood to your right atrium more rapidly by the “sucking action” of a more negative intra-thoracic pressure, your stroke volume will increase for a couple of beats. Exhalation should be done as non-obstructed as possible, for similar venous return reasons.
If you don’t believe it, try this. Exercise at a steady state that requires breathing at a rate and effort that makes it hard to carry on a conversation. Note your HR. Now, suck air in through your nose instead of through your mouth. You’ll see your HR drops a little…maybe 3-4 beats per minute. Your cardiac output hasn’t dropped, but your stroke volume has increased.
As long as you aren’t exercising so hard that you cannot get enough air exchange by inhaling through your nose, your heart will beat slightly less per minute by doing so compared to being a wide-open mouth-breather. Really.
