Have you ever thought about learning what is the proper way to breathe when walking?
If you haven’t plus you’re wondering why to learn when this is an instinctive activity of the body, then consider this.
Do you frequently realize that one of your legs quickly tires after only about 20-30 minutes of walking? Do you often run out of breath and lose strength quickly? That’s because of improper breathing.
Why Does Improper Breathing Make Me Quickly Tired When Walking?
As you exhale, the diaphragm and related abdominal muscles relax to balance the core.
Wrong breathing habits can lead to one leg constantly touching the ground at the time of exhalation, causing pressure to be transferred to that leg.
As a result, it is tired quickly and possibly gets injured.
For people with weak physical strength, the wrong breathing when walking will make them quickly lose their breath and strength when walking.
That's because the lungs are not working efficiently, the oxygen delivered to the organs is not fast enough with the amount needed to maintain functioning.
What Is The Proper Way To Breathe When Walking?
Depending on the physical health conditions, everyone has their own proper way to breathe when walking. Follow this guide:
Find Your Comfortable Way To Regulate Breathing
There are two ways to regulate breathing when you walk:
Chest Breathing
When breathing in, the chest cavity expands. When breathing out, it collapses.
This correct way of breathing usually involves the following steps: trying to open up the chest cavity, inhaling air, allowing air to enter both the middle and lower parts of the lungs, and at the same time the diaphragm also lowers.
The sequence of exhalation is reversed.
First, the diaphragm lifts, making the chest cavity narrow, pushing the air in the lungs out.
However, when breathing, you should also pay attention not to hunch your back, but to relax your chest in time.
Attention: Keep breathing naturally, don't inhale too much, just enough is enough.
Belly Breathing
When inhaling, your abdomen expands, the diaphragm moves downward to bring more air into the lungs.
To get the most benefit from belly breathing, the lungs need to be engaged. This type of breathing not only can inhale a lot of air, provide more oxygen but is also useful for the digestive system and visceral organs because when breathing, your abdominal raises and lowers.
Moreover, it enhances blood circulation, regulates the activity of the autonomic nervous system, and makes the nervous system stable.
Find Your Steady Pace
When you’re walking, keep the distance between steps even while your hands are moving naturally. Breath in and silently count 1, 2, and 3. Try to see how many steps you can take. Then, breathe out and do the same counting.
Once you find out the rhythm of your breath, remain and combine it with your footsteps. Make sure it’s not too fast nor slow.
Each person has their own steady pace - combining the breath (inhalation, exhalation) with the step when walking.
Some people feel comfortable in a 2:1 rhythm, which means taking 2 steps with inhalation and taking 4 steps with exhalation (this is also the most common rhythm). Meanwhile, the others prefer to use a 3:1 rhythm - take 2 steps with inhalation and take 6 steps with exhalation.
It is best to breathe in through the nose and breathe out through the mouth.
Give up the bad habit of breathing short and shallow as you might do every day.
Start to get used to breathing deeply and steadily because it will purify the body and you will be surprised at the strange things that come to you.
Note:
When walking, focus your mind by counting your steps with your breath, especially if you’re a beginner. Absolutely do not talk during a walk because it disperses and wastes your breath.
Bonus: The Breathing Method When Walking To Lose Belly Fat
Dr. Masashi Kawamura introduces his special method of breathing while walking to help reduce belly quickly.
According to his opinion, people - when walking - often use the force in their legs, but rarely on the abdomen. If you breathe and squeeze (puff) your belly properly, you can burn belly fat with every step.
This breathing method helps to tone the muscles in the abdomen, burn the excess fat in your belly, enhance the digestive system function, and partially relieve constipation. Here is the guide:
Step your right foot up, squeeze the belly, inhale. Then, step your left foot, exhale, belly out. Repeat.
Dr. Masashi Kawamura advises walking as much as possible a day, or at least 30-60 minutes. Following this method frequently, you will see noticeable results in 3-6 months.
Tips for successful weight loss by walking:
Keep your chest up and your back straight when walking. If your back is hunched, this exercise not only has no effect but also harms your spine.
When sitting, keep the habit of straightening your back and squeeze your abdominal muscles.
If you have not yet learned the habit of sitting up straight properly, put a cylindrical pillow behind your back to adjust your sitting posture.
This method cannot completely replace other weight loss methods, you need to combine it with a reasonable diet that is low in sugar and fat.
Conclusion
We hope that this post gives you the best answer about “What is the proper way to breathe when walking?”, thereby enhancing your endurance and experience.
Walking brings lots of health benefits. For the best results, it is necessary to persevere and practice a scientific lifestyle as well as learn to walk properly without too much stress.
Thanks for reading!
Nancy Lang
