Breathing after exercise: posture, pace and warning signs

How out of breath is normal

Getting out of breath is part of exercise. The NHS describes it simply: during moderate activity you breathe faster but can still talk, though not sing. During vigorous activity you cannot say more than a few words without pausing for breath.

Hands on knees, not on head

Athletes are often told to stand up straight with their hands on their head to “open the chest”. A 2019 study tested this. Twenty female college soccer players ran four hard 4-minute intervals and recovered between them for 3 minutes in each posture, on different days:

• With hands on knees, leaning forward, heart rate dropped by 53 beats a minute in the first minute.
• With hands on head, standing upright, it dropped by 31.
• Leaning forward also let them move more air with each breath, and they said breathing felt easier.

The authors note that lying down may be faster still, but it is rarely practical in the middle of a session or a game.

Cool down

Do not stop dead after a hard effort. The NHS Couch to 5K plan ends every run with a 5-minute cool-down walk, which helps your heart rate return to normal. After that, about 5 minutes of stretches, holding each for 15 to 20 seconds, help you relax and slow your heart rate.

Does slow breathing speed recovery?

It sounds logical, but the research is mixed:

• After moderate cycling, 15 young men who breathed at 6 breaths a minute for 10 minutes showed more “rest and digest” activity in their heart rhythm. Their heart rate, however, came down no faster.
• After hard interval training, 40 students tried box breathing (4-4-4-4), breathing at 6 breaths a minute, or normal breathing. Box breathing left their heart rate higher and made the effort feel harder. Breathing at 6 a minute came out best, though the time to get back to resting heart rate did not differ significantly.
• Over 4 weeks of sprint training, adding 10 minutes of slow breathing after each session and in the evening did not improve performance or recovery.

So, right after a hard effort, let your breathing be free and fast while it needs to be, then let it slow down naturally. Save breath holds, including box breathing, for when you have recovered. If you enjoy slow breathing as a way to wind down afterwards, resonance breathing at about 5.5 breaths a minute is a good fit.

Nose or mouth

At easy intensities, breathing only through the nose seems to work fine: in one small study, it did not change how hard people trained. At higher speeds it falls short: in a study of 10 women running, nose-only breathing could not keep up at the fastest speeds. Let your body choose; at hard efforts, mouth breathing is normal.

Exercise-induced asthma

If you cough, wheeze, or feel a tight chest or short of breath during or soon after exercise, it may be exercise-induced bronchoconstriction, often called exercise asthma. Symptoms usually start soon after you stop. It happens in people with and without asthma and is often missed or confused with being unfit. Warming up slowly, cooling down gradually and, in cold or dry air, breathing through your nose or covering your mouth with a scarf can help. See a doctor to get it checked: it can be tested with breathing tests and treated.

Warning signs

Stop and rest if you feel dizzy or lightheaded, have chest pain, an irregular heartbeat, unusual shortness of breath or nausea. Call your local emergency number (112 anywhere in the EU) if:

• you have severe difficulty breathing: gasping, choking or unable to get words out;
• your chest feels tight or heavy, or you have chest pain that does not go away, especially if it spreads to your arms, back, neck or jaw;
• your lips or skin turn very pale, blue or grey, or you suddenly feel confused.