Breathing exercises for sport and fitness: what helps

The short answer

The breathing method with the best evidence in sport is inspiratory muscle training, which strengthens your breathing muscles with a small device. Reviews of dozens of trials found it improves endurance, especially in less fit people. Slow breathing may help you stay calm before competing, but it won't raise your fitness on its own.

Moderate evidence

Trials point the same way but are small or few, or large long-term studies agree but cannot prove cause and effect. How we grade

On this page

Breathing muscle training
What the research shows
Breathing during exercise
Using breathing to recover and focus
Breath-holding training: a warning
Common questions
References

Breathing muscle training

Your breathing muscles work hard during endurance exercise, and they can tire. Inspiratory muscle training strengthens them by making you breathe in against resistance through a small handheld device, usually 30 hard breaths once or twice a day. After several weeks, breathing at a given pace feels easier, and some people can keep going for longer.

What the research shows

A 2012 review of 46 studies in healthy people found that breathing muscle training improved endurance performance, and that less fit people improved most. A 2013 review of 21 trials in athletes found improvements in time trials, endurance time and the Yo-Yo shuttle-run test used in team sports.

Other breathing methods have much less evidence in sport. A 2024 review of the Wim Hof method found mixed effects on exercise performance. Slow breathing reliably raises heart rate variability and may help some people stay calm under pressure, but it hasn’t been shown to improve performance. We grade the evidence for sport as moderate, almost entirely because of breathing muscle training.

Breathing during exercise

Let your breathing follow your effort. At easy paces you can breathe through your nose; as you work harder, breathing through your mouth is normal and necessary.
Rhythm can help. Some runners and swimmers find it easier to settle if they match their breathing to their steps or strokes, much like paced breathing on stairs.
Breathe out on the effort when lifting, pushing or pulling, as in blow as you go. Avoid long breath-holds while straining, especially if you have high blood pressure or a heart condition.

Using breathing to recover and focus

Many athletes use a few slow breaths, with a long out-breath, to settle nerves before a race, a penalty or a serve. Box breathing and cyclic sighing are popular for this. There is little direct research in sport, but slow breathing has a reliable short-term calming effect and is harmless to try.

Breath-holding training: a warning

Some sports training methods use long breath-holds or over-breathing. Never practise these in or near water. Over-breathing before going under water can make you black out without warning and drown. See breath-holding and water.

Keep reading

Breathing exercises for pain: what the evidence shows
Whether slow breathing can ease short-term and long-term pain, what the trials found, how to use breathing when you are in pain, and when to see a doctor.
Weak
Breathing exercises for hot flushes: what the trials found
Paced breathing was once widely advised for menopause hot flushes. What the largest trial found, why experts now advise against it, and what helps.
None
Breathing exercises for stress and anxiety: what works
Which breathing exercises ease stress and anxiety, how to use them in the moment and every day, and what randomised trials show about how well they work.
Moderate

Common questions

Can breathing exercises improve running?

Breathing muscle training can. Reviews found it improves endurance in time trials and longer events, especially in people who aren't already very fit. Simple breathing exercises without a device haven't been shown to improve running performance.

Should I breathe through my nose when I exercise?

At easy intensities, nose breathing is comfortable and fine. As you work harder, you need more air than your nose can supply, and breathing through your mouth is normal. There is no good evidence that forcing yourself to nose-breathe at high intensity improves performance.

Should I hold my breath when lifting weights?

Holding your breath while straining raises blood pressure sharply. Experienced lifters sometimes brace briefly for very heavy lifts, but for most people, and anyone with high blood pressure or a heart condition, breathe out during the effort and in as you lower the weight.

References

First published 4 November 2026. Next review due November 2027. Spotted an error? Tell us and we'll correct it. Read our editorial policy.