Not every performance upgrade comes from harder training or better gear. Often, it comes from fixing small daily habits that quietly drain your energy. Breathing is one of the most overlooked.
Many athletes don’t realize that how they breathe can limit performance just as much as poor strength or conditioning. That’s why mouth tape for sports is getting more attention.
For example, Olympic silver medalist and Oxygen Advantage® instructor Adam Burgess credits nasal breathing and mouth taping as key turning points in his performance, recovery, and mental focus.
In this article, you’ll learn what a mouth tape does for athletes and how improving your breathing through mouth taping can become a simple but powerful upgrade to sports performance. But what is mouth taping even about?
What Is Mouth Taping All About?
Mouth taping is a simple practice that involves placing a small piece of tape around the lips to encourage the mouth to stay closed, most commonly during sleep.
The goal of mouth taping is to support nasal breathing, the body’s natural and most efficient breathing pattern at rest. When the mouth remains closed, breathing shifts to the nose, helping stabilize airflow and reduce issues linked to mouth breathing.
People use mouth taping because nasal breathing supports several essential functions:
- Better oxygen delivery & endurance
- Stronger breathing mechanics & less fatigue
- Calmer nervous system & sharper focus
- Airway protection during exercise
- Improved hydration, immunity & recovery
- Deeper, higher-quality sleep
Mouth taping acts as a gentle physical cue rather than a restrictive method, guiding the body back to nasal breathing without forcing it.
Research supports this effect, with a 2020 study showing that more than 80 percent of habitual mouth-breathing children could breathe comfortably through their noses when lip taping was used.
This shows that many people who believe they cannot breathe through their nose can do so once mouth breathing is reduced. Although mouth taping is usually used at night, some people also use it during calm daytime activities to reinforce healthier breathing habits.
Should You Mouth Tape During Exercise?
While mouth taping is primarily used during sleep, rest, and calm activities, some athletes also experiment with using it during controlled training sessions. Always use discretion.
MyoTape is designed not to seal the lips shut, but to gently support nasal breathing by engaging the muscles around the mouth. It is a safe starting point for building better breathing habits, especially during rest and recovery.
5 Ways Mouth Taping Can Upgrade Your Sports Performance
The points below explain how mouth taping for sports influences sleep quality, recovery, endurance, and overall performance.
1. Boosts oxygen uptake and lung efficiency
Nasal breathing plays an active role in how oxygen is delivered throughout the body, not just how air enters the lungs. Breathing through the nose releases nitric oxide from the sinuses, which helps widen blood vessels in the lungs and improves oxygen transfer into the bloodstream.
A study showed that oxygen levels in the blood were approximately 10 percent higher during nasal breathing compared to mouth breathing in healthy adults.
2. Enhances recovery through deeper sleep
Sleep quality has a direct impact on muscle repair, hormone regulation, and nervous system recovery. Mouth breathing during sleep keeps the body in a more alert state and increases time spent in light sleep instead of deep, restorative sleep.
Famous soccer player, Erling Haaland, who also tapes his mouth, has emphasized that sleep is his top priority and has openly shared that he tapes his mouth at night to support deeper, more consistent sleep.
3. Increases CO₂ tolerance for better endurance
The urge to breathe harder during intense exercise is caused by rising carbon dioxide levels rather than falling oxygen levels. Mouth breathing allows carbon dioxide to escape too quickly, triggering air hunger earlier and increasing perceived effort.
Tennis star Iga Swiatek explained that training with her mouth taped made breathing feel harder at first but helped build endurance by forcing her body to work more efficiently.
4. Regulates heart rate and improves focus under pressure
Breathing rhythm has a powerful influence on heart rate and emotional control during training and competition. Nasal breathing slows respiration and reduces unnecessary spikes in heart rate at the same physical intensity.
A 2020 study shows that mouth breathing alters brain wave activity associated with attention, cognitive function, and working memory, likely due to reduced oxygen saturation compared to nasal breathing.
5. Prevents dehydration
Mouth breathing causes significantly greater moisture loss because air moving directly through the mouth pulls water from the throat and oral tissues. In fact, mouth breathing causes 42% more moisture loss than nasal breathing.
Nasal breathing helps retain humidity and slows fluid loss, supporting better hydration during sleep and recovery.
Better breathing means better sports performance
Mouth taping is the entry point; real performance gains come from training your breathing like any other physical skill. That is exactly what the Oxygen Advantage Method teaches.
Upgrade Your Sports Performance with MyoTape
Elite athletes know that small physiological advantages add up, which is why mouth taping has become a trusted tool for improving sleep, recovery, focus, and endurance.
MyoTape stands apart because it was designed specifically for breathing by world-renowned expert Patrick McKeown. It gently activates the muscles around the mouth to encourage natural nasal breathing without sealing the lips shut.
Explore the full MyoTape range in our online shop and experience what better breathing can do for your recovery, focus, and athletic performance.