Nose Breathing vs Mouth Breathing: Which Is Better and Why?

The short answer is: breathe through your nose.

Nose breathing is more efficient than mouth breathing, delivers up to 18% more oxygen to the blood, engages the diaphragm, produces nitric oxide, and protects your airways from pathogens. Mouth breathing does none of these things.

Nose breathing has been the foundation of the Oxygen Advantage® technique since the outset. And top athletes had been quietly using nose breathing exercises to excel, long before this knowledge became mainstream.

This article explains why, answers the exhale question, and shows you how to make the switch.

Whether you are a weekend warrior or a pro athlete, you understand how important it is to strengthen and condition your muscles for greater speed, power, and accuracy. But even if you are competing at a high level, it is likely you were never taught to make the connection between nose breathing and success.

Nose breathing has been the foundation of the Oxygen Advantage technique since the outset. Top athletes had been quietly using nose breathing exercises to excel, long before this knowledge became mainstream.

Why Nose Breathing Is Better Than Mouth Breathing

When it comes to sports performance, nose breathing is akin to a silver bullet. If you want to excel and you are still breathing through your mouth, it is a practice you need to change.

Research from the University of Milan, published in November 2021, found that young basketball players who followed a nasal breathing protocol during regular training showed remarkable improvements in both physical fitness and pulmonary function [1].

When you breathe through your nose:

• Working muscles receive more oxygen
• Recovery is quicker and injury risk lessens
• Your core, spine and pelvic floor are stronger
• Your nervous system is balanced, reducing performance anxiety and oxidative stress

How to Breathe Through Your Nose: When and Why

Goal-oriented people find it difficult to practice the maxim "less is more." The same competitive nature that helps you win can contribute to over-training, chronic fatigue, and a demoralising speed plateau.

We are conditioned to breathe hard and fast during training to "get more oxygen." We follow expert advice, only to find we are gassing out with exercise-induced asthma.

Contrary to common belief, less is more when it comes to breathing too. Nose breathing reduces the speed and volume of air reaching your lungs. This is vital for efficiency and for optimal balance of your nervous system and blood gases.

Nose breathing is a 24/7 commitment. How you breathe during rest and sleep is just as important as how you breathe during competition. If you want to optimise your training, you must examine your breathing outside of physical exercise too.

Nose Breathing vs Mouth Breathing: Key Facts

Some coaches recommend breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth. Many people feel that nose breathing does not allow enough air into the lungs. Many believe mouth breathing provides more oxygen.

It does not work that way.

By integrating nose breathing into your physical training, you will increase your tolerance to air hunger and delay breathlessness. You will enhance lung function and improve oxygen uptake.

You will breathe air deeper into your lungs and keep it there for longer. And you will avoid dehydration, airway irritation and infection.

Should You Exhale Through Your Nose or Mouth?

You should exhale through your nose.

Breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth increases nasal resistance by up to 200% and can cause congestion that lasts up to ten minutes. It also removes too much carbon dioxide too quickly, which worsens breathlessness over time.

Breathing in and out through the nose keeps the airways clear, maintains optimal CO2 levels, and improves long-term breathing efficiency. When you breathe out through your nose, air flows back into the lungs during exhalation, giving your body more time to extract oxygen from each breath.

The idea that exhaling through the mouth reduces air hunger is true in the short term. But if you breathe in and out through your nose during exercise, you will become less sensitive to air hunger long term and breathing efficiency will improve, delaying breathlessness for good.

12 Benefits of Nose Breathing Over Mouth Breathing

1. The inside of your nose is lined with tiny hairs called cilia. The cilia filter, warm and humidify inhaled air. They protect you against 20 billion particles of foreign matter every day.
2. Some people argue you need to mouth breathe to bring in enough air during exercise. But research proves the opposite. The extra resistance during nose breathing results in 10 to 20% better oxygenation [2].
3. Nose breathing is 22% more efficient than mouth breathing [3]. Breathing is much easier and the breathing muscles do not get so tired.
4. Nose breathing keeps your airways clear. Breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth causes nasal congestion and makes it harder to breathe [4]. If you are wondering how to breathe with a stuffy nose, the answer is that you need to get used to full nose breathing.
5. The lungs draw oxygen from inhaled air during nasal exhalation too. Nose breathing is slower, and nasal exhalation creates a backflow of air into the lungs. The air stays in the lungs for longer, giving the body more time to extract oxygen.
6. The air hunger during nose breathing forces you to slow down until your breath is properly trained. This reduces stress and high blood pressure and stops you from overtraining.
7. Nose breathing harnesses nitric oxide (NO) [5]. Nitric oxide is produced in the sinuses around the nose. It protects against airborne viruses, bacteria, allergens, and other pathogens. It opens the blood vessels in the lungs, allowing better oxygen diffusion.
8. When there is a proper balance of oxygen and carbon dioxide (CO2) in the blood, the body maintains a balanced pH. CO2 is the catalyst that causes red blood cells to release oxygen to the body. If you breathe through an open mouth, you lose too much CO2. Nose breathing enhances your body's ability to access the oxygen in your blood.
9. Nose breathing during sleep makes sleep apnea less severe. Scientists found that during mouth breathing, apneas increase and oxygen desaturation is worse.
10. It is not possible to maintain diaphragm breathing through the mouth. Nose breathing engages and strengthens your diaphragm, which is an integral muscle of the core and necessary for spine stability.
11. During exercise, nose breathing can improve mental focus and boost coronary artery blood flow [6].
12. Nose breathing reduces symptoms of exercise-induced asthma because it protects the airways from trauma and inflammation.

How Nose Breathing Protects Against Pathogens and Infection

Few of the body's organs play as important a role as the nose. Tiny hairs called cilia and the presence of nitric oxide are just two of the ways the nose prevents pathogens from entering your bloodstream and causing sickness or infection.

If you have a respiratory issue like asthma or allergies, your ability to breathe properly will be affected negatively by mouth breathing. The nose is a vital part of the body's defence system. It filters out foreign materials that may contain bacteria or viruses while allowing oxygen into the lungs.

Effects of Pathogens on Respiration

Pathogens can affect respiratory function and cause a wide range of diseases, including:

• Respiratory infections: Viruses cause the most common types of respiratory infection, but bacteria and fungi can also cause similar illnesses. In people with asthma or COPD, respiration may be triggered by allergens or irritants in the air.
• Asthma: This chronic inflammatory disease causes narrowing of the airways that makes it difficult for mucus to be excreted from the lungs, making it hard for oxygen to reach the bloodstream. This constriction leads to shortness of breath, coughing spasms and asthma attacks.

Keeping your mouth closed and breathing through your nose reduces the chances that an inhaled pathogen could negatively affect your health.

What the Research Says: Nose vs Mouth Breathing

To gain a better understanding of nose breathing benefits, let us examine some clinical studies.

In this video, Oxygen Advantage founder Patrick McKeown chats to bestselling author James Nestor about the importance of nose breathing vs mouth breathing.

Mouth Breathing Leads to Injury

When breathing is dysfunctional, movement cannot be functional. Unless you address mouth breathing, you will never be able to optimise your physical training.

There will always be an underlying weakness that manifests as trigger points, repetitive strain injury, lower back and neck pain and even urinary leakage.

A 2020 study reports that 33% of elite athletes suffer incontinence [7]. This is largely due to poor diaphragm function. Your diaphragm can only work properly when you breathe through your nose.

Mouth breathing also contributes to respiratory conditions including asthma, which is common in sports [8]. Poor breathing equates to poor long-term health, and fit does not always mean healthy [9].

Mouth Breathing Changes the Acidity of the Blood

Mouth breathing depletes blood carbon dioxide. This can cause blood pH to increase, leading to respiratory alkalosis. Respiratory alkalosis means the blood is too alkaline.

Its symptoms include:

• Detrimental changes in the nervous system
• Alterations in physical and mental states
• Problems in the musculoskeletal system [10]
• Poor oxygenation of tissues and organs
• Increased pain perception
• Constriction of the blood vessels
• Development of myofascial trigger points

Each of these symptoms can change the normal motor control of skeletal muscles [11].

If you do get injured, the poor oxygenation associated with mouth breathing has implications for recovery.

While transient hypoxia is essential for the formation of muscle tissue and the stimulation of muscle stem cells [12], prolonged hypoxia is detrimental to muscle repair. The body needs oxygen to recover.

Can Nose Breathing Improve Sports Performance?

When you exercise, oxygen demand increases. To keep up with this demand, your breathing muscles work harder. When you breathe hard and fast through an open mouth, breathing is inefficient and the breathing muscles become exhausted more quickly.

Your body will always prioritise breathing over performance. When your breathing muscles tire, your body diverts blood flow from your legs to support respiration. This reflex is the reason your legs become tired, making you slow down and stop.

Remember, nose breathing is 22% more efficient than mouth breathing. This greater efficiency leads to better stamina and endurance so you can power through to the finish line.

Nasal Obstruction Reduces Lung Volume and Oxygen Uptake

Swift AC, Campbell IT, McKown TM. Oronasal obstruction, lung volumes, and arterial oxygenation. Lancet. 1988.

Scientists examined lung volumes over 6 to 8 weeks during partial ongoing nasal obstruction and total overnight nasal blockage. Total lung capacity, functional residual capacity, and residual volume all decreased significantly with total nasal obstruction.

Researchers concluded that nasal resistance to expiration helps maintain lung volumes and may indirectly determine arterial oxygenation. Mouth breathing reduces lung volume and negatively affects how much oxygen gets from your lungs to your blood.

Nose Breathing Increases Arterial Oxygen Tension

Lundberg JO. Nitric oxide and the paranasal sinuses. Anat Rec (Hoboken). 2008.

Nitric oxide (NO) is released in the nasal airways in humans. During inspiration through the nose, NO follows the airstream to the lower airways and the lungs. Nasally derived NO increases arterial oxygen tension and reduces pulmonary vascular resistance.

When you breathe through your nose, you inhale nitric oxide deep into your lungs. Nitric oxide helps more oxygen get into your blood.

The Nose Performs 30 Functions in the Body

Timmons BH, Ley R. Behavioral and Psychological Approaches to Breathing Disorders. 1994.

According to Dr. Maurice Cottle, who founded the American Rhinologic Society in 1954, the nose performs at least 30 functions, all of which are important supplements to the roles played by the lungs, heart, and other organs.

In the nose breathing vs mouth breathing debate, the nose comes out on top every time. The mouth performs no breathing function, except as a backup if the nose is blocked or exercise is so intensive that a significantly greater volume of air is needed.

During Nose Breathing, Nitric Oxide Concentrations Increase

Lundberg J, Weitzberg E. Nasal nitric oxide in man. Thorax. 1999.

Nasal NO concentrations are higher at lower flow rates. When you breathe more slowly, you breathe a greater concentration of NO into your lungs.

Nose Breathing Supports Immune System Function

Lundberg J, Weitzberg E. Nasal nitric oxide in man. Thorax. 1999.

Among the various biological properties of nitric oxide in the nasal cavity are its effects on the growth of various pathogens including bacteria, fungi, and viruses. Nitric oxide offers a natural first line of immune defence against airborne pathogens.

Breathing Both In and Out Through the Nose Is Important

Strohl KP, Arnold JL, Decker MJ, Hoekje PL, McFadden ER. Nasal flow-resistive responses to challenge with cold dry air. J Appl Physiol. 1992.

When subjects breathed in through the nose and out through the mouth, nasal resistance increased by 200% within 1 minute and took 10 minutes to return to baseline. No such changes occurred when subjects breathed exclusively through the nose.

Breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth can result in a stuffy nose that lasts up to ten minutes. If you breathe in and out through your nose during exercise, you will become less sensitive to air hunger long term and breathing efficiency will improve.

Nose Breathing Improves Pulmonary Function

Airway physiology. Tidsskr Nor Laegeforen. 1999.

High nitric oxide levels in the nasal and paranasal airways contribute to the first line of defence against microorganisms. Autoinhalation of nasal NO improves pulmonary function and other remote physiological processes.

The nitric oxide you inhale during nose breathing improves the function of your lungs, immune system, blood vessels and breathing.

Nitric Oxide in the Nasal Airway and Ear, Nose and Throat Health

Am J Otolaryngol. 2001.

The surprisingly high concentrations of NO in the nasal airway and paranasal sinuses have important implications for the study of diseases in the ears, nose, and throat. This nitric oxide could potentially be useful in treating or preventing ENT conditions.

Maximal Oxygen Consumption: Nose Breathing vs Mouth Breathing

Morton, King, Papalia. Australian Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport. 1995.

During exercise, nasal breathing causes a reduction in the fraction of expired oxygen, indicating that the percentage of oxygen extracted from the air by the lungs is increased. Your lungs can extract more oxygen from inhaled air when you breathe through your nose during exercise compared with mouth breathing.

Nose Breathing Increases Blood Oxygen Uptake by 18%

Growth and Development. 2005.

Nitric oxide inhaled via nasal respiration increases oxygen exchange efficiency and increases blood oxygen uptake by 18%, while improving the lungs' ability to absorb oxygen.

Nose breathing is more efficient and results in greater oxygenation of the blood, making more oxygen available to fuel your working muscles during exercise.

Mouth Breathing at Night: How It Affects Sleep and Performance

When sleep is poor, speed, endurance, strength, executive function, learning, attention, running performance, reaction time, mood, vigour, max bench press, leg press, deadlift, and recovery all suffer [13/14].

In the run up to competition, it is normal to have trouble falling or staying asleep. Stress, a heavy training schedule, travel and jet lag can all lead to insomnia.

Daytime mouth breathing can also cause poor quality sleep. In rodent studies, scientists identified an area of the brain that triggers arousal when breathing is fast. Fast breathing during the day can contribute to hyperarousal of the sympathetic nervous system, which can trigger insomnia [15].

Mouth breathing during sleep impacts your immune response, airway health, and sleep quality. Studies confirm it makes sleep apnea much worse [16]. If you cannot breathe through your nose at night, it is likely you suffer with sleep-disordered breathing, snoring or sleep apnea.

Sleep apnea is linked with poor cardiovascular health, depression, and sexual dysfunction. Even adolescent athletes are prone to sleep disorders, just as they are to asthma, colds and flu.

One study of teenage athletes links snoring and sleep apnea to sudden cardiac death [17].

Sleep disorders are hard to self-diagnose. In a competitive atmosphere, it can feel like success equals "survival of the fittest." But mouth breathing during sleep is a serious matter that is unwise to ignore.

How to Switch to Nose Breathing: 8 Practical Steps

Discover ways to integrate Oxygen Advantage breathing exercises and tools into your daily routine.

1. Switch to full-time nose breathing. This adds a load to breathing that strengthens the diaphragm. If you want to add more resistance, try nose breathing with a training mask for even better results.
2. During training, instead of pushing through with an open mouth, slow down and continue breathing through your nose. Read our full guide on how to breathe while running.
3. If you struggle to practice nose breathing due to a deviated septum or small nasal passages, use a nasal dilator. If you can breathe through your nose for one minute, you can do so for life.
4. Practice breathing exercises to engage your diaphragm, slow your breathing and reduce breathing volume to improve tolerance to CO2. Measure your progress with the BOLT score test.
5. Practice breath holding exercises to give your diaphragm a workout and simulate the effects of altitude training.
6. A high breathing volume contributes to snoring and sleep apnea. Spend 15 minutes before bed practicing a reduced breathing exercise. This will calm hyperarousal and normalise your breathing volume.
7. Tape your mouth during sleep to ensure nose breathing at night. Using MyoTape alongside breathing exercises to resolve sleep-disordered breathing will improve recovery, pre-match preparation, and reduce stress.
8. You can use MyoTape during training too. Because it does not cover the lips, you can still communicate and hydrate while maintaining nose breathing support.

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If you are interested in trying the OA method for yourself, why not try our online course, become a certfied breathwork instructor, or find an Oxygen Advantage® instructor near you.

References

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2. Cottle MH. The work, ways, positions and patterns of nasal breathing. American Rhinologic Society. 1987.
3. Dallam GM, McClaran SR, Cox DG, Foust CP. Effect of Nasal Versus Oral Breathing on VO2max and Physiological Economy in Recreational Runners. International Journal of Kinesiology and Sports Science. 2018;6(2):22-29.
4. Strohl KP, Arnold JL, Decker MJ, Hoekje PL, McFadden ER. Nasal flow-resistive responses to challenge with cold dry air. Journal of Applied Physiology. 1992;72(4):1243-1246.
5. Lundberg JO, Weitzberg E. Nasal nitric oxide in man. Thorax. 1999;54:947-952.
6. Dallam G, Foust C. Can Yoga Breathing / Pranayama Concepts Be Reasonably Extended to Conventional Endurance Training? W J Yoga Phys Ther and Rehabil. 2020.
7. Rodriguez-Lopez ES, et al. Prevalence of urinary incontinence among elite athletes of both sexes. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport. 2020.
8. Carlsen KH. Mechanisms of asthma development in elite athletes. Breathe. 2012;8(4):278-284.
9. Maffetone PB, Laursen PB. Athletes: fit but unhealthy? Sports medicine-open. 2016;2(1):1-4.
10. Bradley H, Esformes J. Breathing pattern disorders and functional movement. International journal of sports physical therapy. 2014;9(1):28.
11. McLaughlin L, Goldsmith CH, Coleman K. Breathing evaluation and retraining as an adjunct to manual therapy. Manual therapy. 2011;16(1):51-52.
12. Neiva PD, et al. Postural disorders in mouth breathing children: a systematic review. Brazilian journal of physical therapy. 2018;22(1):7-19.
13. Marshall GJG, Turner AN. The importance of sleep for athletic performance. Strength and Conditioning Journal. 2016;38(1):61-67.
14. Fullagar HH. Sleep-related issues facing professional football players. PhD dissertation. 2017.
15. Yackle K, et al. Breathing control center neurons that promote arousal in mice. Science. 2017;355(6332):1411-1415.
16. Hsu YB, et al. Association Between Breathing Route, Oxygen Desaturation, and Upper Airway Morphology. The Laryngoscope. 2020.
17. Iso Y, et al. Prevalence and significance of sleep disordered breathing in adolescent athletes. ERJ open research. 2019;5(1).