Why Does Breathing Rate Increase with Exercise?

If you just started working out, you may be concerned about all the spluttering and gasping for air that you're doing. Don't worry though — that heavy breathing is happening for a very good reason. And as you get fitter, expect those effects not to subside completely, but to stop being quite so dramatic.


During exercise, your breathing increases to deliver more oxygen to your hard-working muscles.

Understand The Basics

When you work out, your muscles move from a resting state to an active one, and they need more oxygen to do their work. Your body accomplishes this by forcing more oxygen-rich blood to flow through your body. During exercise, your breathing rate increases, and you also take in more air with each individual breath. Your lungs take in that increased oxygen, which mixes with your blood, and then goes to your heart, a highly effective pump that delivers blood to the rest of your body. Your body produces more heat during exercise as well. An increase in blood flow also allows the skin to dissipate heat more effectively.

Stick with It

When you first start a workout, you'll probably notice that you start breathing heavier right away. After about three minutes, however, you'll probably notice that your breathing tends to even out. If you maintain the same level of intensity throughout the rest of the workout, you can expect your breathing to stay at about the same rate as it was during about the third minute. If you increased your intensity, however, you can expect your breathing rate to go up again.

Max it Out

At some point, however, you're going to be breathing as fast and hard as your body can, and your muscles will be using the maximum amount of oxygen that they can. That's called your VO2 max. When you've reached that point, you probably won't be able to exercise any harder. If you're a beginner or novice to exercise, chances are you won't be able to maintain that maximum intensity for very long. Fitter people tend to have higher VO2 max levels than people who are not in such good condition. Fit people take in more oxygen with each breath, and their bodies are also more efficient at using the oxygen received.

Increase VO2 Max

Doing any type of moderate-intensity cardio at least three or four times a week is going to help you achieve a higher VO2 max. Aim to work at 65 to 85 percent of your maximum heart rate for at least 20 minutes, three times a week, suggests sports coach Brian Mac. An easy way to calculate your maximum heart rate — or the max number of times your heart can beat in a minute's time — is to subtract your age from 220. Then multiply that number by .65 and .85 to arrive at the ideal range for your workouts. Another way to increase your VO2 max is high-intensity interval training, in which you alternate between exercise at near-max intensity and slower "rest" intervals. After a five-minute warm-up, try sprinting for 30 seconds and then walking or jogging for 30 seconds, for a total of six rounds.