Catching your breath

How to do it

1. When the effort ends, don't freeze on the spot. Walk slowly for a few steps, then stand with your feet apart, or sit down. Let your shoulders drop.
2. Breathe in through your nose for 3 seconds, mouth closed. Let the air settle low, into your belly and ribs.
3. Bring your lips together as if you were about to blow on a candle without putting it out.
4. Breathe out through pursed lips for 6 seconds, in one even stream. Don't push: the air leaves by itself and your lips slow it down.
5. That's one breath: 9 seconds. Repeat for 2 minutes, which is about 13 breaths.
6. On each exhale, let your shoulders sink a little more and loosen your jaw and your hands.
7. To finish, relax your lips, breathe through your nose at your own pace and check how you feel before you move on.

What it is

It's a short sequence for after exercise. It has two parts: a 3-second inhale through the nose and a 6-second exhale through pursed lips. The air takes twice as long to leave as it took to come in, and there are no pauses. That works out to six or seven breaths a minute, far fewer than the panting you finish a set with.

It's close to the pursed-lip breathing in this guide, which counts 2 and 4. Here the count is a little longer and the moment is different: you don't practice it when you're calm, you use it when your body is still revved up. It isn't a running rhythm like 2:2 or 3:2, either. It starts when you stop.

Where it comes from

This sequence is this site's own. It has no author and no tradition behind it, and we won't make one up. We put it together from two well-known elements.

The first is pursed lips. They come from pulmonary rehabilitation, where they're taught to people with chronic lung disease. The American Lung Association describes them for moments of breathlessness: in through the nose, out through the lips for at least twice as long, until your breathing feels normal again. Cleveland Clinic gives the count as 2 seconds in and 4 or more out, and suggests using them during the hardest part of an activity, such as climbing stairs or exercising.

The second is an exhale longer than the inhale, the one-to-two ratio that many slow breathing patterns share. Taking those two pieces to the end of a workout, at 3 and 6 seconds, is our own choice.

What people use it for

For the gap between the effort ending and your body catching on. After a run, between sets at the gym, at the top of a hill or several flights of stairs. People also use it when they walk off a court or out of a hard class and need to talk, drive or get back to work right away.

Pursed lips give the exhale something to lean against. Many people say it stops them from gulping air and makes them feel in charge of their breathing again. That's an experience, not a promise that you'll recover faster.

What studies say

We found no studies that tested this count in healthy people after sports. What exists comes from pulmonary rehabilitation. A 2018 systematic review and meta-analysis in Physiotherapy pooled eight studies of people with COPD who used pursed lips during exercise. They took fewer breaths per minute and moved less air per minute than without the technique. The distance they walked in six minutes didn't change, and the authors asked for better-quality studies.

On posture, there's a small study presented at a conference in 2023: 16 healthy adults did very intense intervals and rested in four positions. Heart rate came down faster lying on their backs than standing. Among the standing positions, hands on knees, hands on head or slow walking, there was no difference.

In short: there's evidence that pursed lips lower breathing rate in people with COPD, and almost nothing measured in athletes. Here it's offered as an orderly way to settle down, nothing more.

What it feels like and what to notice

The first few breaths may come up short. After a hard effort, 3 seconds through the nose feels like too little air and 6 seconds out feels like too long. That's normal. By the fourth or fifth breath the count starts to fit, and you feel your pulse less in your throat.

The air leaving through your lips makes a soft whoosh you can hear. Use it as a guide: if it sounds even, you're on track. If you get dizzy or tingly, feel pain or pressure in your chest, or the breathlessness doesn't ease with rest, drop the count. That's no longer a job for a guided breath: get help.

Variations

• Easier (2-4 variation): breathe in for 2 seconds and out through the lips for 4, the classic pursed-lip count, until you have enough air for 3 and 6.
• If your nose can't keep up (variation): for the first few breaths, take the air in through your mouth and keep the long exhale through the lips. Go back to the nose as soon as you can.
• Lying down (variation): on your back, knees bent, the same 3 and 6 count.
• Longer (4-8 variation): once you're breathing easily, move on to the long exhale 4-8 through the nose.

Common mistakes

• Blowing hard. Your lips slow the air down; there's no need to push it or puff your cheeks.
• Standing stock-still the moment you stop. A few slow steps first, then the count.
• Forcing the nose while you're still panting. Wait a few breaths, or use the mouth variation.
• Folding over and squeezing your belly. If you lean on your knees, keep your back long so your ribs can move.
• Counting fast to reach 6. If you can't get there, use the 2-4 variation.
• Pushing on when something hurts. Let go of the count at any odd sign.

How often and how long

Two minutes at the end of each workout is enough. Between sets, four or five breaths will do. You don't need more: once you're breathing quietly through your nose, the sequence has done its part.

The American Lung Association recommends learning pursed lips while you're breathing comfortably, not when you're already short of breath. The same goes here: try it at home first, sitting down, a couple of times. Then when you show up winded, the move is already familiar.

Before you start

• If you have chest pain or pressure, dizziness that doesn't pass, or sudden or severe shortness of breath after exercise, stop and call 911 or your local emergency number.
• If you feel dizzy or tingly during the count, let it go and breathe normally.
• If you have a heart, lung or blood pressure condition, or you're pregnant, check with your care provider first about exercise and about this breathing pattern.
• This is a practice for adults. It doesn't replace any rehabilitation instructions you've been given.