Top Coach Says 90% of Runners Are Breathing Wrong – These 2 Drills Fix It

Runners love complexity. We’ll analyse cadence, obsess over carbon-plated shoes, debate fuelling strategies and build spreadsheets around zone training. But according to endurance coach David ‘Jacko’ Jackson, most runners are overlooking one of the most powerful performance levers available to them – the way they breathe.

In his new book, Breathe Smarter, Run Stronger, Jackson argues that breathing is more than just a background process keeping you alive while you run. It directly influences posture, nervous system regulation, perceived effort and how efficiently your body transfers force into the ground. Yet despite its importance, breathing remains one of the least coached skills in endurance sport.

Research cited in the book suggests this is a bigger issue than most runners realise. One study Jackson references found that 90.6% of athletes showed signs of dysfunctional breathing during biomechanics testing, while another suggested around 40% of runners experience breathing limitations during running that can restrict performance.

In other words, the vast majority of us may be leaving performance on the table simply because we’ve never learned to breathe properly. Jackson’s core argument is simple: better breathing makes running feel easier – efficient breathing keeps the body calmer, more economical and better coordinated under stress.

‘Better breathing is not about getting more air – it’s about using the air you have more efficiently,’ Jackson says.

The good news is that fixing this doesn’t require complex protocols or a massive overhaul of your training. Jackson’s approach centres around simple drills that teach the body to breathe more effectively and carry those patterns into running. Two in particular stand out for their simplicity and immediate payoff.

Before you can breathe well while running, Jackson argues, you first need to learn what efficient breathing actually feels like. A common issue among runners is upper-chest breathing, where the shoulders rise and the chest lifts with each inhale. This pattern is inefficient, often linked to tension and poor posture, and can make breathing feel laboured once intensity increases.

Instead, Jackson emphasises diaphragm-driven breathing, where the breath expands the lower ribs and abdomen. One of the simplest ways to relearn this pattern is a drill known as crocodile breathing.

To perform it, lie face down on the floor with your forehead resting on your hands and allow your body to relax completely. Inhale slowly through your nose and focus on expanding your stomach into the floor beneath you. Rather than lifting your chest, imagine the breath spreading around your lower ribs and abdomen. Exhale calmly through the nose and allow the body to soften. Repeat for 10–15 slow breaths.

The position provides natural feedback: if the diaphragm is working properly, you’ll feel the abdomen press gently into the floor with each breath. Jackson explains that this exercise helps retrain breathing mechanics by shifting effort away from the neck and chest muscles and toward the diaphragm, which is designed to handle the bulk of the work. Over time, this pattern can help runners stay calmer under effort and maintain more efficient breathing during long runs or races. Used before a run, crocodile breathing acts as a reset – encouraging relaxed breathing mechanics before you even start moving.

Once breathing mechanics improve, the next step is maintaining control of your breathing during the run itself. One of Jackson’s key tools for this is stride–synchronised breathing – matching your breath rhythm to your running cadence.

Many runners allow breathing to become chaotic as intensity rises. The moment discomfort appears, breathing speeds up and becomes shallow, which can create a spiral of tension and fatigue. Synchronising breath with stride introduces rhythm and control.

Jackson recommends starting with a 2:3 breathing pattern: inhale for two steps and exhale for three steps. This slightly longer exhale helps keep breathing relaxed and prevents breath-holding under effort. If that pattern feels difficult initially, you can begin with a 2:2 rhythm until it becomes comfortable. The goal is to create a steady rhythm that keeps breathing from spiralling out of control as the run progresses.

Jackson explains that when breathing falls into rhythm with movement, the body naturally becomes more economical.

Perhaps the biggest takeaway from Breathe Smarter, Run Stronger is that breathing isn’t just an uncontrollable reaction to effort – it’s a skill that can be trained. Most of us accept gasping for air as an unavoidable part of pushing hard. Jackson’s perspective is that this often reflects poor breathing mechanics rather than physiological limitations.

By improving breathing efficiency, runners can stay calmer, delay fatigue and make running feel more sustainable. Or as he summarises in the book: ‘The best runners don’t just run efficiently – they breathe efficiently.’

For runners chasing marginal gains, it’s a reminder that sometimes the biggest performance upgrade isn’t a new training plan or piece of kit. It’s learning how to do what you’re already doing, better.

Breathe Smarter, Run Stronger by David ‘Jacko’ Jackson is available now.

Andrew Tracey

With almost 18 years in the health and fitness space as a personal trainer, nutritionist, breath coach and writer, Andrew has spent nearly half of his life exploring how to help people improve their bodies and minds.    

As our fitness editor he prides himself on keeping Men’s Health at the forefront of reliable, relatable and credible fitness information, whether that’s through writing and testing thousands of workouts each year, taking deep dives into the science behind muscle building and fat loss or exploring the psychology of performance and recovery.   

Whilst constantly updating his knowledge base with seminars and courses, Andrew is a lover of the practical as much as the theory and regularly puts his training to the test tackling everything from Crossfit and strongman competitions, to ultra marathons, to multiple 24 hour workout stints and (extremely unofficial) world record attempts.   

 You can find Andrew on Instagram at @theandrew.tracey, or simply hold up a sign for ‘free pizza’ and wait for him to appear.