Respiration range: both deep and fast

Our respiration - how we breathe - isn’t something we hear much about in the cycling world. But it has a direct impact on our performance. This is one of our Toolbox concepts that you should be working on all the time. There are a few aspects to explore when considering our respiration: how we breathe - using our nose and proper technique, along with the quality of our respiration.

Deep and fast

To these ideas let’s now layer on the idea of versatility. As with our cadence range concept we need versatility in our respiration. As an athlete, you need to be able to breathe both slowly and deeply (good quality) and quickly, with good co-ordination (quickly).

At all times when we are riding, the first goal is to keep the depth and quality of our breathing going for as long we can, even as our effort increases. Deep, slow breathing means breathing in the range of < 6 breaths/15-seconds.

As your effort heads above tempo though you should be able to breathe faster, with your rate of respiration increasing as you push up into VO2. Many riders struggle with their breathing rate as they reach VO2, finding themselves unable to breathe quickly enough. A good target at VO2 is 40 breaths per minute. If you aren’t reaching this respiration rate when doing your hard efforts a focus on the speed of your breathing will be important.

Tracking your respiration

Rather than counting for a full minute you can take 15-seconds on the clock and count your breaths. Breathing in and out = a count of 1. Endurance and tempo riding should be done < 6 breaths/15-seconds, which is <24 breaths/minute. Your respiration rate should increase as you push up into threshold, still trying to maintain that respiration quality as best you can, with a goal of 10+ breaths/15-seconds at VO2, or 40 breaths/minute.

Count the respiration rate on the ride into the finish up the Volcano in a Zwift Haute Route stage from 2021.

Working on your respiration is something you can do during almost all of your training rides. It is more challenging to do at VO2, but still something to pay attention to. If you find yourself struggling at VO2, it may be that your breathing co-ordination isn’t good enough.