Nose vs. mouth breathing – Acute effect of different breathing regimens on muscular endurance

Background We know that the way we breathe (weather through the nose or mouth) can influence many aspects of our health and to some extent, sport performance. Does the way of breathing (nose vs. mouth) influence muscular endurance?Methods We conducted an experiment in which we verified the acute effect of different breathing regimens (NN, nasal - inhaling and exhaling through the nose; NM, oro-nasal - inhaling through the nose, exhaling through the mouth; MM, oral - inhaling and exhaling through the mouth) on the muscular endurance performance. 107 young physically active college students (68 males, 39 females) performed repeated bench press testing protocol (repetitions to failure with 60% of body weight for males – BP60, respectively 40% of body weight for females – BP40) with various breathing regimens (NN, NM, MM) in random order. We also measured heart rate, blood oxygen saturation and perceived exertion by Borg scale (RPE).Results In both sexes, no significant differences in number of repetitions, perceived exertion and blood oxygen saturation were shown between the selected breathing modes (ns). We did not record any case of deviation of saturation outside the physiological norm. We noticed significantly lower heart rate values ​​in the male group at BP60 with the NN regimen, compared to NM (p = 0.033) and MM (p = 0.047). These differences, although significant, were lower than the usual statistical deviation (3–4 bpm; 3%) and have only small effect.Conclusion Pure nasal breathing (NN) seems to be just as effective as other two regimens which use the mouth (NM, MM) in context of muscular endurance performance. Based on our findings and the mentioned negative consequences of oral breathing, we recommend using purely nasal breathing during training for muscular endurance.