3 Strange Tips to Increase Stamina
If you run, cycle, or just want more gas in the tank during everyday effort, the usual advice is predictable: run more, sleep more, eat clean. All true, all useful — and all things you've heard a hundred times. This video takes a different angle, pointing to something most people never think about when it comes to stamina: how you breathe.
It sounds almost too simple to matter. But breathing is one of the few bodily functions that runs on autopilot and yet can be consciously trained — and the way you're currently doing it, without realizing, may be quietly working against your endurance.
Tip 1: Breathe Through Your Nose, Not Your Mouth
The first tip is about the mechanics of breathing itself: nasal breathing versus mouth breathing. Mouth breathing, the video explains, is bad for the body — it doesn't stimulate the same physiological areas that nasal breathing does. Breathing in and out through the nose engages the body differently, and that difference matters for how efficiently you take in and use air.
This is a simple habit to start noticing today. Next time you're walking, jogging, or even just sitting at your desk, check in — is your mouth open and doing the work, or are you pulling air in and pushing it out through your nose? Building the awareness is the first step before you can build the habit.
Tip 2: Practice a Deep Hold-Breathing Exercise
The second tip is a specific breathing exercise you can practice deliberately, separate from your regular training:
- Take a deep inhale.
- Do a deep exhale.
- Hold — and hold for as long as you comfortably can.
- Then inhale again.
Repeat this cycle three to six times, adjusting the number of rounds to whatever feels right for you on a given day. The idea is to train your body's tolerance for holding and controlling breath, rather than reflexively gasping for the next inhale the moment you feel a little short of air. Over time, that kind of controlled practice can extend your comfort zone under exertion — which is exactly what stamina is.
Tip 3: Slow Your Breathing Rate Down
The third tip zeroes in on how fast you breathe. The average person breathes somewhere around 12 to 16 times per minute — and according to the video, that's not actually great breathing. The suggestion is to consciously slow it down: make each breath a little longer and a little slower, aiming for roughly 8 to 12 breaths per minute instead.
Fewer, longer breaths mean each one is doing more work, rather than a fast, shallow cycle that keeps your body a little more on edge than it needs to be. This is a habit you can practice anywhere — while walking, during a warm-up, or in quiet moments through the day — long before you ever try to bring it into a run.