BIO

My name is Allyson May and I am from Palm Harbor, Florida. I am currently majoring in Public Health applying to the Nursing Program next fall. I enjoy working out, hanging with my friends, and taking some time for myself!

The Effect of Nasal versus Oral Breathing on Heart Rate at Rest and During Exercise 

Abstract

Background: Previous research suggests that breathing through the nose can cause calmness and lower blood pressure compared to breathing through the mouth. This study focuses on the difference between nasal breathing and mouth breathing at rest, during submaximal exercise, and maximal exercise. In this study, we expect heart rate to be lower during nasal breathing than with mouth breathing during exercise and at rest.
Methods: We tested 10 healthy individuals. On average, they were 18 (+ or - 2 years) and a BMI between 18-30 kg/m^2. We recorded participants' heart rate, breathing rate during rest and exercise.
Results: Across both samples of graphs with nasal and mouth breathing, there was an increase in heart rate during mouth breathing at rest and during submaximal exercise. The mean for nasal breathing during rest is 73.5 and the standard deviation is 12.1. For mouth breathing at rest, the mean is 73.6 and the standard deviation is 11.6. The mean for nasal breathing during submaximal exercise is 136 and the standard deviation is 18.5. For mouth breathing during submaximal exercise, the mean is 136.4 and the standard deviation is 19.2.
Conclusions: Our preliminary findings demonstrate that there is a heavier workload when breathing through the mouth, which increases heart rate compared to nasal breathing. Moreover, there is a slight difference between heart rate during mouth breathing than nasal breathing during exercise when comparing the mean from the average heart rate from each mechanism.

Keywords: Nasal Versus Mouth Heart Rate