Have you ever noticed people getting ready for any sporting event, to get the best performance from their bodies they always warm it up first to get the blood flowing.

But what about the lungs? Its all good and well getting your body ready for a good workout but if the supply of oxygen to the muscles is poor because of bad breathing habits its easy to see youre not going to get the best from them.

Here are some tips to start you on the right path.

Make sure you get in the habit of setting aside some extra time to do a little breathing exercise to prepare your lungs for the job ahead. It wont take as long as your stretching exercises but its just as important if not more. For the first 5-10 minutes do a little amount of walking as youre doing this focus on your breathing.

Start to relax your belly on the inhale this allows your diaphragm to go down into its fullest position and thus fill your lungs to fill to a greater capacity. Then on the exhale retract your belly back in towards your spine thus helping the diaphragm to fully contract and empty the lungs better. (you want to get as much of that stale air out as possible before you breathe in again!) It may take a little while to get use to doing this but stick with it and remember how much youre muscles are going to thank you for this added oxygen flow.

When youre out on your run try to breathe for as long as possible through your nose, this filters unwanted debris out of your air ways and helps to warm the air in the nasal cavity before it enters your lungs (especially important on those cold mornings.)

These new breathing techniques may be hard at first to get used to but your body will adapt over time. You may even notice a difference in your running times,.. you might not be setting world record times but hey who knows what might happen'