Jog a 12-minute mile and you torch 8 calories per minute. Crank it to an 8-minute-mile pace and you melt 13! That adds up to as many as 250 extra calories on a 50-minute run. How do you speed up without feeling as if you're going to see your breakfast again? On your first foot strike, inhale "a sip" of air through your nose and mouth>, explains Alison McConnell, Ph.D., author of Breathe Strong, Perform Better. Exhale through your mouth on your third foot strike. You'll naturally fall into a rhythm of inhaling and exhaling every two steps, McConnell says. Why it works: Your diaphragm, the sheet of muscles that power your lungs, moves downward every time you inhale, but it's nestled between your lungs and your liver and stomach, which all move up and down as you run. When you match your cadence with your breaths, everything syncs up as you stride. Suddenly, you'll run smoother, so speeding up will seem weirdly easy. Which takes us back to that 250-calorie bonus burn. You're welcome.
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