Frido Care
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Nose & breathing

Does your mouth fall open before your legs get tired?

Your nose might be the weak link in your workout. It filters, warms and moistens every breath, and when it can't keep up you switch to your mouth. Here is why it happens, how to check, and what helps.

Your physiotherapist shared this with you. Follow the plan they gave you; this page explains it.

Download your home guidePDF with a 14-day tick sheet Take the exerciseBreathe along, 3 guided patterns Send to someoneOn WhatsApp

Watch first

The whole thing in 1:47. Each part below has its own short clip.

Your plan in three stages

1Relieve

Breathe through your nose in this session.

More on this: What actually works: timingWhere a Frido strip fits

2Restore

Keep the nose working, session after session.

  • Every day: a saltwater rinse, and a spray if your doctor gives you one.
  • No decongestant spray for more than 5 days, and check cold tablets with a pharmacist before a race.
  • Keep your mouth closed on the easy parts of every session.

More on this: Find your typeQuick fixes that backfireBefore each session

3Reinforce

Train your nose breathing and check your progress.

  • A few minutes of calm nose breathing a day: in over 2 steps, out over 4. Watch how (demo video, opens in a new tab)
  • Redo the two-minute checks after two weeks of the plan.
  • If the shape inside your nose is the cause, a specialist may suggest surgery in the off-season.
  • See a doctor if you cough or wheeze when you exercise, or nothing has changed after 6 weeks.

More on this: Breathe alongCheck yourself in two minutesWhen to see a doctor

01

What happens to your nose when you exercise

When you exercise, the inside of your nose opens up a little. But the air rushes in faster, and that pulls the soft sides of your nose inward, just inside the nostrils.

If those sides give way, your nose can't keep up, and your mouth opens even at an easy pace.

Exercise shrinks the lining, but faster air pulls soft side walls in; if the walls give way, you switch to your mouth at an easy pace.
Two things happen when you exercise. The soft side walls decide whether your nose keeps up.

Breathing through your mouth on very hard efforts is normal. It's needing your mouth when the effort is easy that tells you something.

02

What it costs you

  1. Air that skips your nose's filter, warmth and moisture
  2. Airways that can tighten more, especially if you have exercise asthma
  3. Worse sleep and recovery

It won't slow your top speed, but it costs you everything around the workout. And it's common if you train: 7 in 10 athletes have nose trouble. If your nose also blocks at night, read Can't breathe through your nose at night?

03

Check yourself in two minutes

  1. The warm-up test. Keep your mouth closed through an easy 5-minute warm-up. If you need your mouth at an easy pace, your nose is the weak link.
  2. The cheek pull. Breathe in through your nose, then again while gently pulling one cheek outward. Easier with the pull? The soft sides of your nose are caving in.
  3. Score it. From 0 to 10, how much did your nose bother you in training this week? 5 or more: act on it.

Do all three again after two weeks of your plan, and bring the scores to your next visit.

04

Find your type

If you notice...It's likely
Itching and sneezing, worse in pollen seasonAn allergy swelling the lining
A runny or blocked nose that starts with the session, the cold or the poolThe lining reacting to exercise, cold air or chlorine
It's worse each time a decongestant spray wears offThe spray itself keeping the lining swollen
One side always worse after an old knockThe shape inside your nose
Pulling your cheek outward helpsSoft side walls caving in
05

Quick fixes that backfire

  • A decongestant spray before every session. After 5 days it makes the swelling come back worse.
  • Cold and flu tablets on race day. Some contain a medicine that is banned in competition. Ask your doctor or pharmacist before you race.
  • Warming up too early. The opening effect fades within 20 minutes of stopping.
06

What actually works: timing

When each fix works: warm up before, hold the walls open during, rinse after, treat the lining every day, fix the frame in the off-season.
When each fix works.
  1. Before: warm up, finishing close to the start. Watch a warm-up (demo video, opens in a new tab)
  2. During: a nasal strip holds the soft sides open.
  3. Every day: a saltwater rinse, and a spray if your doctor gives you one. Watch how to rinse (demo video, opens in a new tab)
  4. Off-season: if the shape inside your nose is the cause, a specialist may suggest surgery.
07

Where a Frido strip fits

A nasal strip works like a spring. It lifts the soft sides of your nose so they don't cave in on a hard breath. It helps most if the cheek pull made breathing easier.

Recommended

Frido Nasal Strip Pro

₹499 ₹1,000 · Sweat- and oil-resistant grip for training, pack of 15

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The honest part: it holds your nose open while you wear it. It doesn't treat an allergy or a swollen lining, and it won't make you fitter or faster.

Putting it on

  • Clean, dry skin, across the widest part of your nose.
  • If you sweat a lot, put it on 30 minutes before the session.
  • Use each strip once, and wet it before you peel it off.
08

Before each session

  1. Rinse with saltwater if you're stuffy. Watch how to do it (demo video, opens in a new tab)
  2. Put on a strip if the cheek pull helped.
  3. Warm up close to the start.
  4. Keep your mouth closed on the easy parts. In over 2 steps, out over 4. Watch how (demo video, opens in a new tab)

Don't use a decongestant spray for more than 5 days, and check cold tablets with a pharmacist before a race.

09

Breathe along

A few minutes of calm nose breathing a day helps your nose and your breathing work together. Pick an exercise and follow along.

Follow the circle: it grows as you breathe in and shrinks as you breathe out. Breathe through your nose, mouth closed, shoulders relaxed.

Ready

  1. Breathing control At rest · 10 rounds, about 1 min

    Lie or sit back, one hand on your stomach. Breathe in gently through your nose and feel your stomach rise; breathe out through your nose, longer than the in-breath, and pause.

    Breathe in 2 sBreathe out 3 sPause 1 s

    Source: Royal Berkshire NHS, 2025

  2. Short breath holds Through the day · 6 rounds, about 1 min

    Breathe gently through your nose, then stop and hold for a count of 2 or 3. Only as long as it doesn't make you take a bigger breath afterwards.

    Breathe in 2 sBreathe out 3 sHold 3 s

    Source: Royal Berkshire NHS, 2025

  3. Easy-run rhythm Before a run · 8 rounds, about 1 min

    The rhythm for nose breathing on easy runs and walks: in over 2 steps, out over 4. Practise it standing first, then take it on an easy run.

    Breathe in 2 sBreathe out 4 s

    Source: UCLH respiratory physiotherapy

Stop if you feel dizzy or light-headed, and shorten a hold if it makes you gasp afterwards. Cough, wheeze or chest tightness with exercise needs a doctor, not a breathing exercise.

10

When to see a doctor

See a doctor or your physiotherapist if:

  • you cough, wheeze or your chest feels tight when you exercise
  • your score is still 5 or more after a week of your plan
  • nothing has changed after 6 weeks

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