Use a stopwatch to calculate your .
Everyone breathes, from the time people emerge into the world until they die. Most do not give much or any thought to their breathing, but its rate can help determine how aerobically fit you are or can indicate signs of illness. According to the University of Virginia Health Center, breathing rate increases with illness, fever or exercise. To see if you have a higher or lower level than normal, record your respiration level and compare it with the normal level of 15 to 20 breaths per minute at rest.
Instructions
1. Sit quietly and start the stopwatch.
2. Count the number of breaths you take in one full minute. Consider each set of one inhalation and exhalation a single breath.
3. Stop the stopwatch after one minute and write down the number of breaths you took in that minute.
4. Repeat counting your breaths for another minute.
5. Add together the number of breaths you took from each trial and divide by two to find your rate. For instance, if you took 18 breaths the first minute and 16 the second minute, your breathing rate would be 18 + 16 = 34/2 = 17 breaths per minute.
6. Compare your average breathing rate to the normal level of 15 to 20 breaths per minute. According to the University of Virginia Health Center, anything higher than 25 or lower than 12 is considered abnormal.
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