As I recall,from my yoga and martial arts days of long ago,breathing in through the nose while expanding the diaphram and then exhaling twice through the mouth was suposed to get rid of all the carbon dioxide and allow more oxigen to be absorbed. It worked well when I could still run. It works well now when paddling hard for an extended period.

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Isle Royale backpack trip. Last uphill before descending to lakeside campsite. I was out of water and swallowed a bug of some sort and was gagging/choking.
One of the guys handed me his canteen and I took a big gulp. Should of known
It wasn't water, it was Jack Daniels
I'm not a booze drinker, especially straight.
I don't know which one was worse, but the guys said that the bug suffered no pain and died happy

FWIW.......

My experience is the air breathing style I gleaned from some climbers I had become acquainted with while working at Mt Rainier has served me best when it is a situation where one must work hard for a sustained span of time.

I have proven it over and over to myself that it does indeed work. When I find myself struggling on a steep incline or fighting a nasty headwind on my bike or ascending a 3 mile switchback trail (plenty such slogs out west) if I discipline myself to breathe in through my nose and blow hard out my mouth. I calm down and typically can sustain a much longer and steadier pace than if I am huffin and puffin just through my mouth. Scientifically not sure what the dif is but all I know is it works........common practice amongst climbers even in the thin air.

It might not be for everybody, I just know it works and works well for me.

Good one Joe about the "extra protein"  ........ >>Which reminds me of hiking in Glacier National Park, I was alongside Elizabeth lake and a party of 3 were hiking on the other side early in the morning when all of a sudden one of their members started coughing and gagging like he was about to die....It went on for a few minutes...I still remember being very concerned. When we met up I asked if he was OK and all that had happened was that he had gotten a bug caught in his throat! 

Good article, but it didn't give credit for all the extra protein you ingest when breathing through your mouth in canoe country. 

Good stuff.  But when I get to the point where I'm into a vigorous work out, not sure I'm breathing "freely"....feels and probably sounds more like sucking air...

Good info and the idea of breathing "freely" however you choose to do it is key, except for certain conditions both physical and climate related.
I still see guys in the gym forcibly inhaling/exhaling thru just their mouths while lifting weights, to the point of physical strain.
I guess they need to read that article

Recently came across this article dealing with nose vs mouth breathing during exercise.

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I use my bushy mustache to filter the bugs.

Interval training? That's like an uphill portage no? All out, recover at a moderate pace, grab another pack and go again.

At the end of a difficult portage, doesn't everyone take a deep breath and exhale through pursed lips? Isn't that the natural thing to do? It must help otherwise everyone wouldn't do it.

I think I normally do what you guys are talking about throughout the inclines. I expect it comes rather natural to other smokers. Take in all that good stuff in nice and deep and blow it out slowly under a little pressure so it finds/clears every nook and cranny of our lungs.

I'll often inhale through my teeth like a biker though. I get the extra amount of air I need plus it filters out the bugs.

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And HE said that Evil Black rifle was just for Prairie Dogs

If you read the links I posted about nose breathing during strenuous exercise and running, they explain why a mouth breather will feel a decline in performance at first when learning to breath again from the nose predominately.
Under heavy enough exertion or when your at or past your aerobic thresh-hold, you'll start mouth breathing whether you want to or not.
We start out as babies breathing thru our noses, somewhere along the way, most lose some or all of the ability. Re-learning something that comes so natural as a child after years of doing it differently is no easy task.
Your normal pace as a mouth breather may drop off, but you should see a increase in stamina/distance albeit at a lower speed. Distance and effort builds stamina. The longer you work at a slower sustained work load the harder you can go in short bursts and the faster you recover afterward.
Reason why sprinters/bikers do interval training. All out, recover at a moderate pace, then go again. You keep bumping up/shortening the recovery phase, the longer you can go all out.