The Oxygen Advantage: The Simple, Scientifically Proven Breathing Techniques for a Healthier, Slimmer, Faster, and Fitter You

by Patrick McKeown

When we breathe too much over a period of hours to days, as in the case of chronic stress, the respiratory center adjusts to a lower tolerance of carbon dioxide. Having a lower than normal tolerance to carbon dioxide results in the respiratory center increasing the rate of impulses to the respiratory muscles. The result is habitual overbreathing and excess breathlessness during physical exercise.

The need for air signifies an accumulation of arterial carbon dioxide, the goal of which is to reset the respiratory center’s tolerance to this gas. To assist with this, it is very helpful to exert gentle pressure against your chest and abdomen with your hands. Try to maintain the need for air for the duration of 4 to 5 minutes.

To practice this exercise, it can be very helpful to sit in front of a mirror to observe and follow your breathing movements. • Sit up straight. Allow your shoulders to relax. Imagine a piece of string gently holding you up from the top of the back of your head. At the same time, feel the space between your ribs gradually widening. • Place one hand on your chest and one hand just above your navel. • Feel your abdomen gently moving outward as you inhale and gently moving inward as you exhale. • As you breathe, exert gentle pressure with your hands against your abdomen and chest. This should create resistance to your breathing. • Breathe against your hands, concentrating on making the size of each breath smaller. • With each breath, take in less air than you would like to. Make the in-breath smaller or shorter. • Gently slow down and reduce your breathing movements until you feel a tolerable hunger for air. • Breathe out with a relaxed exhalation. Allow the natural elasticity of your lungs and diaphragm to play their role in each exhalation. Imagine a balloon slowly and gently deflating of its own accord. • When the in-breath becomes smaller and the out-breath is relaxed, visible breathing movements will be reduced. You may be able to notice this in a mirror.

Remember, you are trying to create an air shortage that is tolerable but not stressful. Aim to maintain this tolerable “air hunger” for 3 to 5 minutes at a time. Practicing 2 sets of 5-minute exercises is enough to help you reset your breathing center and improve your body’s tolerance for carbon dioxide.

When you practice Breathing Light, the accumulation of carbon dioxide in the blood will result in certain physiological changes in the body. These include: • A feeling of increased warmth resulting from the dilation of blood vessels • A rosy red color coming into the face • Increased production of watery saliva in the mouth, which is an indication that your body is going into relaxation mode and activating the parasympathetic nervous system

There is only one way to change your breathing volume and rate, and that is by slowing down and diminishing the size of each breath in order to create a shortage of air. In time, as breathing volume changes toward normal, you will obtain a higher BOLT measurement and the number of breaths you take per minute will automatically reduce.

Tom Piszkin

Tom has since dedicated his life to his two passions of sports and inventing. He is currently a triathlon coach at the University of California at San Diego and creator of TitanFlex bikes. He is also certified as a USA Olympic Triathlon coach.

breathing ensures a number of benefits that are essential not only for good health but for improved sports performance, including: • Filtering, warming, and humidifying air before it is drawn into the lungs • Reducing the heart rate • Bringing nitric oxide into the lungs to open airways and blood vessels • Better oxygen delivery throughout the body • Reduced lactic acid as more oxygen is delivered to working muscles

Here is a general guideline of exercise ability (with the mouth closed) according to BOLT score: • If your BOLT score is 5 seconds, your ability to walk is seriously hampered. Climbing one flight of stairs will be challenging, requiring you to stop every 3 or 4 steps in order to take a rest. • If your BOLT score is 10 seconds, you will be able to walk slowly. • If your BOLT score is 20 seconds, you will be able to walk quickly or jog lightly. • If your BOLT score is 30 seconds, you will be able to jog at a medium to fast pace. • If your BOLT score is 40 seconds, you will be able to run quickly.

During physical exercise, there are three ways to reduce air intake: 1. Relax your body and take less air into your lungs. 2. Increase exercise intensity while nasal breathing. 3. Practice breath holding during exercise.

When you first switch to nasal breathing you may find that your ability to train at maximum pace is impeded.

breath-holding exercises during your warm-up can be very advantageous, as can practicing breathing recovery during your cooldown.

The best way to improve breathing for competition is to improve your everyday breathing, and the key to this is obtaining a higher BOLT score.

The objective of a warm-up is to increase blood flow and prepare the body for more intense physical exercise, thus reducing the incidence of sports-related injuries and improving overall performance.

she feels quite breathless during the first 10 to 20 minutes of a game, while at the end of the game she feels as if she could go on playing forever. This is a common complaint within the world of sport, and usually comes down to a lack of warm-up. The best way to avoid early breathlessness during exercise is to increase your BOLT score and spend more time warming up with nasal breathing.

Oxygen Advantage Warm-Up • Begin walking at a pace that is comfortable for you. • During your warm-up, try to breathe regularly and calmly through your nose, using your diaphragm to maintain a gentle and relaxed breathing technique. • Feel your abdomen gently moving outward as you inhale and gently moving inward as you exhale. • As you walk, allow a feeling of relaxation to spread throughout your body. Silently encourage the area around your chest and abdomen to relax (you will find that any tension can be released by silently telling that area of the body to relax). Feel your body relax and become soft. Body relaxation during physical exercise helps to ensure steady, calm, and regular breathing. • After 1 minute or so of walking at a fairly good pace, exhale normally through your nose and pinch your nose with your fingers to hold the breath. (If you are in a public place, you might prefer to hold the breath without holding your nose.) • While holding your breath, walk for 10 to 30 paces, or until you feel a moderate need to breathe. When you feel this hunger for air, let go of your nose and resume breathing through your nose. • Continue walking for 10 minutes, performing a breath hold every minute or so.

Creating an air shortage by holding the breath during your warm-up is vitally important to cause an accumulation of carbon dioxide in the blood before physical exercise commences. Your breathing will naturally increase when you exercise more intensely, but without a corresponding increase in the production of CO2, the result will be a net loss of carbon dioxide. This loss can lead to reduced oxygen delivery to working muscles and the constriction of airways and blood vessels.

Breathe Light to Breathe Right—Jogging, Running, or Any Other Activity

Breathing Recovery Exercise Following physical exercise, cool down by walking for 3 to 5 minutes, performing the following small breath holds: • Exhale as normal through the nose. • Pinch your nose with your fingers to hold the breath for 2 to 5 seconds. • Breathe normally through the nose for 10 seconds. • Repeat the first 3 steps throughout your cooldown. • Resume regular breathing.

For hundreds of thousands of years, breath holding was practiced extensively by our ancestors for the purposes of foraging for food by diving in a deep-water environment, and some evolutionary theorists even suggest that it might have been responsible for a number of unique human features.

after as few as 5 breath holds, the oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood can be significantly improved with the help of the spleen. This organ also influences how long a person can hold their breath for. In one study, participants were able to achieve their longest breath hold on their third attempt.

breath-holding ability improves with repetition as the spleen contracts, releasing additional red blood cells into circulation and improving the oxygen-carrying capacity of the body.

It is important that you are always able to resume calm breathing following a breath hold. The shorter the BOLT score, the easier it is to lose control of your breathing.

You can take bicarbonate of soda an hour or so before training. When you are used to taking it before training, you may also wish to do so before a competition. But like anything else, there is no point in overdoing it. As a precautionary measure, please talk to your doctor before using this approach.

½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (also known as baking soda or bread soda) 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar 1. Put the bicarbonate of soda in a glass. 2. Add the apple cider vinegar and stir for about 1 minute, or until the soda is thoroughly dissolved. 3. Drink the mixture. It will taste a little acidic.

Another study found that when hyperventilation reduces arterial concentration of carbon dioxide, physiological changes occur in the brain, causing dizziness and concentration problems. Researchers discovered that reduced levels of carbon dioxide detrimentally affected performance that required attention, causing progressively slower reaction times and an increase in errors.

hyperventilation reduces the concentration of carbon dioxide in the blood. This leads to a narrowing of blood vessels and reduced delivery of oxygen to the brain. An oxygen-deprived brain is more excitable and agitated, and as it floods with self-generated thoughts, anxiety kicks in. One contributes to the other, creating a vicious and self-perpetuating cycle.

• A most important practice to discourage heavy breathing at night is to Breathe Light to Breathe Right for 15 to 20 minutes before going to sleep. This exercise is especially good for calming the mind and helping you to experience deep sleep during the nights leading up to competition.

Perform 10 minutes of Breathe Light to Breathe Right (page 74), 4 times per day, with 1 session just before bed and 1 just after waking. • Stop and observe the breath for 1 to 2 minutes at various times throughout the day to further reduce overthinking. • Tape the mouth closed before retiring to sleep to ensure nasal breathing at night. • Practice the Breathing Recovery Exercise (page 91) whenever he felt anxious or stressed. • Walk with the mouth closed for 30 minutes daily. • Pay attention to appetite and eat only when hungry. • Reduce alcohol consumption to no more than 2 servings of alcohol each night for the first week. From week 2, reduce drinking to every other night.

During our first consultation, Eamon practiced the Breathing Recovery Exercise of holding his breath for 5 seconds, followed by normal breathing for 10 seconds. He continued this for about 5 minutes before taking a rest. Following the Breathing Recovery Exercise I asked Eamon to place his hands on his chest and abdomen, and to apply gentle pressure with his hands to slow down his breathing and create a light air shortage. He practiced Breathe Light to Breathe Right for 3 minutes. Despite experiencing a mild urge for air, within minutes he started to feel tension lifting from his head. I’m pretty sure this was the turning point for Eamon. Breathing light had improved his blood flow and body oxygenation after just a couple of minutes—assuring him that this was indeed the way forward.

an individual who chronically overbreathes will expel too much carbon dioxide, increasing blood pH to alkaline levels above 7.45. One hypothesis for the relationship between overbreathing and weight gain is that the body craves processed and acid-forming foods in an effort to normalize blood pH. Correct breathing volume and a good diet work together to keep blood pH at a healthy balance.

when it comes to long-term stress, persistent overbreathing decreases carbon dioxide levels for extended periods of time, meaning blood pH is not given the opportunity to normalize. Notable health practitioners around the world advise eating alkaline-forming foods such as fruit and vegetables and avoiding an excess of acid-forming foods such as animal protein, grains, and processed foods. And though the majority of us know what it means to eat healthily, the temptation of processed and sugary foods can sometimes be impossible to ignore. Are we just following the demands of our bodies, or is there a way to get rid of these urges for unhealthy food naturally?

practice the Breathe Light to Breathe Right exercise for 10 minutes, 4 times a day in order to reduce your breathing volume toward normal and increase your BOLT score. Even a gentle approach like this can be enough to kick-start a reduction in appetite and help toward achieving healthy weight-loss goals.

For those with a BOLT score of more than 20 seconds and who are relatively healthy, in addition to practicing the above exercise you can also begin to incorporate breath holding into your physical exercise to simulate high-altitude training, as described in chapter 7. Holding the breath during walking, jogging, or running to create a medium to strong hunger for air decreases the oxygen saturation of the blood to below 94 percent, which can lead to a suppression of appetite. I

Habitual overbreathing involves breathing more air than your body requires during rest and exercise. Overbreathing leads to: • A reduction of the gas carbon dioxide in the blood • Mouth breathing and underutilization of the gas nitric oxide • Impaired release of oxygen from red blood cells (see the Bohr Effect.) • Constriction of the smooth muscle in the blood vessels and airways • Adverse effects on blood pH • Reduced oxygenation of working muscles and organs, including the heart and brain • Increased acidity and fatigue during exercise • Limited sports performance • Negative effects to overall health

Benefits of practicing the Oxygen Advantage program include: • Improved sleep and energy • Easier breathing with reduced breathlessness during exercise • Naturally increasing the production of EPO and red blood cells • Improving oxygenation of working muscles and organs • Reduction of lactic acid buildup and fatigue • Improved running economy and VO2 max • Improved aerobic performance • Improved anaerobic performance

During reduced breathing exercises it is vital that you create a hunger for air in order to bring about an accumulation of carbon dioxide in the blood. When this happens, the respiratory center in the brain is reset toward a calmer and more normal breathing volume. In order to reset the respiratory center by just a little, it is necessary to experience an air hunger for about 10 minutes. You can divide most of the exercises in this book into 2 sets of 5-minute sessions, or, if you feel you are confident and experienced in reduced breathing, you may practice for 10 minutes straight.