How to Breathe During Exercise and Workouts

THE IMPORTANCE OF BREATHING DURING EXERCISE

The way you breathe while working out plays a major role in your performance and recovery. Unfortunately, most people breathe too hard, fast, and through their mouths while exercising or playing sports. This dysfunctional breathing hampers performance, impedes many of the benefits of working out, and can contribute to poor health. Later we will share four tips on how to breathe during exercise, but first, we will examine why regular exercise is so important and why breathing optimally is vital for getting the most out of your workouts.

THE INCREDIBLE BENEFITS OF REGULAR EXERCISE

The human body was designed to lead a physically active life and exercise is required for optimal physical and mental health. Over the years research has consistently shown that people who exercise regularly are healthier, live longer, and are more content, productive, and resilient than those who don’t exercise. Exercise also helps to strengthen the immune system, increase energy, build strength and endurance, support healthy body weight, and improve sleep. Plus it reduces inflammation and your risk for nearly every chronic disease. And if you have a health condition, regardless of what it is, exercise will almost always give you better control over it.

In addition to all of the above, exercise helps to combat chronic stress which is an epidemic in today’s modern world. It enables quicker recovery after activation of the ‘fight or flight’ stress response, invokes a state of calm, and wards off anxiety and depression. And it allows you to release pent-up negative energy, enhances self-esteem, and is a useful tool to escape from the stress of work/life commitments.

*If you have a health condition you should check with your doctor before starting a new exercise regime.

WHY OPTIMAL BREATHING WHILE EXERCISING IS CRUCIAL

As mentioned above, most people breathe bigger, faster, and through their mouths while exercising. They do this in an attempt to get in ‘more oxygen’. But contrary to popular belief, breathing more does not increase oxygen levels; it leads to hyperventilation and reduces oxygen due to a loss of carbon dioxide (CO2) and the Bohr effect (more on this in “The Science” section). This disrupts the delicate balance of oxygen and CO2 and prevents the working muscles from receiving the oxygen they need to perform optimally.

Worsening the above is the fact that fast, hard breathing almost always equates to upper chest breathing. When you breathe into your upper chest during workouts (as opposed to the diaphragm), you experience poor core stability and your breathing muscles tire faster. Blood flow also diverts from your legs to support your breathing and you become more likely to get injured.

DYSFUNCTIONAL BREATHING DURING EXERCISE LEADS TO SEVERAL NEGATIVE EFFECTS:

• The bond between the red blood cells and oxygen becomes more ‘sticky’ leading to reduced delivery of oxygen from the blood to the tissues, muscles, and organs.
• Smooth muscles surrounding blood vessels and airways constrict, causing reduced blood circulation, and increased breathlessness and fatigue.
• The pH of the blood changes towards alkaline which negatively affects the immune system, reduces oxygen release from the blood, and can cause muscle cramps, nausea, dizziness, and more.
• Symptoms arise such as shortness of breath and exercise-induced asthma, increased mucus production, and activation of the stress response.
• Communication between brain cells becomes more erratic and this reduces brain function and focus.
• You ‘hit the wall’ early and are unable to achieve your maximum athletic/exercise potential.

CORRECT BREATHING IS THE KEY TO ATHLETIC EXCELLENCE

Based on the endemic belief of more breathing = more oxygen, many athletes adopt the practice of intentionally taking deep breaths during times of rest, training, and especially when the going is hard. However, as demonstrated above, by doing so, they are limiting endurance and improvements to their performance and preventing themselves from reaching their maximum athletic capacity. It is no wonder that regardless of how hard some people train, they still find it extremely difficult to improve their fitness levels beyond a certain point. It is also not surprising that many elite athletes experience sickness soon after they retire given that they’ve established dysfunctional breathing patterns which chip away at their health.

BENEFITS OF LEARNING HOW TO BREATHE DURING EXERCISE

Learning how to breathe during exercise will not only increase CO2 levels towards normal and protect you from the negative effects outlined above, it will also help to reduce your sensitivity to CO2. This is beneficial because CO2 produces the feeling of air hunger that limits your exercise capacity. If you are very sensitive to changes in blood CO2, you will become breathless sooner, and your performance will suffer. Conversely, research shows that low sensitivity to CO2 is one factor that sets outstanding endurance athletes apart from their less successful rivals.

BY ESTABLISHING PROPER BREATHING DURING EXERCISE, YOU WILL EXPERIENCE:

• Improved athletic performance with higher energy, stamina, and endurance levels. This, in turn, will allow you to increase the intensity and duration of your workouts.
• Decreased lactic acid production, and reduced burning sensations, muscular pain, and soreness during high-intensity workouts.
• Quicker recovery time.
• Optimized oxygen delivery to the brain, muscles, and organs.
• Improved functional breathing for functional movement.
• Increased training load to allow the body to run harder with less air.
• Reduced strain on the heart.
• A stronger immune system.
• Reduced breathlessness and protection against exercise-induced asthma.
• Several psychological benefits including the accessing of flow states, reduction of stress and anxiety, and improvement of focus and concentration.
• Optimal sleep, which further bolsters performance and recovery time.

TRACK YOUR PROGRESS WITH THE CONTROL PAUSE

The Control Pause (CP) is a measurement of how long you can comfortably hold your breath after a normal exhale and it’s an indicator of how well you are breathing and overall health. A low CP indicates dysfunctional breathing and that you are breathing in too large a volume of air. You can use the CP to measure your progress with breath retraining. As it increases, symptoms will reduce, and energy, endurance, and recovery will increase.

To Determine if You Are Breathing Correctly During Physical Exercise:

• Measure your CP before exercise.
• Perform physical exercise.
• Measure your CP 30 minutes after you have completed your exercise.
• If your CP measurement 30 minutes after exercise is higher than before the exercise you were breathing correctly.

Bear in Mind Two Points:

If your CP is measured immediately after exercise, it will probably be lower than your starting CP because of the existing air shortage. If 30 minutes after exercise your CP is still lower than your starting CP, you were breathing excessively during exercise.

HOW TO BREATHE WHEN WORKING OUT - 4 TIPS FOR PEAK PERFORMANCE

Learning how to breathe when working out will raise low CO2 levels towards normal, reduce your sensitivity to CO2, increase oxygenation of the muscles, and lead to the plethora of positive benefits outlined above.

BREATHING DURING EXERCISE TIP #1: SWITCH TO NOSE BREATHING

Nasal breathing during exercise is the latest performance-enhancing hack and switching to nasal breathing will allow for much greater progress. This comes as quite a shock to most people because mouth breathing is so predominant in every activity, and as exercise intensifies, most of us open our mouths. But breathing through the mouth perpetuates overbreathing, lowers CO2, fuels breathlessness and exercise-induced asthma, and severely hinders performance and recovery.

For optimum results, we encourage you to not only retrain yourself to breathe through your nose during exercise, but at all times – while working, at rest, and sleeping. This is important both for the general population and professional athletes. In fact, research shows top athletes experience a significant improvement in fitness levels within eight weeks of implementing nose breathing.

BENEFITS OF NOSE BREATHING DURING EXERCISE

Nasal breathing provides twice the airflow resistance than mouth breathing and increases tidal volume in the lungs. This, in turn, engages and strengthens the diaphragm, which stabilizes the core and improves stamina. And, studies show the extra resistance to airflow created when we breathe through the nose results in 10% to 20% more oxygen reaching the blood!

The nose also filters and adds moisture to the air, protecting the airways from irritation, dehydration, and constriction. Another big benefit of nasal breathing is that it releases nitric oxide which protects us from toxins and infectious viruses and bacteria and optimizes oxygen uptake. Plus it enhances sleep and helps prevent snoring and sleep apnea – which further bolsters health, athletic performance, and immunity. And finally, it slows the breath, and this in turn, helps prevent overbreathing, gives the lungs more time to extract oxygen from inhaled air, and helps to reverse the effects of chronic stress.

HOW TO MAKE THE SWITCH TO NOSE BREATHING DURING EXERCISE

Initially, breathing only through the nose might feel impossible because of an ingrained habit to breathe through your mouth. But don’t worry, as breathing through your nose is easy to master and the benefits are well worth it. When the change to nasal breathing is first made, fitness levels will tend to dip below the normal level, as a sense of breathlessness will be more intense. But, if you can maintain nasal breathing, your lungs will be able to extract more oxygen from the air you breathe. This will lessen your feelings of air hunger through better oxygenation.

After two to three weeks, your body will adapt, the breathlessness will pass, your breathing will become lighter and more efficient, and your workouts will steadily improve from there.

It is advisable to train at a more relaxed pace while your body adapts to nasal breathing. Once the new regime becomes second nature, more intensive training can be undertaken.

Regardless of what type of exercise you are doing, if the need to breathe in through the mouth arises then the training is too intense. For chronically ill people, this can occur after just a few moments. For people who are physically fit, this may not occur until after a few miles of jogging or up to 30 minutes of intense exercise.

As soon as the need to breathe in through the mouth arises, it is critical that you stop, relax for a few minutes and only proceed with the exercise once you have caught your breath. After a few weeks, the workout will feel easier than before and you should be able to complete the full workout without needing to rest. Worth mentioning is that a low CP corresponds to greater breathing volume in general. As a result, it’s vital to never breathe through your mouth while working out if your CP is lower than 20 seconds, as breathing naturally increases during exercise and it will become much greater than what your body requires. The Buteyko breathing belt is a useful tool that can help you with learning to breathing nasally.

WHEN MOUTH BREATHING IS ACCEPTABLE

You can open your mouth during exercise and sports for short periods when your CP is higher than 20 seconds. You can also breathe through the mouth part of the time if you are a professional high-intensity athlete (runner, cycler, etc.). In these instances, aim for a 50/50 split of nose and mouth breathing. This will allow you to train hard enough to build muscle tone.

HOW TO IMPROVE NASAL FUNCTION

Nasal congestion can occur during exercise which makes it difficult to breathe through the nose. And in more extreme cases, the mucous membranes in the nose can dry out making breathing very difficult. If you experience either of these nasal issues, it’s advisable to drink lots of water before, during, and after exercise to stay hydrated. You can also try nasal irrigation before exercise to help to clear your nasal passages and improve airflow.

Another option is to use a natural decongestant or nasal spray to help open your sinuses or a nose clip to keep your nose open. However, the simplest drug-free way to clear your nose is to practice the nasal decongestion exercise outlined in this YouTube video:

BREATHING DURING EXERCISE TIP #2: CULTIVATE A COMFORTABLE AIR HUNGER

Most of us know that breaking a sweat during exercise is important, but a lesser known fact is that you need to also experience air hunger to get the most benefit from physical activity. In other words, it’s best to exercise at a pace or intensity that causes you to feel breathless.

3 Ways to Create Air Hunger During Exercise:

1. Go faster while breathing through the nose with your mouth closed.
2. Slow down your breathing and breathe less.
3. Practice breath holds (see tip #3).

If your need for air is so great that you need to open your mouth, slow down and calm your breathing. You will recover faster if you keep your mouth closed. If you are walking for exercise, walk alone or agree with your walking partner to not talk. Talking causes mouth breathing and overbreathing, and will undo the benefits of exercise. 

BREATHING DURING EXERCISE TIP #3: PRACTICE BREATH HOLDS

Any attempt to improve breathing for workouts should involve strengthening the diaphragm. The diaphragm is a major breathing muscle and to strengthen a muscle, you need to work that muscle harder than normal. One way to engage the diaphragm is to breathe through your nose while working out – this adds an extra load to the diaphragm.

Another effective method is to practice breath holds. Breath holds give the diaphragm a workout because they create a strong air hunger. This, in turn, causes your diaphragm to contract again and again as it signals to the brain that it’s time to resume breathing. Breath holds are effective not only for strengthening the diaphragm but also for creating a comfortable air hunger and ensuring that your breathing is reduced, calm, and gentle during the day. They also help open the airways and blood vessels, harness nasal nitric oxide production, and increase oxygen delivery to the cells.

The exercise below can be used as a warm-up before your workout or sports game or it can be used during physical activity. It involves holding your breath on the out-breath while walking; however, you can do breath holds while engaging in any physical activity e.g. jogging, skipping, using a trampoline, cycling, playing a sport, etc.

Please note, this exercise is best suited for children, teenagers, and adults in relatively good health. If your CP is less than ten seconds or if you have any heart complaints, high blood pressure, or moderate to severe sleep apnea, it is advisable not to practice this exercise. Also note, the length of your breath hold will depend on the state of your health and your CP; the lower the CP the less time you should hold your breath.

Many Small Breath Holds Exercise Instructions:

• Breathe through your nose lightly, slowly, and deeply into the belly.
• Breathe in, breathe out, and hold your breath (ideally pinch your nose to prevent air from getting in).
• Walk (or exercise) with breath held until a moderate air hunger occurs.
• When you release, let go and calm your breathing immediately as you continue to move.
• Walk normally with your mouth closed for between 30 seconds and 2 minutes to recover, and repeat breath hold as above. How long you rest in between will depend on your CP and fitness levels, listen to your body and take as much time as you need to recover before starting the next set.
• Repeat small breath holds with a break in between.
• Ensure that your inner body is relaxed throughout. If there is tension in your tummy or chest, encourage this area to relax.
• Maintain control of your breathing throughout.
• If you are using this exercise to warm-up before a workout or sports games repeat this exercise 5 times. If you are using it during your workouts, there is no hard and fast rule as to how many times you should do this.

 

Breath holds on the out-breath, are not just beneficial during exercise; they can be done while sitting, standing still, or lying down. The more often you perform breath holds daily, the better. If you experience a slight headache while performing breath holds, don’t be concerned. This is a good sign and indicates increased CO2 levels. Your headache will soon dissipate and you will feel better.

BREATHING DURING EXERCISE TIP #4: REDUCE YOUR BREATH AND RELAX YOUR BODY

Whatever the exercise or sport you are practicing, the most important thing is to keep your mouth closed and breathe gently through your nose into the belly. Breathing should be reduced the entire time and if at any time the need to breathe deep gasps of air or breathe through the mouth is experienced, then slow down and relax. Calm the breathing and when ready start the exercise again. It is important to keep the chest and tummy relaxed at all times and never push the body beyond the point where breathing cannot be controlled; to do so would be counterproductive and potentially dangerous.

During physical exercise, alternate your attention between your breathing and your inner body. Exercise is your time, so don’t spend it worrying about problems. Make a commitment to yourself to bring your attention to your breath and body over and over again.

Follow your breath and breathe gently into the diaphragm. Pay attention to your breath and try to keep it as relaxed as possible. Is it quick? Is it easy? Is it fast? Is it hard? Is there a need for air? Is there no need for air? Don’t analyze it. Just sense it.

Alternate this breath awareness with paying attention to your inner body. Try to keep it relaxed. Sense the area around the chest and tummy. If either is tense, encourage relaxation. Any tension will dissolve with a little imagination and mental encouragement. If thoughts enter, immediately bring your attention back to the breath.

No matter what exercise you do, watch your breath, feel your inner body, and maintain an inner calm at all times. This type of exercise is a form of meditation. It helps to cultivate breath/body awareness, increase mindfulness, presence, calmness, and joy in your daily life, and supports you in entering flow states at will.

HOW TO REDUCE BREATHLESSNESS & EXERCISE-INDUCED ASTHMA

Exercise-induced asthma (also known as EIA) occurs due to an increased volume of breathing brought about by the demands of physical effort. The feeling of chest tightness, excessive breathlessness, and the inability to take a satisfying breath doesn’t just affect people with asthma, it is experienced by many athletes without a prior history of asthma.

Nose breathing is a key element for preventing exercise-induced asthma. Scientists have shown that EIA is triggered by breathing cold, dry air straight into your lungs from your open mouth. With increased ventilation, airways are required to condition a greater volume of air and this causes the dehydration and cooling effect. The greater the volume of ventilation, the greater the loss of water and cooling of the airways and the greater the severity of bronchoconstriction (narrowing of airways). Nose breathing prevents this by warming and humidifying the air and reducing the volume of air you take in.

The most important thing to recognize is that overbreathing causes airway constriction. Buteyko cites the loss of CO2 caused by overbreathing and mouth breathing as playing the primary role. If the volume of air being breathed is greater than is required by the metabolism, the airways narrow, and asthma symptoms occur. Buteyko’s theory carries a lot of weight because during physical activity ventilation increases far more than it would be at rest. However, when the control pause is sufficiently high, there are no symptoms during exercise due to the muscles producing plenty of CO2 to counterbalance the increase in breathing.

Combining exercise with reduced breathing through the nose is thus the key to preventing exercise-induced asthma and reducing asthma symptoms outside of exercise as well. The most important thing to remember is to observe the breathing as much as possible, breathe through the nose, and avoid breathing too deep and fast.

Finally, if you have moderate to severe asthma and are not currently working out, exercising with reduced nasal breathing will help you gain control over your condition and dramatically reduce your symptoms. But you must start slow and not push yourself too far, too fast. The best practice, to begin with, is gentle walking while breathing through the nose.

WHICH EXERCISE IS BEST FOR SUPPORTING OVERALL HEALTH?

We often get asked at the clinic which type of exercise is best. But it doesn’t matter what sort of physical exercise you do so long as you cultivate air hunger, your breathing is controlled and through your nose, and you move enough to produce a sweat. So the best advice we can give is to choose an exercise that you like doing or could grow to like.

If you’re into record keeping, then by all means chart your progress, but it isn’t essential. Just try to achieve a little more each week; you’ll know yourself how well you’re doing. Slow and steady is the way to go. Don’t be too ambitious when starting off, but do try to progress week to week – walk or cycle, jog or swim further, faster, and for longer. Keep your mouth shut, and if you don’t have contraindicated health conditions, increase the length and frequency of your breath holds each week as well.

Exercise within your capabilities. Make your daily exercise routine a priority but beware of overtraining, it will make it feel like a chore and may cause you to quit exercising altogether. Get out into the open air whenever you can, it’s healthier and will help you to feel better. Finally, be careful how you talk to yourself about exercise – try to remain positive and avoid negative thinking. Anytime you hear a negative thought about exercise pop up replace it with a positive one e.g. ‘I look forward to exercising because … (of how great I feel afterward/it helps manage my health condition/it makes me look and feel better/it supports me in being a top-notch athlete, etc.).

HOW TO BREATHE WHEN WORKING OUT: THE SCIENCE

We’ve spoken a lot about the importance of breathing correctly while working out. The main takeaway point is that overbreathing is the biggest exercise saboteur and for optimum performance, you need to reduce ventilation by breathing gently through the nose. Below we will explain the science behind this.

LOW VS OPTIMAL CARBON DIOXIDE EFFECTS

The concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere is very low, and therefore this gas is not carried into the lungs when we breathe. Instead, we produce it in the tissue cells during the process of converting food and oxygen into energy. CO2 is thought of as a waste gas but it is vital for life and when it becomes too low from overbreathing it can lead to the narrowing of the airways and blood vessels and reduce oxygen delivery to the brain and body. Conversely, a slight rise in CO2 towards normal has several beneficial effects including relaxing smooth muscle, improving oxygenation, switching on the ‘rest & digest’ nervous system, and increasing the body’s production of nitric oxide.

There are only two ways to increase CO2 in the human organism. The first is to reduce breathing volume and the second is to produce more CO2 by engaging in physical exercise. An exercising muscle generates more CO2, thus encouraging the release of oxygen from hemoglobin to that muscle. Maintaining a normal breathing volume during exercise and while at rest ensures that the correct amount of CO2 remains in the lungs, blood, tissues, and cells. This forms the core of unlocking your body’s true potential when it comes to sports and exercise, allowing you to raise your game and achieve the results you really want.

HOW THE BOHR EFFECT DETERMINES YOUR EXERCISE CAPACITY

As noted above, overbreathing is detrimental to the release of oxygen from the blood. The explanation for this can be found in the Bohr effect which was discovered in 1904 by the Danish physiologist Christian Bohr. To understand the Bohr effect we must first understand that a protein called hemoglobin that is found in the red blood cells is responsible for carrying oxygen around the body. Approximately 98% of oxygen transported in the blood is bound to hemoglobin.

Bohr discovered that the “oxygen binding affinity is inversely related both to acidity (pH) and to the concentration of carbon dioxide”. In other words, the higher the pH and lower the CO2, the stronger the bond between hemoglobin and oxygen, and the less oxygen that is released. When we overbreathe, too much CO2 is washed from the lungs, blood, tissues, and cells, and this drop in CO2 increases pH levels. This condition is called hypocapnia and because it strengthens the bond between oxygen and hemoglobin it results in a reduction in oxygen delivery to the body. With less oxygen delivered to the muscles, they cannot work as effectively as we might like them to.

Due to the Bohr effect, the urge to take bigger, deeper breaths when we hit ‘the wall’ during exercise does not provide the muscles with more oxygen but effectively reduces oxygenation. In contrast, when breathing volume remains nearer to normal levels, the pressure of CO2 in the blood is higher, loosening the bond between hemoglobin and oxygen, and allowing for a greater delivery of oxygen to the muscles. The better we can fuel our muscles with oxygen during activity, the longer and harder they can work, and the lower lactic acid levels will be. 

*PO2 = partial pressure of oxygen in blood

*Oxyhemoglobin = the normal, oxygen-carrying form of hemoglobin in which iron is in the reduced (ferrous) state.

The Bohr effect can be illustrated using the oxygen dissociation curve above, which plots blood oxygen saturation on the vertical axis against the amount of oxygen in the blood on the horizontal axis. Oxyhemoglobin saturation on the vertical axis refers to the percentage amount of hemoglobin which is occupied with oxygen. The normal saturation of hemoglobin with oxygen is between 95% to 99%, attributable to silent and barely noticeable breathing during rest.

When you breathe more than your body requires, CO2 pressure is reduced, which in turn causes pH to change towards alkaline. This alteration shifts the S-shaped curve on the graph to the left and results in oxygen sticking to hemoglobin. With less oxygen being released, the percentage saturation of oxygen in the blood is higher.

HOW THE BOHR EFFECT DETERMINES YOUR EXERCISE CAPACITY

Breathing too much can also reduce blood flow because it causes a constriction (narrowing) of the airways and blood vessels. For the vast majority of people, two minutes of heavy breathing is enough to reduce blood circulation throughout the body, including the brain. In fact, a study by Gibbs (1992), that assessed arterial constriction induced by hyperventilation found that blood vessel diameter was reduced in some individuals by as much as 50%.

*PCOs = partial pressure of carbon dioxide

In general, blood flow to the brain reduces by 2% for every 1mmHg decrease in CO2. Most people will have experienced this constriction of blood flow to the brain from overbreathing. It doesn’t take very long to feel the onset of dizziness and light-headedness from taking a few big breaths in and out through the mouth. Similarly, many individuals who sleep with their mouths open (which is a major cause of overbreathing) may find it difficult to get going in the morning. Regardless of the amount of time spent sleeping, they are still tired and groggy for the first few hours after waking. It is well documented that habitual mouth breathing during waking and sleeping hours results in fatigue, poor concentration, reduced productivity, and a bad mood.

Depending on genetic predisposition, the loss of CO2 in the blood can also cause the smooth muscles of the airways to constrict, resulting in wheezing and breathlessness. A study by Dr. van den Elshout from the University of Nijmegen explored the effect on airway resistance when there is an increase of CO2 (hypercapnia) or a decrease (hypocapnia). The study found that an increase in CO2 resulted in a “significant fall” in airway resistance in both normal and asthmatic subjects. This simply means that the increase of CO2 opened the airways to allow a better oxygen transfer to take place. Interestingly, individuals without asthma also experienced better breathing.

In summary, the scientific evidence clearly points to the fact that normalizing CO2 levels helps to maintain correct pH levels and optimize breathing, blood flow, and oxygen delivery to muscles. All of these things are essential for improving athletic performance, endurance, and strength and can be achieved with reduced breathing practices. Conversely, overbreathing reduces CO2 levels, which limits our ability to exercise effectively and in some cases, leads to health issues and injury.

CASE STUDY: 37-YEAR-OLD COMPETITIVE CYCLIST

Eamon is 37 years old who has been an avid cyclist since his late teens. His usual training regime amounts to two 150 km cycles per week. Despite his years of regular training, Eamon came to us because he was experiencing excessive breathlessness and a desperate need for air even while cycling at a moderate pace. He also complained of temporary blackouts during his 150 km cycles. He had visited his doctor and a consultant, who both ruled out asthma. During our visit, he showed signs of habitual mouth breathing which culminated in excessive breathing movements from the upper chest.

Following two weeks of the breathing program, Eamon’s breathlessness was markedly reduced and he experienced no more blackouts. In this case, the cause of his breathlessness and blackouts was chronic hyperventilation. Eamon’s irregular and over-labored breathing during resting periods translated into heavy breathing during exercise. His overbreathing during cycling caused an excessive loss of CO2, which resulted in a reduction of blood flow and oxygen to the brain and temporary blackouts.

Of course, not everyone with reduced CO2 experiences blackouts, as the effect will depend on genetic predisposition, but in all cases, there will be some negative symptoms to be found. As the late Cardiologist Claude Lum explains: “Hyperventilation presents a collection of bizarre and often apparently unrelated symptoms, which may affect any part of the body, and any organ or any system.”

SUMMAR & CONSIDERATIONS

While the four tips for exercise optimization outlined above will effectively increase CO2 levels in the moment, they will not change the underlying breathing dysfunction. Exercising diligently with optimal breathing for an hour each day and then spending the rest of the day overbreathing causes many of the accrued benefits to be lost. For optimum athletic progress and health benefits, we recommend you switch to nasal breathing 24/7 and practice reduced breathing exercises throughout the day.

To retrain yourself to breathe optimally at all times, you should ideally do at least three sets of 20 minutes of reduced breathing exercises daily. It’s also important that you sleep with your mouth shut. If you wake up with a dry mouth or need to urinate frequently through the night it is a sign you are mouth breathing, and the easiest fix is to tape your mouth shut at night. We created Myotape for this purpose and you can purchase a package here.

SUMMARY OF THE KEY POINTS:

1. It is absolutely essential to do physical exercise.
2. Due to the Bohr effect, a large volume of air intake = less oxygen delivery to muscles and organs; and a reduced volume of breathing = more oxygen delivery.
3. Breathe through your nose while exercising and while at rest. The lower your CP, the more important it is that you breathe through your nose during exercise. Tape your mouth shut if you suspect mouth breathing while sleeping.
4. Cultivate a comfortable air hunger during physical exercise to maximize the benefits.
5. Practice small breath holds while working out and while at rest.
6. Breathe into your diaphragm and keep your chest, belly, and mind relaxed while exercising.
7. Use the Control Pause to track progress.
8. Don’t talk while working out as this causes mouth breathing and overbreathing.
9. Exercise within your capabilities. If you feel the need to take a big gulp of air or revert to mouth breathing, take a break until your breathing normalizes, and then resume the workout.
10. Practice reduced breathing exercises for 20 minutes, three times daily to retrain yourself to breathe optimally 24/7.

REFERENCES:

1. Exercise is more than medicine: The working age population’s well-being and productivity
2. Exercising at work and self-reported work performance
3. Physical activity, exercise, and chronic diseases: A brief review
4. Health Benefits of Exercise
5. Physical activity, exercise, and chronic diseases: A brief review
6. Physical Exercise Ameliorates Anxiety, Depression and Sleep Quality in College Students: Experimental Evidence from Exercise Intensity and Frequency

7. McGurk, S. P., B. A. Blanksby, and M. J. Anderson. “The relationship of hypercapnic ventilatory responses to age, gender and athleticism.” Sports medicine 19, no. 3 (1995): 173-183.

8. The Effect of Nasal Breathing Versus Oral and Oronasal Breathing During Exercise: A Review

9. The Influence of the Carbon Dioxide Content of Blood on its Oxygen Binding

10. Effects of hypercapnia and hypocapnia on respiratory resistance in normal and asthmatic subjects
11. Effects of hypercapnia and hypocapnia on respiratory resistance in normal and asthmatic subjects