The Oxygen Advantage

0. Introduction
Chromic Over breathing
 We often breath 2-3 times more than we need
 The Bore effect on breathing

1. The secrete of breath

Chapter 1: The Oxygen Paradox
 Taking a large breath in during rest will not increase oxygen content in the blood
 It is almost physiologically impossible to increase the oxygen saturation of the
blood with deep inhales because the blood is almost always fully saturated with
oxygen
o It’s like pouring more water into a glass that’s already filled to the brim
 Oxygen saturation (SPO2) is the percentage of oxygen-carrying red blood cells
(hemoglobin molecules) containing oxygen within the blood
 During periods of rest, a normal person breaths 4-6 liters of air per minute, which
results in a saturation between 95% to 99%
 The human body actually carries a surplus of oxygen in the blood; 75% is exhaled
during rest and as much as 25% is exhaled during physical exertion

Regulation of breathing
 The rate of breathing and the volume of air intake of two factors to consider
 In conventional medicine, the accepted number of breaths a healthy person takes
is 10-12 breaths in 1 minute, with each breath drawing in a volume of 500ml of
air (5-6 liters total in 1 minute)
 The primary stimulus to breath is to eliminate excess CO2 from the body
 CO2 is the doorway that allows oxygen to enter the muscles; if the door is only
partially opened, only some of the oxygen at our disposal passes through
 Hyperventilation is simply ingesting a volume of air that’s far greater than what
we need
o Too much CO2 is exhaled, thereby making it harder for oxygen to pass
through
 The issue we commonly face is not a lack of oxygen, rather not enough oxygen
being released from the blood and into the tissues because too much CO2 has
been expelled from the body

Chapter 2: How Fit are you really? The Body Oxygen Level Test (BOLT)
 3 steps to increasing your bolt score:
1. Stop excess lose of CO2
 Always breath through your nose
  Avoid heavy exhales and sighing
 Swallow or suppress the sigh
 If you do sigh, hold your breath for 10-15 seconds to
compensate for the CO2 loss
2. Improve tolerance of CO2
3. Simulate High Altitude training

Chapter 3: Noses are for breathing, mouths are for eating

 Dentist Weston A. Price noted changes in breathing after changing diet from
traditional foods to modern, highly processed ones
 Process foods are mucus and acid forming; throughout evolution, our diet
consisted of 95% alkaline forming foods and 5% acid forming foods
o In today’s word, these proportions are reversed
 Acid forming foods include:
o Processed items
o Dairy
o Meat
o Bread
o Sugar
o Coffee
o Tea
 Acid forming foods stimulate breathing
 Fruit and vegetables are alkaline based, and are breathing friendly
 The production of nitric oxide from the node can increase by humming
o American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine, Eddie
Weitzberg , and Jon O. N. Lundberg, “Humming Greatly Increases Nasal
Nitric Oxide”
o Humming during exhalation increase nitric oxide 15-fold compared to
quiet exhale
o This practice is similar to bhramari breathing in Yoga
 Nose unblocking exercise (do not do after eating a big meal)
1. Take a small, silent breath in through your nose, and then out
2. Pintch your nose with your fingers to hold your breath
3. Walk as many paces as you can with your breath held
4. When you resume breathing, try doing so only through your nose
5. Try to calm your breathing immediately
6. Wait 1-2 minutes before repeating

Chapter 4: Breath light to breath right

 Personal Note: How do Yoda, Tai Chi, and Chi Dung all relate?
 When it comes to breathing exercises, timing your breaths (e.g. inhale for 4
seconds, exhale for 6 seconds) has little to no effect in addressing poor breathing
habits
  This is because focusing on decreasing the number of breaths alone will inevitable
lead to an increase in air intake per breath—the total volume of air intake would
be the same
 There is only one way to change your breathing volume and rate: slowing down
and diminishing the size of each breath in order to create a shortage of air
 Adapting the body to a shortage of air will automatically lead to slower breathing
rates and lower breathing volume

Chapter 5: Secrets of Ancient Tribes

 TLDR; Run with your mouth closed as much as possible

Part 2: The Secretes of Fitness

Chapter 6: Gaining the Edge, Naturally
 Stimulating the spleen to contract via breath holding, and thereby reducing the
availability of oxygen, causes an increase in hemoglobin and hematocrit, which in
turn increases the oxygen carrying capacity of the blood and improves aerobic
ability
 Performing a breath hold after exhalation lowers the oxygen saturation of the
blood to simulate the effects of high altitude training
o Gently exhaling prior to holding the breath reduces air content in the
lungs, allowing a quicker buildup of CO2 and thus eliciting a stronger
response
o Increase in CO2 has been shown to improve hemoglobin concentration by
around 10% (compared to a breath hold with normal CO2)
o Higher levels of CO2 in the blood can produce an even greater contraction
of the spleen, resulting in an increase in the relesase of red blood cells and
therefore the oxygenation of the blood
o Increased CO2 in the blood also causes a rightward shift of the Oxy-
hemoglobin curve
 As described by the Bore effect, an increase in CO2 decreases
blood PH and causes oxygen to be offloaded from the hemoglobin
to the tissues—further reducing blood oxygen saturation
o Holding the breath on the exhale also capitalizes on the benefits of nitric
oxide, by carrying the gas into the lungs rather than expelling it
 By holding on the exhale, Nitric oxide is able to cool in the nasal
cavity, so that when breathing resumes, air laden with nitric oxide
is inhaled into the lungs
 Increasing EPO: achieved with breath holding
 Bicarbonate soda (baking soda) neutralizes acid buildup in the blood and
improves breathing and athletic performance
o Usually, half table spoon of baking soda with 2 tablespoon spoons of
apple cider vinegar; mix and drink
Chapter 7: Bring the mountain to you
 Brazilian track coach Luiz De Oliveira’s breath holding training
o Run 200m on a near straight course at near race pace
o Hold the breath, on an inhalation, for the last 15 meters
o Rest for 30 seconds, then repeat 3 times
o Recover for 3 minutes, then repeat that set for a total of 3 sets of 4 breath
holds
o As you improve, hold your breath on the last 30 meters
o The key is to maintain running form while deprived of oxygen
 Distance runner Emil Zatopek also trained with breath holding
 Consider using a pulse oximeter
 A simple way to train as if you are in high altitude: walk while holding your
breath after an exhale, and continue to train to increase the duration at which you
can hold the breath while walking
o Repeat these breath holds 8-10 times
o Perform a breath hold every minute or so
o Minimize your breathing for 15 seconds following each breath hold
o Takes about 12 minutes to complete
 You are teaching your body to do more with less
 Breath holding during workouts (e.g. running) also has great benefits
o If you do practice holding your breath, here’s an initial approach
o Hold the breath after an exhale, until you develop a strong urge for
breathing
o Following the breath hold, continue running with normal nasal breathing
for 1 minute, or until your breathing has partially recovered
o Repeat breath holds 8-10 times
o E.g 8 x 30sec breath hold w/ 1 minute recovery (nasal breathing)
 advance simulation of high altitude MEGA advance breathing exercise (note:
proceed with caution, experienced breathers only, and use a pulse oximeter, done
on an empty stomach)
o 1st breath hold is for 40-60 paces, or until a medium to strong need for air
o After the first breath hold, subsequent breath holds are performed after 5-
10 paces
o Following each breath hold, either exhale through your nose or take a sip
of air (tiny breath in) in through your nose before the next breath hold
 The purpose of the sip of air is to relieve tension, rather than take
in air—about 10% of a normal breath
o Contractions of the diaphragm will strengthen as the air shortage
progresses
 Try to bring a feeling of relaxation to your body as the air shortage
increases
 With each successive breath hold, oxygen saturation will continue
to decrease—be sure to observe the pulse oximeter to ensure you
do not go below 80% SPO2
  Challenge, but do not stress yourself
o Perform this exercise for 1-2 minutes
o The purpose of this exercise is to lower oxygen saturation and maintain it
for a period between 30 seconds to 2 minutes
 Maintaining an oxygen saturation of less than 91% for 24 seconds
can result in an increase of EPO of up to 24%
 Maintaining this 91% saturation for 136 seconds can result in a
36% increase
 Here’s another really good technique by Australian Cyclist Nick Marshall
o Daily 30-minute routine
1. Breath light to breath right for 15 minutes
2. Simulate high altitude training while talking with breath holds for 60-80
paces
 Rest for 3-4 minutes in between breath holds
3. Do 1 set of advance simulation of high altitude training to reduce to
reduce arterial blood oxygen saturation to around 81%-84%

Chapter 8: Finding the Zone