On Recovering Better and Setting A Breathing Budget

Welcome back to another issue of The Breathing 411. Here are 4 thoughts, 1 quote, and 1 answer to end November with.

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4 THOUGHTS

1. You Already Work Hard Enough—Recover Harder

"The problem in today’s corporate world, as well as in many other realms, is not hard work; the problem is insufficient recovery."

- Tal Ben-Shahar

We all work hard enough. That’s likely not the problem. In fact, it’s probably the opposite: We need to be focusing on recovery so we can continue to work hard.

One excellent way to do this is with diaphragmatic breathing.

For example, imagine taking a group of 16 endurance cyclists and having them see how far they can go in 8 hours. Then, you split them into two groups. One group performs 1 hour of diaphragmatic breathing post-event. The other group reads quietly. That’s what a study published back in 2011 did.

The outcome: The diaphragmatic breathing group showed reduced oxidative stress, reduced cortisol, increased antioxidant potential, and increased melatonin.

That is, they recovered better.

If diaphragmatic breathing reduces these stress markers in this extreme case, it seems like it would be even more useful for recovering from chronic, everyday work stress. Recover better, work better.

2. How Do You Budget Your Breathing?

"Don’t tell me where your priorities are. Show me where you spend your money and I’ll tell you what they are."

- James W. Frick

The same can be said for your breathing. Where you spend your breath, and thus your energy, shows what your physiological priorities are. But, like money, you can set your own priorities by setting a breathing budget.

For example, suppose you would like to try out a new method that involves mouth breathing, but you also recognize the hazards of chronic mouth breathing. In that case, you might budget a small portion of breaths for that activity. Then, save the rest (especially sleep) for nasal breathing.

You can apply this idea to any technique. Make light nasal breathing the foundation of your budget (like paying your rent or mortgage) and spend your leftover "disposable breathing income" on new methods that interest you.

3. How Deep Breathing Opens Up the ADHD Brain

"So Ethan’s mother, who had used coherent breathing to calm her own anxiety, taught him how to do it. His overall behavior improved in four or five weeks, and he fell asleep without difficulty." - ADDitude Magazine

This topic is way outside my jurisdiction. But, reading this article was both inspiring and humbling as I reflected on how important this "breathing" stuff is.

I hope you enjoy it!

Thanks to great friend, and new 411 reader, S.S. for sending me this article.

4. Intermittent Hypoxia Improves Immune System Function

"These responses…may serve to augment the body’s immune defenses without exacerbating inflammation."

Serebrovskaya et al. 2011, High Altitude Medicine and Biology

This paper published in 2011 found that intermittent hypoxia (IH) enhances the body’s innate immune system, increases its ability to fight infection, and had a net anti-inflammatory effect.

Although IH and breath holds are not technically the same, we can experience IH using breath holds. Thus, research like this suggests, but doesn’t prove, that breath holds might help us fight illnesses (when done safely, of course).

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1 QUOTE

"It is better to know some of the questions than all of the answers."

- James Thurber

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1 ANSWER

Answer: The Earth has ~3.1 trillion of these organisms (or ~400 per person) that help us breathe.

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(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

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Question: What are trees?

That link has a neat video of the Earth "breathing," if you’re interested.

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In good breath,
Nick

P.S. "omg GO ON"

The Breathing 411 - Intermittent Fasting and Time-Restricted Breathing

Welcome to another week of The Breathing 4.1.1. Let’s get right to it.

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4 THOUGHTS

1. Time-Restricted Breathing?

Every now and then, skipping a meal or two ("intermittent fasting") can be good for you. Studies have even found that just compressing your eating window (that is, "time-restricted eating") is beneficial for metabolism and weight loss.

You can do this on a much smaller scale with breathing. It’s called "intermittent breathing," or simply holding your breath. Maybe it’s only 30 seconds instead of 30 hours. Still, the idea is similar: Restrict your body from something it’s used to, and it elicits beneficial responses.

Similarly (although the analogy breaks down some), "time-restricted breathing" can also be done by setting aside time each day to breathe less. You might only do this for five minutes. But, like how time-restricted eating makes the meals you do eat more useful, time-restricted breathing improves your oxygen metabolism, making those other 20,000+ breaths you take each day more effective.

2. Slow Breathing as a Treatment for Insomnia

"Practicing the 0.1 Hz rate before sleep was shown to improve sleep onset latency and quality in insomniacs and enhance the stability of their sleep pattern (13). Thus, we suggest 0.1 Hz as the optimal frequency for a slow breathing technique." - Self-Regulation of Breathing as an Adjunctive Treatment of Insomnia

Last week, I mentioned that slow breathing might be a way to help with insomnia, based purely on deductive reasoning. With insomnia on my radar, this article jumped off the page at me. I cannot recommend it enough. Choosing only one quote was nearly impossible.

Even if you do not care about insomnia, their sections on "Cardiorespiratory Synchronization" and "Slow Deep Breathing" are phenomenal. They will be the motivation of several future thoughts…

In the meantime, let us slow down our breathing before bed (to say, 6 breaths per minute, also known as 0.1 Hz) to help increase cardiorespiratory synchronization, increase parasympathetic tone, and have a restful night’s sleep.

3. Why You Need Efficient Breathing: 18x the Energy

"Anaerobic metabolism…is relatively inefficient compared with aerobic processes. Only two ATP molecules are produced…In contrast, the body reaps 36 molecules of ATP for each molecule of glucose metabolized aerobically."

- Respiratory Physiology: A Clinical Approach

That means that aerobic metabolism (with oxygen) is about 18x more efficient than anaerobic metabolism (without oxygen). Therefore, the more efficient you are at using oxygen, the more efficient you are at producing energy.

A practical way to improve your oxygen efficiency? Time-restricted breathing.

4. A Simple Way to Breathe Better Right Now

Make your breathing quiet. This might be the easiest, most practical thing you can do anytime, anyplace, to improve your breathing (after nose breathing, of course). Give it a try now, if you feel so inspired.

Make sure you cannot hear your breathing, even internally. You’ll naturally slow down your breathing and naturally breathe less. It’s fantastic, and it’s easy.

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1 QUOTE

"Gandhi became absolutely motionless. His absorption was so profound that he scarcely seemed to breathe"

- Eknath Easwaran, Gandhi The Man

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1 ANSWER

Answer: The average number of breaths in a lifetime.

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(Cue the Jeopardy music.)

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Question: What is over 600 million?

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BONUS THOUGHT

"And if the traveler is fortunate—that is, if the path is complex and profound enough—the destination is two miles farther away for every mile he or she travels." - George Leonard

I am fortunate to be traveling with you. Thank you for reading.

In good breath,
Nick

P.S. You’re Wrong and College Has Failed You

The Breathing 4.1.1. - Harder Breathing Techniques and Molecules of Air

Welcome to the second edition of "The Breathing 4.1.1."

Below, I share 4 thoughts, 1 quote, and 1 answer (think "Jeopardy"). Enjoy!

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4 THOUGHTS

1. We Don’t Need Harder Breathing Techniques

I recently finished the two-part interview with David Bidler on the Bravest Podcast. I highly recommend listening to both episodes. My favorite idea from David was this: We don’t need harder breathing techniques, we need to apply simple breathing methods to harder challenges. Well said.

Episode 1

Episode 2

2. HHPF High School Slow Breathing Program

Speaking of using simple breathing practices in hard situations, the Health & Human Performance Foundation (HHPF) partnered with Girard High School to implement a slow breathing program for the students. The program improved the students' tolerance to CO2 and decreased their anxiety. Pretty amazing stuff.

Read More Here

3. Relaxation Breathing - A Way to Lower Blood Glucose

There have been two studies examining a breathing technique called "Relaxation Breathing." I don’t hear much about it in the breathing community, but it appears to be helpful for lowering blood glucose. Here’s the method:

Inhale 2 Seconds, Exhale 1 Second
Inhale 2 Seconds, Exhale 2 Seconds
Inhale 2 Seconds, Exhale 3 Seconds
… (Exhale keeps getting longer) …
Inhale 2 Seconds, Exhale 10 Seconds

The progressively longer exhale is both relaxing and challenging near the end. I sometimes practice it when falling asleep. Give it a shot and see what you think.

If you’re interested, here are the two studies:

Relaxation breathing significantly lowers blood sugar after an oral glucose tolerance test

Slow breathing improves blood sugar by reducing body’s endogenous production of glucose

4. Oxygen Advantage + Yoga = High Altitude Yoga

My wife and I put together a class that combines yoga and breath-hold techniques from the Oxygen Advantage®. We’re calling it High Altitude Yoga™.

We’re holding a combined Virtual Masterclass where I teach the breathing principles and she teaches the yoga. If you’ve been in the breathing world for a while, the breathing concepts will not be new to you. But, combining them with yoga is both fun and challenging (we’ve had SpO2 drops in the mid-to-low 80s).

It’s going to be July 18th from 9:00 - 11:00 a.m. Eastern on Zoom. I hope you’ll join us!

Learn More & Sign Up Here

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1 QUOTE

"By voluntarily changing the rate, depth, and pattern of breathing, we can change the messages being sent from the body’s respiratory system to the brain."

- Richard Brown & Patricia Gerbarg, from "The Healing Power of the Breath"

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1 ANSWER

Answer: The number of molecules in each breath we take.

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(Cue the Jeopardy music.)

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Question: What is 25 sextillion? [1]

(Note: That’s 25,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 molecules!)

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In good breath,
Nick

P.S. $98,000. (Ages 3 & Up.)

[1] Worrall S., “The Air You Breathe Is Full of Surprises,” National Geographic, Aug.13, 2012. View Article Here

(I found this through "Breath: The New Science of A Lost Art")

The Breathing 4.1.1.

I am trying a new format this week. I’m calling it “The Breathing 4.1.1.”

Below, I share 4 thoughts, 1 quote, and 1 answer (think “Jeopardy”). Enjoy!

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4 THOUGHTS

1. Expert Q&A on Sleep Tape

James Nestor’s first "expert Q&A" episode has been released. It’s on sleep tape with Dr. Mark Burhenne. I especially appreciated Dr. Burhenne’s confidence in recommending that people wear mouth tape. Watch Interview Here.

2. An Easy Hack for Dropping SpO2 during Breath Holds

I’m always playing around with my breath holds. Lately, I’ve been performing a full exhale before each hold.

Normal Breath In —> Fast and Complete Exhale Out —> Hold

I’ve seen additional SpO2 drops of 5-10% (!). My breath holds are not as long, but I’m getting into intermittent hypoxia easier. I really try to empty my lungs as much as possible to get more significant drops in SpO2.

3. Is Tissue Hypoxia Really the Problem?

“In this, chronic overbreathing will not create ‘hypoxia’ in tissues; this is a fact that many Buteyko adherents consistently get wrong.  The real damage from overbreathing comes from the constant energy the body has to expend to run more cells anaerobically and to constantly buffer for carbon dioxide deficiencies.” - James Nestor, Breath

I talk about tissue hypoxia a lot. Here, James says that it’s not necessarily tissue hypoxia that’s the problem, but the body’s response to prevent it from happening that causes the damage. In any case, the underlying issue is the same: We need to get an adequate supply of oxygen for our cells to function correctly.

4. A Simple Way the Breathe Light

Teaching people to breathe "light" is often tricky. However, in Restoring Prana, Robin Rothenberg provides one of the most practical ways I’ve heard: Imagine taking up less space with each breath. I imagine less air being pulled into my nose with each inhale, and each exhale disturbing less air around me. Give it a shot.

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1 QUOTE

“He who tastes a grain of mustard seed knows more of its flavor than he who sees an elephant load of it.” - Yogi Mamacharaka, Science of Breath

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1 ANSWER

Answer: The amount of water used to humidify the air we breathe each day.

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(Cue the Jeopardy music.)

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Question: What is 1 pint? [1]

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In good breath,
Nick

P.S. Coming to you live from…

[1] Essentials of Pathophysiology (3rd Edition), Carol Mattson Porth

Exercise and Hypoxia Increase Insulin Sensitivity (& 100 Mile Ruck Website)

There are many paradoxes in breathing. For example, breathing less air delivers more oxygen to your cells.

Here is another one. Many diabetic complications (for example, insulin resistance) are rooted in tissue hypoxia. Yet, the deliberate practice of intermittent hypoxia (IH) can improve insulin sensitivity, as shown by the study I’m sharing this week.

Acute hypoxia and exercise improve insulin sensitivity (Si2*) in individuals with type 2 diabetes

(Read the Full Summary)

This research examined four different protocols:

1. Rest at normal O2 levels for 60 min

2. Rest in hypoxia for 60 min

3. Exercise with normal O2 for 60 min

4. Exercise in hypoxia for 60 min

All participants were type 2 diabetics. Oxygen levels for the hypoxic group were maintained at ~14.6%, and the results showed that the participants’ SpO2 never fell below 88% (well within the therapeutic range).

Here were the main findings:

• Hypoxic rest increased insulin sensitivity more than rest at normal O2 levels

• Hypoxic exercise improved insulin sensitivity greater than exercise in normal O2 levels

Together, these results imply that exercise and hypoxia can be added together to improve insulin sensitivity.

However, before jumping in, we must remember that hypoxia does induce stress, and stress hormones increase the body’s production of glucose. Thus, the increased insulin sensitivity could just be the body’s preemptive response to the stress: It knows more sugar is coming, so it primes itself to use it.

We should keep this in mind as we practice intermittent hypoxia: It’s important to find our Goldilocks zone, where we’re experiencing hypoxia, but not inducing too much stress. I recommend starting slowly with walking breath holds. You get the benefits of exercise and hypoxia in a safe, easy-to-perform way.

Try adding 3-5 walking breath holds to your morning routine. They don’t have to be intense, just enough to feel it. And, make sure you can recover normal breathing within 3 breaths after the hold…this ensures you do not push too hard.

Give it a shot, and remember, consistency over intensity.

In good breath,
Nick

P.S. Here is the link to the 100 Mile Ruck fundraiser page:

https://www.hhp-foundation.org/donate

Please share the link with friends and family. And consider walking a mile or two with me virtually. Or, if you can, come out to Gleason Park in Indian Harbor Beach, FL between 8 AM - 10 PM on Feb. 29th to walk in person!

Increase brain blood flow by 20%

Hi everyone,

Over the last month, we’ve learned several important aspects of intermittent hypoxia (IH). For example, IH increases immune function and the production and storage of nitric oxide.

Although we’ve only scratched the surface on IH, I want to wrap up the discussion (for now) with one of my favorites benefits: Increased brain blood flow.

Intermittent hypoxia increases brain blood flow by 20%

(Published in 2017 in Hypoxia. To read the full summary, Click Here)

The participants in this study inhaled air with 10% oxygen for 6 min to induce hypoxia. Then, they breathed normal room air for 4 min. This cycle was repeated 5 times.

Measurements were recorded during the first and fifth bouts of hypoxia:

They found that intermittent hypoxia increased brain blood flow by 20%(!)

Fractional oxygen extraction in the brain also increased significantly. Pretty remarkable.

How to use these findings in your life

Statistical analysis revealed that major increases in brain blood flow occurred when blood oxygen saturation dropped to ~86%.  We can achieve this (with practice) using breath holds. 

I recommend performing 3-5 breath holds, with a 1-min recovery between each one, approximately 10-30 minutes before a workout, competition, or presentation. The increased brain blood flow will help focus your mind and prepare you for what’s ahead.

In good breath,
Nick

P.S. Breath holds can be dangerous. Take a look at Principle 3 before getting started.

P.P.S. The ~86% finding won’t be universal. Sometimes I barely drop my O2 below 95% and still feel major enhancements in my focus and concentration. In my experience, simply performing a few cycles of mild-to-moderate breath holds is all that is needed to feel the benefits.

The protective effects of intermittent hypoxia

Hi everyone,

Happy (almost) Fall!

A few weeks ago, we learned that intermittent hypoxia increases nitric oxide (NO) production and storage.

The paper I’m sharing this week examines NO’s protective effects during hypoxia.

The protective role of nitric oxide during adaptation to hypoxia

(Read on website)

The experiment gradually adapted mice to a simulated altitude of ~5000 m (>16K ft).

After the acclimation, the mice nearly doubled their NO metabolites. Their NO storage significantly increased as well.

Hypoxia protects against NO-overproduction

They also gave a subset of mice a condition causing excessive NO, which dropped their blood pressure about 36 mm Hg. However, when the mice were acclimated to hypoxia, they only showed a 19 mm Hg drop.

Hypoxia protects against NO-deficiency

Mice given a condition of NO-deficiency (which increases blood pressure) also saw protective effects from hypoxia. Without hypoxia, their blood pressure increased ~80 mm Hg. With adaptation, it only increased ~20 mm Hg.

Overall, these results indicate that adaptation to hypoxia protects against both over- and under-production of NO.

The final sentence from their abstract sums up the benefits nicely:

“The data suggest that NO stores induced by adaptation to hypoxia can either bind excessive NO to protect the organism against NO overproduction or provide a NO reserve to be used in NO deficiency.”

In good breath,
Nick

Nitric Oxide, Hypoxia, and Batman

Hi all,

Greetings from Lakeland, FL! We live near the east coast of FL, so we evacuated inland. My thoughts are with any of you affected by Dorian. Stay safe!

We learned last week that nitric oxide (NO) is a critical in areas of tissue hypoxia (see review here). With that in mind, what happens when we purposefully induce hypoxia via intermittent hypoxic (IH) training (Principle 3)?

Intermittent hypoxia increases production and storage of nitric oxide

(Read on website)

In this study, mice were gradually adapted to an altitude of ~5000 m over a 40-day period.

After acclimation, their NO metabolites (nitrite and nitrate) increased significantly.

• This indicated that either (1) more NO was being generated or (2) NO was being released from storage.

However, the mice also increased their NO storage considerably.

• The increase in NO storage correlated significantly with the increase in NO metabolites.

All together, these results indicate that adaptation to intermittent hypoxia increases NO production and storage.

The storage rate was higher than the production rate, which was likely a protective mechanism to ensure that blood pressure did not drop too low.  However, the large storage also ensured that NO could be readily released if needed, highlighting yet another benefit of adaptation to hypoxia and intermittent hypoxia training.

In good breath,
Nick

P.S. Speaking of IH training, here’s a shot of me wearing the Oxygen Advantage® Sports Mask at the teacher training last week. Yes, I look like Bane, but it adds a lot of resistance to each breath, which helps improve CO2 tolerance, increases breathing muscle strength, and allows me to drop into hypoxia easier.