D e d i c a t i o n
This boo k is dedicated to all my students and readers who
continue to graciously spread awareness of this work. T o my
late father , Patrick, who encouraged me to see things
dif ferently . And to my mother , T eresa; wife, Sinead; and
daughter , Lauren—thank you for your beautiful smiles.E p i g r a p h
It isn’ t the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out;
it’ s the pebble in your shoe. —M UHAMMAD  A LIC o n t e n t s
Dedication
Epigraph
For ewor d by Dr . Joseph Mer cola
Introduction: Do More with Less
Part I: The Secr et of Br eath
  1. The Oxygen Paradox
  2. How Fit Are Y ou Really? The Body Oxygen Level T est (BOL T)
  3. Noses Are for Breathing, Mouths Are for Eating
  4. Breathe Light to Breathe Right
  5. Secrets of Ancient T ribes
Part II: The Secr et of Fitness
  6. Gaining the Edge—Naturally
  7. Bring the Mountain to Y ou
  8. Finding the Zone
Part III: The Secr et of Health
  9. Rapid W eight Loss W ithout Dieting
10. Reduce Physical Injury and Fatigue
11. Improve Oxygenation of Y our Heart
12. Eliminate Exercise-Induced Asthma
13. Athletic Endeavor—Nature or Nurture? 14. Exercise as if Y our Life Depends on It
Part IV : Y our Oxygen Advantage Pr ogram
Summary and General Program Based on BOL T Score and Health
Quick Reference Summary of the Oxygen Advantage ProgramOxygen Advantage Exercise Summary
Breathe Light to Breathe Right (Advanced Method)
General Program Based on BOL T and Health
Program for BOL T Score of Less Than 10 Seconds (or an Unh ealthy or
Older Person)
Program for BOL T Score of 10 to 20 Seconds
Program for BOL T Score of 20 to 30 Seconds
Program for BOL T Score of 30 Seconds Plus
Program for W eight Loss or Obesity (suitable for all BOL T scores)
Program for Children and T eenagers
Appendix: Upper Limits and Safety of Br eath Holding
Notes
Acknowledgments
About OxygenAdvantage.com
Index
About the Author
Also by Patrick McKeown
Copyright
About the PublisherS o m e  I m p o r t a n t  G u i d e l i n e s  B e f o r e  W e  B e g i n
A lthough the Oxygen Advantage  program is perfectly safe for the vast
majority of people, part of the program includes powerful exercises that
simulate high-altitude training and would be similar to perfor ming high-
intensity exercise. Just as high-intensity exercise is suite d only to
individuals with  reasonably good health and fitness, those with any medical
issues should refrain from pra cticing any of the exercises th at simulate
high-altitude training. (These exercises include the Nose Unblocking
Exercise and any that simulate high-altitude training.) If you are pregnant, this program is not suitable. For those w ith high
blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, type 1 diabetes, kidney disease,
depression, or cancer , it is advisable to practice only nasal breathing and the
more gentle exercises, including “Breathing Recovery” and “Breathe Light
to B reathe Right,” during rest a nd physical activity until these conditions
are resolved. If yo u have any medical issues  then you should follow this program
only with the co nsent of your medical practitioner . For further i nformation,
please visit OxygenAdvantage.com.F o r e w o r d
by Dr . Joseph Mer cola
I t h as been well d ocumented that those who live at higher altitud es tend to
live longer . The precise mechanism behind this is not known and could be a
result of several factors. Howe ver , one of the leading candidates for this
explanation is a reduced pressure of oxygen at higher altitudes. Research is very clear that calorie restriction extends life span. But
another nutrient many of us do n’ t frequently consider is oxygen. Just as
excess calories can cause metabolic damage, excess oxyge n can also
prematurely damage your tissues through the generation of excess free
radicals. These are highly reac tive and destructive molecules  that cause
damage to the fats in your c ell membranes, proteins, and DNA. Free
radicals are generated by th e normal breakdown of oxygen during
metabolism. W e all create a certain amount of free radicals through the very
act o f br eathing, and incorporati ng breathing exercises designed  to maintain
a he althy breathing volume see ms to be an ef fective strategy to keep your
oxygen at an optimum level, and thus minimize free radical damage. Additionally , alt itude training is a tactic many elite endurance  athletes
use to gain a com petitive edge. One way of tapping into your bo dy’ s natural
resources is to purposefully expose yourself to reduced oxygen intake for a
short period of time. This wi ll improve your blood’ s oxygen-carrying
capacity and also increases the maximum volume of oxygen that an athlete
can use, known as your VO 2  max. Of cours e, most of us live our liv es close to sea level and do not achieve
this benefit. But there are simple strategies that will allow you to access the
benefits of living at a high altitude with reduced oxygen intake: keeping
your mouth closed while you are breathing and practicing the variousexercises outline d in this book. This is a challenge during intense exercise
due to air hunger , but this is w hen most of the benefit actual ly occurs. I
have personally  implemented the information in The Oxygen Advantage
during my high-intensity workouts. It took me several weeks to make the
transition to breathing through my nose the entire time, but once
accomplished, breathing became a far more ef ficient process for me. Many may know that I am a major fan of using simple, inexpensive
lifestyle changes to avoid expensive and dangerous medications and
sur gery . The strategies in The Oxygen Advantage  a re tools that I  believe
should be included in your health habit arsenal. There simply are no
downsides that I can identify , a nd there are massive upsides. I personally
use this program and would stro ngly encourage you to apply it  in your life
so you can reap the rewards.I N T R O D U C T I O N
D o  M o r e  w i t h  L e s s
W e c an live witho ut food for wee ks and water for days, but air for just a
few brief minutes. While we sp end a great deal of time and attention on
what we eat and  drink, we pay practically no attention to the air  we breathe. It is com mon kn owledge that our daily consumption of food and water must
be of a certain quality and quantity . T oo much or too little spells trouble. W e
also reco gnize the importance of breathing good-quality air , but what about
the quantity ? How much air should we breathe for optimum health? W ouldn’ t it be fair to surmise that air , even more important t han food or
water for human survival, must also meet basic requirements? The quantity of the air you breathe has the potential to transform
everything you thought you kne w about your body , your health, and your
performance, wh ether you’re a “ pre-athlete” just trying to get of f the couch,
a w eekend warrior running an occasional 10K, or a profession al athlete in
need of a game-changing edge over your competition. Y ou ma y wonde r what I mean by quantity . After all, air isn’ t exactly
something you can binge on at  the kitchen table late at night, or take too
many swigs of over the weeken d. But what if, in a certain se nse, it was? What if healthy breathing habit s were just as important as healthy eating
habits in fostering maximum fitness—or , in fact, even more so? In this book you will discover  the fundamental relationship between
oxygen and the body . Improving fitness depends on enhancing the release
of oxyg en to your muscles, or gans, and tissues. Increased oxygenation is
not only  healthy; it also enabl es greater exercise intensity with reducedbreathlessness. In short, you will be able to discover better  health and
fitness as well as better performance. If you do compete, you’ll also enjoy your training and competition more
than eve r , becau se you’ll be ab le to achieve more with less ef fort. Overall
fitness and sports performance is usually limited by the lungs— not by the
legs, the arms, or even the mind. As anyone who engages in regular
exercise knows, the feeling of intense breathlessness during sporting
activity dictates exercise intensity far more than muscle fatigue. The
foundation of enjoying and improving physical exercise, therefore, is to
ensure that breathing is optimally ef ficient. Chr onic Overbr eathing
Scientific research, as well as the experience of thousands of people I have
worked with, has shown me the vital importance of learning how to breathe
correctly . The problem is that co rrect breathing, which should be everyone’ s
birthright, has become extremely challenging in our modern society . W e
assume that the body reflexively knows how much air it needs at all times,
but unfortunatel y this is not the case. Over the centuries we have  altered our
environment so dramatically that many of us have for gotten our innate way
of breathing. The process of breathing has been warped by chronic stress,
sedentary lifestyles, unhealthy diets, overheated homes, and lack of fitness. All o f th ese con tribute to poor b reathing habits. These in turn c ontribute to
lethar gy , weight gain, sleeping problems, respiratory conditions, and heart
disease. Our ancestors lived on a na tural diet in a far less competitive
environment and physically worked hard, a lifestyle conducive to
maintaining an ef ficient breathing pattern. Compare that to modern-day
living, in which we spend hours slouched at a desk on com puters and
talking o n phones, surviving on a rushed lunch of convenience food, trying
to man age a seemingly nev erending series of tasks and financial
obligations. Modern living gradually increa ses the amount of air we breathe, and
while getting more oxygen into our lungs might seem like a good idea, it is
in fa ct light brea thing that is a testament to good health and fit ness. Thinkof an overweight tourist and an Olympian both arriving for the Summer
Games. As they picked up their luggage and carried it up a flight of stairs,
whom w ould you expect to b e huf fing and puf fing? Certainly not the
Olympian. The big gest obstacle to your health and fitness is a rarely id entified
problem: chr onic overbr eathing . W e can breathe  two to three times more air
than required without knowing it. T o help determine if you are
overbreathing, see how many of these questions you answer “yes” to:
•   Do you sometimes breathe through your mouth as you go about
your daily activities? •   Do you breath e through your mouth during deep sleep? (If you
are not sure, d o you wake u p with a dry mouth in the
morning?) •  Do you snore or hold your breath during sleep? •   Can you visibly notice your breathing during rest? T o find out,
take a look at your breathing right now . Spend a minute
observing the movements of your chest or abdomen as you take
each breath. The more movem ent you see, the heavier you
breathe. •   When  you observe your breathing, do you see more movemen ts
from the chest than from the abdomen? •   D o you regularly sigh throughout the day? (While one sig h
every now and a gain is not an issue, regular sighing is enough
to maintain chronic overbreathing.) •  Do you sometimes hear your breathing during rest? •   Do you experience symptoms resulting from habitual
overbreathing, such as nasal congestion, tightening of the
airways, fatigue, dizziness, or light-headedness?Answering yes to some or a ll of the questions above suggests a
tendency to overbreathe. These traits are typical of what happe ns when the
amount of air we breathe is greater than what we need. Just as we have an
optimal quantity  of water and food to consume each day , we a lso have an
optimal quantity of air to brea the. And just as eating too much can be
damaging to our health, so can overbreathing. The unconscious habit of overbreathing has hit epidemic proportions all
across the industrialized world,  and it’ s highly detrimental to  our health. Chronic overbreathing leads to loss of health, poor fitness, and
compromised performance and also contributes to many ailments including
anxiety , asthma, fatigue, insomn ia, heart problems, and even obesity . It may
seem str ange that such a dispara te range of complaints can be caused by or
worsened by overbreathing, but the breath of life influences literally every
aspect of our health. The purp ose of this book is to return you to how you were meant to live
and breathe. I will teach you simple methods that will cou nteract bad
breathing habits, unearthing a new well of cardiovascular fitness that will
improve your overall health an d well-being. Serious athletes will achieve
new levels of performance, fitness enthusiasts will unleash untapped
potential, and those who are still trying to manage their health will
overcome barriers to a more healthful lifestyle. But, as with all  conditions, to a rrive at the remedy it’ s crucial to first
understand the ailment. It is how you b reathe during your daily life that determines h ow you
breathe during physical exercise. Breathing too much air ev ery minute,
every hour , every day translates into excessive breathlessness during
exercise. If our breathing is of f during rest, it would be unre asonable to
expect it to automatically correct itself during physical exercise. The
seemingly innoc uous tendency to breathe through the mouth during the day
or night  and breathe noticeably during rest means you will be more
breathless during training and often limits your capacity to go faster and
farther . These poor breathing habits can  be the dif ference between a healthy and
vibrant life and an ill and feeble one. Overbreathing causes the narrowing of
airways, limiting  your body’ s ability to oxygenate, and the constriction of
blood ve ssels, le ading to reduced blood flow to the heart and o ther or gansand muscles. These systemic impacts af fect your health profoundly ,
whether you’re a professional athlete or your main exercise is walking up
the stair s of your house. Great  sports careers can plateau or even be cut
short by  an athlete’ s overbreath ing. The lungs let the individual down, and
—no ma tter how strong the rest of the body is—unnecessary , excess breaths
take their toll. As most athletes  know , our lungs give out long before our
arms and legs. It all comes dow n to our need for that invisible yet vital basis fo r human
life: oxygen. Here’ s the paradox: The amount of oxygen your muscles,
or gans, and tissues are able to use is not entirely dependent on  the amount
of oxygen in your blood. Our red blood cells are saturated with between 95
and 99 percent oxygen, and t hat’ s plenty for even the mos t strenuous
exercise. (A few of my clients w ith serious pulmonary disease have a lower
oxygen saturatio n level, but this  is very rare.) What determines how much
of th is o xygen your body can use is actually the amount of carbon dioxide
in your blood. Y ou may remember from biology class that we breathe in
oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide, also called CO 2 . Mo st p eople le arn
that carb on dioxide is just a waste gas that we exhale from our lungs, but it
is not a waste gas. It is the key variable that allows the release  of oxygen
from the red blood cells to be metabolized by the body . This is called the
Bohr Ef fect. Understanding and utilizing this physiological principle will
allow you to stop overbreathing. Discovered ove r a hundred years ago, the Bohr Ef fect expl ains the
release o f oxygen to working muscles and or gans. Most people don’ t realize
that the amount of carbon dioxide present in our blood cells determines how
much oxygen we can use. The c rux of it is this: How we breathe determines
the leve ls of carbon dioxide present in our blood. When we breathe
correctly , we have a suf ficient amount of carbon dioxide, and our breathing
is quiet,  controlled, and rhythmic. If we are overbreathing, our breathing is
heavy , more intense, and erratic, and we exhale too much carbon dioxide,
leaving our body literally gasping for oxygen. It’ s v ery intuitive: If we breathe  better , increasing the amount of carbon
dioxide inside us, then we can deliver more oxygen to our m uscles and
or gans, including the heart and brain, and thus heighten our physicalcapacity . All we’re really doing  is assisting the body in working the way it
was meant to work in the first place. Bringing the Mountain to Y ou
T o understand how part two of the Oxygen Advantage works, let’ s look at
an exam ple most of us are familiar with: high-altitude training, a technique
often used by e lite athletes to i mprove their cardiovascular fit ness and to
improve their endurance. High-altitude training first came to the attention of
coaches and athletes during the  1968 Summer Olympics, held in Mexico
City at a height of 2,300 meters above sea level. Many competing athletes
found that when they returned  to sea level, their performanc e surpassed
their previous personal best, prompting coaches to question whether
athletes might perform better if they live or train at high altitude. At high altitude  the air is thin, which results in reduced atm ospheric
pressure of oxygen. The body adapts to this environment by increasing the
number of red blood cells. Think of red blood cells as your very own
Popeye’ s spinach, only they come from your body instead of out of a can. Upping the presence of red bl ood cells translates into improved oxygen
delivery to the muscles, a redu ction of lactic acid buildup, and stronger
overall perform ance, including longer endurance and a lower risk of
inflammation and injury . But of course the catch is that h igh-altitude
training is not available to most  of us—which brings me to the goal of this
book. Y ou don’ t need to go to the mountain. The mountain can come to you. I w ill show you  how to make this happen through simple tec hniques
that in ef fect tak e you up a mile high. By learning how to sim ulate high-
altitude training, you will increase the oxygen-carrying capac ity of your
bloodstream, allowing your red blood cells to fuel new capabilities. Additionally , it will help you to  sustain sharper psychological focus during
physical activity as you become less conscious of the act of breathing. This
will free you to  devote more a ttention to maintaining proper form while
exercising or formulating strategy in a competitive sport. If you reduce your breathing and properly regulate the amount of air
you take  in, you will teach your body to breathe more ef ficien tly , and youwill become healthier . No matter what your athletic baseline is to begin
with, better breathing will revo lutionize your fitness, your endurance, and
your performan ce. I know this  for a fact because I have ex perienced it
myself. I was once a chronic overbreather . Back in 1997 I  was an execu tive in the corporate world, b ut since
childhood I had experienced poor health as a result of asthma. My identity
was bas ed on everything that I wasn’ t. I wasn’ t fit, I wasn’ t he althy , and I
wasn’ t confiden t. I looked despe rately for a solution to my health problems. Then I found it. My life change d forever when I discovered the work of the late Dr . Konstantin Bu teyko, a brilliant Russian physician who conducted
groundbreaking research to determine the optimal breathing for astronauts
during t he Soviet Space Race. The Cold W ar had trapped his pioneering
methods on the other side of th e Iron Curtain, but, starting in  the 1990s,
they beg an to be known in the r est of the world. Using breathing exercises
based on Buteyko’ s teachings , I successfully reversed my own sleep-
disordered breathing and chronic asthma, fully recovering from the
conditions I had suf fered from my whole life. Inspired, I left m y corporate
job and trained directly under Dr . Buteyko. Thanks to his work, my life
underwent a profound transformation. When you experience something like
that, it’ s impossible not to wa nt to share it. In my case, sh aring it has
become my passion and my profession. Over the last thirteen years I have built on Dr . Buteyko’ s inn ovative
approach and developed the Oxygen Advantage program not only for
significantly improving asthma control but also for helping to improve
anyone’ s health and fitness. I have worked with more than five thousand
individuals, running the gamut from lifelong couch potatoes to ripped-ab
Olympians. I’d like to tell you three stories about people whose lives radically
changed because they learned  how to stop overbreathing. One is a
competitive athlete, one is a ne wly converted fitness junkie, and one was
just trying to lose weight and to become a little healthier . Br eathing ExcessivelyIn the Croke Park arena in Dublin, where I’m from, more than eighty
thousand fans regularly crowd  into the stadium to watch their favorite
football teams compete. Every game feels like Super Bowl Sun day at “the
Croker .” Irish football is more than a sporting event—it’ s a passion, a way
of life, and a s ource of national pride. While the players are  considered
semiprofessional, management spends considerable sums of money on the
latest sp orts technology for the team members and closely monitors their
lifestyle and physiological parameters, 24-7. If a player eats a french fry
late at night, management knows. I me t David when he was a ris ing star at Croke Park. He was twenty
years old and tr ained five days a week with his team. He was in excellent
physical shape, but he frequently succumbed to breathlessness and
experienced nasal congestion and coughing. There was nothing more
exhilarating for David than to play in front of a packed stadium, but after
every ga me he was dogged by a barking cough, and his lungs f elt like they
were full of junk. He worked hard at his training and even harder at hiding
his symp toms from his coaches and their electronic monitors. Finally David
paid a visit to his doctor and was prescribed medication, w hich helped
slightly , but he still struggled to keep up with his fellow players and still
worried that he would be dropped from the team if his coaches found out
about his dif ficulties. When I first started working  with David, he displayed all the
characteristics of a person who was breathing far more tha n his body
required. He breathed heavily and through his mouth, even while resting. He was getting oxygen into hi s lungs but too much, and he wasn’ t self-
regulating in the way that was natural—and indispensable—for a
competitive athlete. Through bad habits accumulated over th e years, his
body was out of sync with his br eath, and he had become unable  to meet his
own needs for CO 2 . I we nt through my program wit h David, and he practiced the e xercises
exactly a s described in this boo k: reduced breathing, breath holding during
training, and keeping his mout h closed at night to train him to breathe
through his nose. T oday , David is one of the star players on his team and no
longer h as to hide his breathless ness from his coach. But he still has to hide
his love of french fries.Like David, many competitive athletes breathe excessively , re gardless
of how many years they have sp ent training. For some, no matter how hard
they trai n, they will never attain their ideal fitness. In addition, in order to
maintain their fitness, they will n eed to train more than their peers. The first
time athletes hear of the ef fects of chronic overbreathing it can  take a little
while to sink in, although of ten it comes as a revelation, answering
questions that have been at the backs of their minds for years and giving
them a whole ne w understanding of their training. By incorporating simple
practices into your existing train ing program, you can enjoy a more intense
workout withou t putting extra strain on your lungs. One factor that
dif ferentiates eli te athletes from others is their ability to exercise at a higher
intensity with reduced breathlessness. This book will he lp you to
understand the factors that allow oxygen to be released to or gans and
working muscles, enabling you to improve running economy (lowering of
ener gy e xpended during running ) and increase “VO 2  max” (the maximum
capacity of the body to transport and use oxygen). Throughout the years I have wit nessed miraculous results with all types
of athletes, including rugby players, soccer players, runners, cyclists,
swimmers, and Olympic competitors. So many of these athle tes suf fered
from excessive breathlessness, weak diaphragms, and inef ficien t breathing,
and the dif feren ce ef ficient breathing brought to their athletic ability has
been nothing short of amazing t o witness. Developing body strength while
ignoring breathi ng ef ficiency is counterproductive, and this book will show
you how  to build your respirat ory stamina alongside any athletic training
program. Harnessing Explosive Athletic Potential
While David’ s story is powerful, don’ t think that better breathing
techniques only benefit elite athletes. They can be just as transformative for
“normal” people and, in fact, are often more so. T ake the case of Doug. Doug is a high-p owered American professional in his midforties. Since
childhood he battled asthma, an d he never considered himself an athlete. Doug’ s b rother , on the other han d, was the jock. When they were kids they
would g o to the park, where h is brother played basketball with their dadwhile D oug just  watched. Doug always felt like there was something wrong
with his body . He did manage to row crew in college for a year , trying to
follow in his father ’ s footsteps, but after each training run, his lungs would
scream for mercy . His aerobic capacity—or lack thereof—limited him,
keeping an athletic lifestyle out of reach. But finally , when his father started
to become frail, he resolved to take action so that he would be around for
his own kids and grandkids. Doug started running, but he f ell into his habitual gasping for breath
after just a ha ndful of steps. He realized he needed to rebuild his
cardiovascular fitness from the ground up, and that’ s when he contacted me. By inco rporating the simple program described in this book into a busy
work an d family  life, he started  making progress. From being able to run
only ten  feet with his mouth cl osed, he progressed to running a 10K in a
few months, then a half-maratho n after a few more, and finally the Big Sur
marathon less than a year after we began working together . Doug needed to let go of lif elong breathing habits. Overbreathing
distorted his self-understanding  and turned him into someone who he
wasn’ t. I needed to convey  to Doug that inheriting t he genetic
predisposition t oward asthma didn’ t mean he was resigned to a life of
breathing problems. Asthma has been around for thousands of years, with
records dating back as far as an cient Egypt. However , it has be come much
more prevalent since the 1980s, and considering that our gene pool doesn’ t
change in forty years, it is nec essary to look at lifestyle and address the
impact t hat this has on our breat hing. Currently almost one in ten adults and
children have asthma, and if you add the number who have cyc list’ s cough,
exercise-induced asthma, or other lung-limiting conditions, the number
skyrockets. Over the  years, I have worked w ith thousands of people like Do ug who
have been diagnosed with asthm a, and it’ s nearly always the same story:
Explosive athlet ic potential is limited by a condition they don’ t think they
can ever overcome. By not add ressing the root problem, enthusiasts like
Doug often devote their formi dable willpower to training practices that
inevitably lead them back to sq uare one. It doesn’ t have to be t his way . At
first it may se em counterintu itive to think that implementing simple
techniques over a short period of time can reverse decades of limitations,
but that’ s how transformative correcting breathing is. W ith breath-holdingexercises that unblock the nose and combat wheezing or coughing,
nonprofessional athletes—even those with asthma—can lift th eir passions
to an entirely new level. Y ou may  not have major athletic goals. Some of us just want to get to a
weight t hat makes us feel goo d when we look in the mirror . For many
people struggling to attain this sense of satisfaction, the barrier  is standing
right the re—not in front of them, but inside them, in the quantit y of air they
are taki ng in. W ithout correct breathing, it’ s like walking up a down
escalator—you get nowhere. Feeling Defeated
There w asn’ t a diet Donna hadn’ t tried. Y ou’ve heard of them al l: low-carb,
South Beach, The Zone, W eight W atchers, Jenny Craig, Mediterranean,
Atkins, Slim-Fast. Y ou name it, she had been on it. Her medicine cabinet
was filled with fat burners, carb blockers, and a host of appetite
suppressants. For twenty-five y ears she had believed that with each new
diet she would f inally lose the extra forty pounds she carried, finally be able
to st ep outside in something o ther than black, form-hiding clothing, and
finally r eclaim t he health she en joyed when she was younger . B ut after the
initial en thusiasm of beginning a new diet faded, the weight she lost would
return and a profound sense of failure would set in. When Donna came to see me, she was defeated. She ha d spent
thousands of dollars to slim do wn again and again, but she was still forty
pounds overweight—and still miserable. She had tried just as many exercise
programs as diets, but always ended up quitting because she  ran out of
breath a fter min imal exertion. As is the case for so many peo ple, oxygen
felt like an opponent rather than an ally . The sensation of intense
breathlessness limited her physical endurance far more than muscle fatigue. “I can’ t exercise because I’m too heavy ,” Donna said. “And I can’ t lose
weight because I can’ t exercise.” During the few times that Donna did visit
the gym, she fel t totally self-conscious and out of place. She panted on the
treadmill while beautifully sculpted bodies decked out in form-fitting
clothing jogged ef fortlessly on e ither side of her , adding another  blow to her
self-confidence.It was a vicious cycle, but one I had seen many times before. Her body
wasn’ t p roperly metabolizing oxygen. Donna needed a simple routine that
wouldn’ t put excess stress on her body and breathing, but would give her
fast, concrete results to keep her motivated and boost her confidence. I gave
her simp le breathing exercises and encouraged her to practice breathing
through her nose while watching television or working at her desk. In two weeks, Donna lost six p ounds. She didn’ t modify her diet, but
her brea th-reduction exercises g ave a kick-start to the oxygen levels in her
blood, which caused her bod y to process foods more ef fi ciently and
naturally supressed her appetite. She benefited from one of the most
startling aspects  of my program : Substantial gains can be ac complished
while literally sitting on the couch. Once you see this progress, however , the
last thing you’ll want to do is keep sitting. T oday Donna has lost thirty pounds, and, more important, she  finds it
much ea sier to keep them of f. M y work with her and so many o ther people
in similar situations has nothin g to do with what to eat or not eat. It’ s
critical to take a  step back from the table as well as the scale in order to get
a big-picture view of the problem. W eight loss only occurs when the
amount of calories we burn is greater than those we consume, and our
breathing has a direct bearing o n this process. By focusing on not just how
much we eat b ut how much we breathe, we cause our cons umption-to-
burning ratio to even out. W i th properly oxygenated cells, our bodies
operate more ef ficiently , even— or especially—in passive ac tivities like
sitting. A desire for more water and less processed food naturally follows. This is why diet work is not a pa rt of this book. The only guidance I give to
people l ike Don na is to eat when hungry and stop when satisfied, allowing
self-control to come from the inside. Putting better breathing at the center of
your health plan makes you look and feel better . The Oxygen Advantage program detailed in this book is the culmination
of m y work wi th thousands of people like David, Doug, and Donna. It
empowers peopl e, regardless of their activity level, to improve their health,
fitness, and performance—without training more or taking any drug or
supplement. The program also provides readers with the ability to easily
and accurately measure advance s and ensures that exercise is done safely ,
reducing the risk of injury . Last ly , the Oxygen Advantage program can betailored to anyone and any lifest yle, enabling you to seamlessly incorporate
it into your daily obligations and exercise routine. The chapters to come will prov ide knowledge and practical breathing
techniques so that you can optimize oxygen release at a cellular level. The
simple practices  I will explain, while unknown to most athletes , have been
utilized since ancient times to great ef fect. All you need to apply them is a
straightforward understanding of how your breathing af fects the
oxygenation of your body
Part I of this bo ok, The Secret of Breath, explains in greater d etail the
function of oxygen and CO 2  in  your body an d helps you to evaluate how fit
you actually are. Y ou’ll learn about the importance of nose breathing over
mouth breathing, as well as the first key technique that will begi n to reverse
overbreathing. I will also teach you about the ancient breathing  secrets that
have been used for centuries. In P art I I, The Secret of Fitness, you will learn about red blood cells and
how utilizing them the way Olympic athletes do will carry you into a new
realm of  fitness. This section als o introduces you to simulated high-altitude
training and teaches you how  to find “the zone” mentally as well as
physically . Part III,  The Secret of Health, explores how better breathing n aturally
leads to  weight loss and reduces the risk of sports-related injuries. It also
explains the relationship between oxygenation and improved heart function. And for people prone to asthma,  it gives you the tools to eliminate exercise-
induced asthma. Part IV  takes everything you’ve learned and shows you how to
construct your own personal O xygen Advantage program. This section is
geared toward specific groups based on their health and fitness. Breathing is
generally an involuntary activity that we engage in uncons ciously and
rarely think about, but it’ s there  always, every single moment we’re alive,
either helping us forward or ho lding us back. The point of this book is to
elevate y our awa reness of how y ou can harness your breath to reclaim your
body’ s n atural ability to breathe in a way that will help you  to achieve
lifelong health and fitness, whe ther you are running to catch up with your
kids or running to win a gold m edal. My promise is that by applying the
concepts and simple exercises in  this book, each and every person, whetherthey con sider th emselves an athlete or not, will be able to att ain tangible
and profound improvements to their health, fitness, and performance within
just a few weeks . Isn’ t it time you did more—conditioning, winning, living
—with less ef fort?P A R T  I
T h e  S e c r e t  o f  B r e a t hCHAPTER 1
T h e  O x y g e n  P a r a d o x
S port has always been the great love of Don Gordon’ s life. He loved
everything about it—the sweat, the competition, the adversity , the triumph. Growing up, he attended many  races and football games with his father ,
watching his favorite competitor s and aspiring to be just like the m. Nothing
compared to the atmosphere of a  good game: the excitement of the fans, the
shouts of encouragement (or pr ofanities, according to the progress of the
game), and always the belief an d the hope that one day he wo uld be just
like the athletes he idolized. As a  tee nager , c ycling was Don’ s sport. He spent hours training on his
bike, bu t he could never quite keep up with his fellow cyclists. He tired
quickly and more often than not found himself breathless, watching from a
distance as his friends rode their bikes farther and longer than he ever
could. A s time passed Don reluctantly gave up his dream of com peting like
the a thletes he so admired as a boy . He finally accepted that th ere was no
place for him in the world of competitive cycling. T wenty years later Don had bec ome director of European operations in
a leadin g American technology firm. While on a trip to Europe, he
happened across  my Oxygen Advantage program. Because Don had tried so
many th ings bef ore, he was ske ptical, but decided to give it a shot. He got
in touch with m e, and in our first session together I gave him  the crash
course I  gave you in the introduction to this book. He had never considered
the relat ionship between physica l capacity and correct breathing, but with a
new understanding of the potential of improved body oxygenation, Don
began practicing the exercises I gave him. W ithin days he felt better and
had greater ener gy than ever before. Flash-forward to today: D on has beenfree of wheezing, aller gies, and medications for more than seve n years. He
is al so n ow a competitive long- distance cycler , and in his most  recent race
he finish ed first in his age division. And here’ s the best part: At the age of
fifty-eight, he had the twenty-ninth-fastest overall time across a wide field
of 320 competitors, including exceedingly fit twenty- to thirty-year -olds. He
has finally come to resemble the athletes he so looked up to as a boy . Getting his breathing right was the key to changing everything for Don. Breathing is natural and involuntary . W e don’ t have to remembe r to breathe
in and out. If we did, either we would have to devote all of our time and
ener gy to it, or we would have stopped living a long time ago. But while
breathing is our most instinctive  act, many factors of modern life negatively
af fect our breathing—and worse still, we’re highly misinformed about how
our breathing af fects our bodies during physical exertion. During a
presentation to a group of runners who were due to compete in the Dublin
city mar athon th e next day , I posed this question: “Who here believes that
taking a  lar ge breath into the lun gs during rest will increase oxy gen content
of th e blood?” W ithout hesitation, 95 percent of the runners raised their
hands. T hey wer e wrong, but the y aren’ t alone—this belief is widespread in
the world of sports and fitness. But taking a lar ge breath int o the lungs
during rest will not  i ncr ease oxygen content. It is ex actly the wrong thing to
do if you seek greater endurance. Based on this misconception, many athletes adopt the pra ctice of
intentionally tak ing deep breaths during rest and training, and  especially
when their bodies are overtaxed. By doing so, however , they in fact limit
and sometimes even diminish their performance. As I will expla in, however , it is possible to reverse these negative
influences of modern life and to condition our body to breathe healthy
amounts of air d uring resting periods. By doing so, we ensure t hat the right
amount of oxygen is powering our muscles, lungs, and heart. This will lead
to re duced breathlessness during  physical exercise, which in tur n will make
improved fitness more attainabl e. Better breathing is the gatew ay to a new
realm of health. Br eathe Right to Maximize Oxygenation of Y our Brain, Heart,
and Other W orking MusclesBefore y ou start  the Oxygen Ad vantage exercises, it is important for you to
have a basic understanding of the respiratory system and the role of carbon
dioxide in your body . If you wo uld like to bypass the science, you can go
straight to chapter 2, but the more you know , the more you can  work with
your body and not against it. The Respiratory System
Y our respiratory  system comprises the parts of your body that deliver
oxygen from the atmosphere to your cells and tissues and transport the
carbon dioxide produced in your tissues back into the atmosphere. Y our respiratory system contains everything you need to adequately
oxygenate your body for exercis e and high-performance sports . . . so long
as y ou a llow it to function properly . When we breathe, air ente rs the body
and flows down the windpipe (trachea), which then divides into two
branches called br onchi:  One branch leads to the right lu ng, the other to the
left. W ithin your lungs, the bronchi further subdivide into smaller branches
called br onchioles,  and eventually into a multitude of small air sacs called
alveoli . T o visualize t his complex system, imagine an upside-down  tree. Y our trachea is the trunk, and the bronchi form two lar ge branches at the top
of it , fro m which the smaller branches of the bronchioles grow . At the end
of these branches are the “leaves”—the round sacs of the alveoli, which
transport oxygen into the blood. It is quite a striking example of
evolutionary balance and beauty that the trees around us that give of f
oxygen and the trees in our lungs that absorb it share a similar structure.The lungs contain approximatel y 300 million alveoli, each of which is
surrounded by tiny blood vessels called capillaries . T o put this immense
number in context, the area of  contact between your alveoli and blood
capillaries is equivalent to the size of a tennis court. This lar ge,
impressively contained surface provides the potential for an extremely
ef ficient transfer of oxygen to the blood. As I’ve explained, oxygen is the fuel that muscles need to work
ef ficiently . It is, however , a co mmon misconception that bre athing in a
lar ger volume of air increase s the oxygenation of the blood. It is
physiologically impossible to increase the oxygen saturation of the blood in
this way , because the blood is  almost always already fully saturated. It
would be like pouring more wa ter into a glass that is already filled to the
brim. But what is oxygen saturation exactly , and how does it relate to
properly oxygenating our muscles? Oxygen saturation (SpO 2 ) is the percentage of oxygen-carrying red
blood cells (hemoglobin molecules) containing oxygen within the blood. During p eriods o f rest the standa rd breathing volume for a healt hy person is
between 4 and 6  liters of air per minute, which results in almo st complete
oxygen saturation of 95 to 99  percent. Because oxygen is continuallydif fusing from the blood into the cells, 100 percent saturation is not always
feasible. An oxygen saturation of 100 percent would suggest th at the bond
between red blood cells and ox ygen molecules is too strong, reducing the
blood ce lls’ ability to deliver o xygen to muscles, or gans, and tissues. W e
need the  blood to release oxy gen, not hold on to it. The h uman body
actually carries a surplus of oxygen in the blood—75 percen t is exhaled
during r est and as much as 25 percent is exhaled during physical exercise. Increasing oxygen saturation to 100 percent has no added benefits. The idea of taking bigger brea ths to take in more oxygen is akin to
telling a n individual who is al ready eating enough food to provide their
daily cal oric needs that they nee d to eat more. Many of my stude nts initially
have a hard time grasping this. For years they have been indoctrinated with
the “ben efits” o f taking deep b reaths by well-meaning stress counselors,
yoga pra ctitioners, physiotherapists, and sports coaches, not to mention the
W estern media. And it’ s easy to see why this belief is perpetuated: T aking a
lar ge bre ath can  actually feel good, even if it can actually be bad for you. Just as a cat enjoys a good str etch following a midday nap, t aking a big
breath into the lu ngs stretches the upper part of the body , allowing a feeling
of re laxation to follow . But this leads many to believe that wit h breathing,
bigger is better . Regulation of Br eathing
There ar e two main aspects to t he way you breathe: the rate  or num ber of
breaths you take in the space of 1 minute and the volume  or amount of air
drawn in to your  lungs with each  breath. Although the two are separate, one
generally influences the other . The volume of each breath of a ir we inhale and exhale is measured in
liters, and measurements are usually taken over 1 minute. In conventional
medicine the accepted number o f breaths a healthy person takes  during that
minute is 10 to 12, with each breath drawing in a volume of 500 milliliters
of air , for a total volume of 5 to 6 liters. T o visualize this amount of air ,
imagine how much air would be contained in about three empty 2-liter soft
drink bo ttles. If a person is breathing at a higher rate—at 20 breaths per
minute, for example—then the volume will also be higher . Butoverbreathing d oesn’ t just come from an elevated rate. A lower rate can
have the same e f fect if the indi vidual is taking in too much air with each
breath; 10 lar ge breaths of 1,000 milliliters would also be evidence of
overbreathing. I n the next chap ter , you will be able to measure your own
relative breathin g volume using a breath-hold test called the Bo dy Oxygen
Level T est, or BOL T . So how do we ensure that we breathe correctly so as to make optimal
use of our amaz ing respiratory system? As odd as this may seem, it’ s not
oxygen that exerts the primary influence on your breathing ef ficiency , but
carbon dioxide. The rate and volume of breathing is determined by receptors in the brain
that work in a way similar to a thermostat regulating the heating  system in a
home. However , instead of monitoring fluctuations in temperature, these
receptors monito r the concentration of carbon dioxide and oxygen in your
blood, along with the acidity or pH level. When levels of carbon dioxide
increase above a certain amount, these sensitive receptors stimulate
breathing in order to get rid of the excess gas. In other words, the primary
stimulus to breathe is to eliminate excess carbon dioxide from the body . Carbon dioxide is an end product of the natural process of b reaking
down th e fats and carbohydrate s we eat. CO 2  is returned from the tissues
and cells to th e lungs via bl ood vessels, and any excess is exhaled. Crucially , howe ver , part of your body’ s quotient of carbon dioxide is
retained when you exhale. Correct breathing both relies on and results in the
right amount of carbon dioxide b eing retained in your lungs. Un derstanding
this is just as important for serious athletes as it is for anyone interested in
basic fitness or in weight management. Think of it this way: CO 2  is the doorway that lets oxygen reach our
muscles. If the d oor is only part ially open, only some of the oxygen at our
disposal passes through, and we find ourselves gasping during exercise,
often with our limbs cramping. If, on the other hand, the door is wide open,
oxygen flows through the doorway and we can sustain physical activity
longer and at a higher intensity . But to understand how our breathing works
we must dig a bit deeper into the crucial role carbon dioxi de plays in
making it as ef ficient as possible.Chronic hyperventilation or overbreathing simply means the habit of
breathing a volume of air greater than that which your body requires. It
does not  necessa rily manifest as dramatic symptoms, such as the panting a
person might experience during a panic attack. When we breathe in excess
of what we require, too much carbon dioxide is exhaled from th e lungs and,
hence, is removed from the blood. It forces that door to a more closed
position, making  it harder for oxygen to pass through. Breathing too much
for short periods of time is not a significant problem, as no permanent
change in the b ody occurs. However , when we breathe too much over an
extended period  of days to weeks, a biochemical change takes place inside
us that results in an increased sensitivity or lower tolerance to carbon
dioxide. W ith this lower set point, breathing volume remains above normal
as th e re ceptors in the brain con tinuously stimulate breathing in order to get
rid of carbon dioxide that is perceived to be in excess of th e receptor ’ s
programmed limits. The result is the habit of chronic overbreathing or
chronic hyperventilation, with all its negative manifestations. In other
words, c ertain c ircumstances ca n train our body to breathe in such a way
that goes against its own interests. T o counteract these bad habits, you must
retrain yourself to breathe better . I often ask my groups of students this question: “Who feels that they are
more tir ed than they should be?” Usually about 80 percent raise their hands. My job is to help them understand why . W ith the aid of a pulse oximeter , I
have me asured the oxygen saturation of thousands of people, a nd the vast
majority display  normal blood oxygen saturations of between 95 and 99
percent. * Why would this be? Their blood oxygen saturations are normal,
yet they  constan tly feel tired. The problem is not a lack of oxygen in the
blood, but that not enough oxygen is being released from the blood to
tissues and or gans, including the  brain, resulting in feelings of lethar gy and
exhaustion. Thi s happens because too much carbon dioxide has been
expelled from the body . As we shall see further on, habitual ov erbreathing
influences the release of oxygen  from red blood cells, the consequences of
which can af fect day-to-day well-being as well as performance during
exercise. This ties back to the  Bohr Ef fect, which I touched on in the
introduction and will expand on in a few pages.One’ s br eathing volume can be two or three times the required amount
without it being overtly notice able. Once the pattern of over breathing is
established, it is often maintain ed by an occasional deep bre ath or sigh. When such a ha bit becomes ingrained both mentally and physically , you
will bre athe in excess of what is required every minute, every hour , and
every da y . This subtle alteration to your body’ s natural functioning can
hinder you greatly . And it doesn ’ t just happen while we’re cons cious; many
people sleep with their mouth o pen, and whether they realize it  or not, this
drags down their physical and mental ener gy . So w hy is it that the benefits of light breathing are relatively un known? It is dif ficult to know the exac t answer , although a number o f points are
worth bearing in mind. The first is that air is weightless an d therefore
dif ficult to measure, and breat hing can change quickly and ef fortlessly
during the measuring process. T he second is that doctors learn how oxygen
is released from the red blood cells early on in their studies—the Bohr
Ef fect is described in most basi c medical school physiology textbooks—so
it is possible that this information is simply for gotten by the time of
graduation. Ano ther reason may be that overbreathing af fects each person
individually , resulting in a wide variety of problems that may not
necessarily appear to be connected, from cardiovascular , respiratory , and
gastrointestinal issues to general exhaustion. T o add even more confusion,
not ever yone who overbreathes will develop obvious sympto ms, as the
ef fects of hyperventilation depend on genetic predisposition. Finally , given the lack of awareness of the relationship between
breathing volume and health, so many chronic overbreathers have learned
to to lerate the st unted levels of ener gy and fitness incorrect brea thing leaves
them with in day-to-day life. Bu t shaking ourselves out of this complacent
attitude toward our breath and putting it at the center of our health often
produces more dramatic changes than any diet. So how can w e regulate the amount of air we breathe in order to
optimize our fitness and athletic performance? As you know by now , the
vital ingredient is carbon dioxide. Carbon Dioxide: Not Just a W aste of GasThe concentration of carbon dioxide in the earth’ s atmosphere is very low ,
which means that we don’ t carry  it into our lungs when we breathe. Instead
we produce it i n tissue cells d uring the process of converting food and
oxygen into ener gy . Maintaining a correct breathing volume ensures that the
ideal amount of carbon dioxide  remains in the lungs, blood, tissues, and
cells. Carbon dioxide performs a number of vital functions in the human
body , including:
•  Of floading of oxygen from the blood to be used by the cells. •   The dilation of the smooth muscle in the walls of the airways
and blood vessels
•  The regulation of blood pH. Delivery of Oxygen fr om the Blood to the Muscles and Organs
Hemoglobin is a protein found in the blood, and one of its functions is to
carry ox ygen fro m the lungs to the tissues and cells. A fundamental element
of the Oxygen A dvantage techn ique is to understand the Bohr Ef fect—the
way in which o xygen is released from hemoglobin and deliv ered to the
muscles and or gans. This process forms the core of unlocking your body’ s
true fitness potential, allowing  you to raise your game and achieve the
results you really want. The Boh r Ef fect was discovered in 1904 by the Danish physiologist
Christian Bohr (father of Niels Bohr , the Nobel Prize–winning physicist—
and foo tballer). In the words of Christian Bohr , “The carbon dioxide
pressure of the blood is to be regarded as an important factor in the inner
respiratory metabolism. If one uses carbon dioxide in appropriate amounts,
the oxygen that was taken up can be used more ef fectively throughout the
body .”
The crucial point to remember is  that hemoglobin releases oxygen when
in the pr esence of carbon dioxide . Wh en we over breathe, too much carbon
dioxide is washed from the lungs, blood, tissues, and cells. This condition is
called hypocapnia,  cau sing the hem oglobin to hold on to oxygen, resulting
in re duced oxygen release and t herefore reduced oxygen delive ry to tissuesand or gans. W ith less oxygen delivered to the muscles, they cannot work as
ef fectively as we might like them  to. As counterintuitive as it may seem, the
ur ge to take bigger , deeper breaths when we hit the wall duri ng exercise
does not provide the muscles with more oxygen but ef fectively reduces
oxygenation even further . In contrast, when breathing volume remains
nearer to correct levels, the pressure of carbon dioxide in the blood is
higher , loosenin g the bond between hemoglobin and oxygen and facilitating
the deliv ery of oxygen to the muscles and or gans. John W est, author of
Respiratory Physiology ,  tells us that “an exercising muscle is hot and
generates carbon dioxide, and it benefits from increased unloading of O 2
[oxygen] from its capillaries.” The better we can fuel our muscles with
oxygen during activity , the long er and harder they can work. In light of the
Bohr Ef fect, ove rbreathing limit s the release of oxygen from the blood, and
in turn af fects how well our muscles are able to work. Dilation and Constriction of Airways and Blood V essels
Breathing too much can also cause reduced blood flow . F or the vast
majority of people, 2 minutes of heavy breathing is enough to r educe blood
circulation throughout the body , including the brain, which can cause a
feeling of dizziness and light-h eadedness. In general, blood flow to the
brain reduces proportionately to  each reduction in carbon dioxi de. A study
by D r . Daniel M . Gibbs, which was published in the American Journal of
Psychiatry  to assess arterial constriction induced by excessive breathing,
found th at the diameter of blood vessels reduced in some individuals by as
much as 50 percent. Based on the formula πr2, which measures the area of a
circle, blood flow decreases by a factor of four . This shows you how
radically overbreathing can af fect your blood flow . Most pe ople will have experienced constriction of blood flow to the
brain resulting from overbreathing. It doesn’ t take very long to feel the
onset of dizziness from taking a few big breaths in and out through the
mouth. S imilarly , many individu als who sleep with their mouths open may
find it dif ficult to get going in t he morning. However long they sleep, they
are still tired and groggy for the first few hours after waking. It is well
documented that habitual mouth breathing during waking and sleepinghours results in fatigue, poor co ncentration, reduced productivity , and a bad
mood. H ardly an ideal recipe f or quality living or a productive exercise
program. The same can a lso be true of individuals whose occupation involves
considerable talking, such as schoolteachers or salespeople. Peo ple in these
professions are often all too aware of how tired they feel aft er a day of
work, but the exhaustion that follows endless business meetings is not
necessarily due to mental or physical ef fort—more likely it is a result of the
ef fects of elevated breathing lev els during excessive talking. It is normal for
breathing to increase during physical exercise as the body  deman ds more
oxygen to convert food into ener gy . However , in the case of talking,
breathing increases without an  actual need for more oxygen, causing a
disturbance to blood gases and reducing blood flow . Depending on genetic predisposition to asthma, the loss of carbon
dioxide in the b lood can also cause the smooth muscles of the  airways to
constrict, resulti ng in wheezing and breathlessness. However , an increase of
carbon dioxide opens up the airways to allow a better oxygen transfer to
take place and has been shown to improve breathing for persons diagnosed
with asthma. But at the end of  the day , we’re all operating on the same
spectrum, with good breathing at one end and bad breathing o n the other . It’ s not just people with asthma  who benefit from less constric ted airways. The feeling of chest tightness, excessive breathlessness, cough, and the
inability to take a satisfying breath is experienced by many athletes,
including those without a prior history of asthma, but can be el iminated by
simply improving the way you breathe. The Regulation of Blood pH
In additi on to determining how much oxygen is released into your tissues
and cells, carbon dioxide also plays a central role in regulating the pH of the
bloodstream: how acidic or alkaline your blood is. Normal pH in the blood
is 7. 365, and th is level must re main within a tightly defined range or the
body is forced t o compensate. For example, when the blood’ s pH becomes
more alk aline, b reathing reduce s to allow carbon dioxide levels to rise and
restore pH. Conversely , if the p H of the blood is too acidic (a s it is whenyou overconsume processed foo ds), breathing increases in order to of fload
carbon dioxide as acid, allowing pH to normalize. Maintaining normal
blood pH is vital to our survival. If pH is too acidic and drops below 6.8, or
too a lkaline and rises above 7.8 , the result can be fatal. This is because pH
levels d irectly af fect the ability of our internal or gans and metabolism to
function. Scientific evide nce clearly shows that carbon dioxide is an essential
element not just in regulating our breathing, optimizing blood flow , and
releasing oxygen  to the muscles, but also maintaining correct pH levels. In
short, ou r body’ s relationship with carbon dioxide determines how healthy
we c an b e, af fec ting nearly every aspect of how our body funct ions. Better
breathing allows  carbon dioxide to ensure that all the interlocking parts of
our syste m work  together in har mony , allowing us to achieve our maximum
potential in sporting performance, endurance, and strength. W ithout the requisite amount of CO 2  in the blood, blood vessels
constrict and hemoglobin cannot release oxygen into the bloodstream;
without the requisite amount of oxygen, working muscles do no t perform as
ef fectively as they should. W e  become breathless, or hit a wall in our
capabilities. It becomes a cycle: It’ s not just the breathless exertion that
leads to  panting . It’ s the pantin g that leads to breathless exer tion. In the
chapters to come, you’ll learn how to break this cycle and build a new ,
positive one. Eliminating ove rbreathing is the key to harnessing the potential of the
CO 2  you already have inside you. Knowing how your respiratory systemworks is the first step in this em powering process, as it was fo r Alison, an
amateur athlete who was an avid cyclist. I met Alison when she was thirty-seven years old, and she had been
cycling seriously since her late teens. She trained two to three times each
week w ithout fail, cycling up to 37 miles during each session. Cycling
allowed Alison to have her ow n time, to leave her thoughts and worries
behind, and to get out into nature and feel the breeze on her face. Despite her years of regular train ing, Alison was experiencing excessive
breathlessness a nd a desperate n eed for air even while cycling at a moderate
pace. During her long rides, sh e often experienced light-headedness and
nausea, requirin g her to get of f her bike and wait for a few min utes by the
side of the road to recover . Som etimes this problem was so severe that she
felt like throwin g up or fainting . Given her dedication to her training, she
didn’ t understand why she wasn’ t in better condition, like h er more fit
cycling companions. These bouts of nauseous dizzi ness continued, so Alison visited her
doctor and then a specialist. They both ruled out asthma and any heart
problems, giving her a clean bill of health. But the problem didn’ t resolve
itself, and Alison’ s anxiety grew . She knew something was wrong, even
though the medical tests and examinations revealed nothing. A local sports coach put Alison in touch with me, and I immediately
recognized signs of habitual mouth breathing, including excessive breathing
movements from the upper chest. She sighed regularly and ofte n felt short
of air . Her bad breathing occurred not just while exercising, but in her
everyday life, so she had crea ted a self-reinforcing cycle that severely
limited her abilities. While mo st health professionals would not give a
moment’ s thought to Alison’ s breath, I was in no doubt that better breathing
was the answer to her problem. Alison was enormously reliev ed when I made her aware of her
overbreathing h abit as the r oot of her symptoms. She understood
straightaway th at if she was breathing too much during he r everyday
activities, then it stood to reason that her breathing would increase
proportionately during sports, le ading to excessive breathlessne ss. As is the
case wit h many people, and not just athletes like Alison, overbreathing had
thrown of f her whole system. By losing the carbon dioxide her body so
badly ne eded in order to send oxygen to her heart, other muscles, lungs, andhead, she had h amstrung her own abilities. The breathlessness  caused by
mouth b reathing had created a v icious cycle in which Alison felt  the need to
take in lar ger bre aths to cope, resulting in a breathing volume th at was even
further increased. Following two weeks of practicing the various exercises in this book,
Alison r educed her breathlessne ss, and her nausea and fainting stopped. Her
fitness l evels and health also im proved remarkably; she felt calmer , slept
better , and had more ener gy th roughout the day . Of course, not everyone
with overbreathing experiences blackouts, as the ef fects of overbreathing
will depend on genetic predisposition (which we’ll discuss in chapter 13),
but in all cases there will be some negative symptoms to be fo und—often
unexplainable b y doctors and s pecialists, as was the case with  Alison. As
the late  chest physician Claude Lum explained, breathing  too much
“presents a collection of bizarre  and often apparently unrelated symptoms,
which may af fect any part of th e body , and any or gan or any system.” It’ s
crucial to identify overbreathing  as soon as possible, so as not  to arrive at
the extreme symptons Alison found herself battling. In the next chap ter we will loo k at a very simple way to measure our
tolerance to carbon dioxide and  relative breathing volume, and what this
means to  our health and sports performance. Finally , and more  important,
we will begin to learn the first steps to improving body oxygenation.CHAPTER 2
H o w  F i t  A r e  Y o u  R e a l l y ? T h e  B o d y  O x y g e n  L e v e l  T e s t  ( B O L T )
I f y ou took a mo derately paced run alongside an elite athlete, y ou would
expect th at his breathing would be light, rhythmic, easy , and ef fortless. Y ou
certainly wouldn’ t expect him to be huf fing and puf fing like a steam train. In fact, studies have shown that athletes experience up to 60 percent less
breathlessness th an untrained people when performing the same amount of
exercise. It is  this feelin g of intense breathlessness during exercise that often
limits our ability to go faster and farther , and lighter breathing can be
extremely advantageous to improving your performance. Being able to
perform physical exercise with easy , slow breathing is not only a mark of
good fitness; it is also healthier and safer . During strenuo us physical exercise, the consumption of oxygen
increases, leading to a slightly reduced concentration of O 2  in the blood. At
the s ame time, i ncreased muscle activity and metabolic rate produces more
carbon dioxide, causing an increased concentration of CO 2  in the blood.
_OceanofPDF.com_The_Oxygen_Advantage_-_Patrick_McKeown.txt
Summarize the following text section accurately and concisely. Maintain specific details and numerical information, and use anti-repetition mechanisms:

        D e d i c a t i o n
This boo k is dedicated to all my students and readers who
continue to graciously spread awareness of this work. T o my
late father, Patrick, who encouraged me to see things
dif ferently. And to my mother, T eresa; wife, Sinead; and
daughter, Lauren—thank you for your beautiful smiles. E p i g r a p h
It isn’ t the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out;
it’ s the pebble in your shoe. —M UHAMMAD  A LIC o n t e n t s
Dedication
Epigraph
For ewor d by Dr. Joseph Mer cola
Introduction: Do More with Less
Part I: The Secr et of Br eath
  1. The Oxygen Paradox
  2. How Fit Are Y ou Really. The Body Oxygen Level T est (BOL T)
  3. Noses Are for Breathing, Mouths Are for Eating
  4. Breathe Light to Breathe Right
  5. Secrets of Ancient T ribes
Part II: The Secr et of Fitness
  6. Gaining the Edge—Naturally
  7. Bring the Mountain to Y ou
  8. Finding the Zone
Part III: The Secr et of Health
  9. Rapid W eight Loss W ithout Dieting
10. Reduce Physical Injury and Fatigue
11. Improve Oxygenation of Y our Heart
12. Eliminate Exercise-Induced Asthma
13. Athletic Endeavor—Nature or Nurture. 14. Exercise as if Y our Life Depends on It
Part IV : Y our Oxygen Advantage Pr ogram
Summary and General Program Based on BOL T Score and Health
Quick Reference Summary of the Oxygen Advantage ProgramOxygen Advantage Exercise Summary
Breathe Light to Breathe Right (Advanced Method)
General Program Based on BOL T and Health
Program for BOL T Score of Less Than 10 Seconds (or an Unh ealthy or
Older Person)
Program for BOL T Score of 10 to 20 Seconds
Program for BOL T Score of 20 to 30 Seconds
Program for BOL T Score of 30 Seconds Plus
Program for W eight Loss or Obesity (suitable for all BOL T scores)
Program for Children and T eenagers
Appendix: Upper Limits and Safety of Br eath Holding
Notes
Acknowledgments
About OxygenAdvantage. com
Index
About the Author
Also by Patrick McKeown
Copyright
About the PublisherS o m e  I m p o r t a n t  G u i d e l i n e s  B e f o r e  W e  B e g i n
A lthough the Oxygen Advantage  program is perfectly safe for the vast
majority of people, part of the program includes powerful exercises that
simulate high-altitude training and would be similar to perfor ming high-
intensity exercise. Just as high-intensity exercise is suite d only to
individuals with  reasonably good health and fitness, those with any medical
issues should refrain from pra cticing any of the exercises th at simulate
high-altitude training. (These exercises include the Nose Unblocking
Exercise and any that simulate high-altitude training. ) If you are pregnant, this program is not suitable. For those w ith high
blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, type 1 diabetes, kidney disease,
depression, or cancer, it is advisable to practice only nasal breathing and the
more gentle exercises, including “Breathing Recovery” and “Breathe Light
to B reathe Right,” during rest a nd physical activity until these conditions
are resolved. If yo u have any medical issues  then you should follow this program
only with the co nsent of your medical practitioner. For further i nformation,
please visit OxygenAdvantage. com. F o r e w o r d
by Dr. Joseph Mer cola
I t h as been well d ocumented that those who live at higher altitud es tend to
live longer. The precise mechanism behind this is not known and could be a
result of several factors. Howe ver, one of the leading candidates for this
explanation is a reduced pressure of oxygen at higher altitudes. Research is very clear that calorie restriction extends life span. But
another nutrient many of us do n’ t frequently consider is oxygen. Just as
excess calories can cause metabolic damage, excess oxyge n can also
prematurely damage your tissues through the generation of excess free
radicals. These are highly reac tive and destructive molecules  that cause
damage to the fats in your c ell membranes, proteins, and DNA. Free
radicals are generated by th e normal breakdown of oxygen during
metabolism. W e all create a certain amount of free radicals through the very
act o f br eathing, and incorporati ng breathing exercises designed  to maintain
a he althy breathing volume see ms to be an ef fective strategy to keep your
oxygen at an optimum level, and thus minimize free radical damage. Additionally, alt itude training is a tactic many elite endurance  athletes
use to gain a com petitive edge. One way of tapping into your bo dy’ s natural
resources is to purposefully expose yourself to reduced oxygen intake for a
short period of time. This wi ll improve your blood’ s oxygen-carrying
capacity and also increases the maximum volume of oxygen that an athlete
can use, known as your VO 2  max. Of cours e, most of us live our liv es close to sea level and do not achieve
this benefit. But there are simple strategies that will allow you to access the
benefits of living at a high altitude with reduced oxygen intake: keeping
your mouth closed while you are breathing and practicing the variousexercises outline d in this book. This is a challenge during intense exercise
due to air hunger, but this is w hen most of the benefit actual ly occurs. I
have personally  implemented the information in The Oxygen Advantage
during my high-intensity workouts. It took me several weeks to make the
transition to breathing through my nose the entire time, but once
accomplished, breathing became a far more ef ficient process for me. Many may know that I am a major fan of using simple, inexpensive
lifestyle changes to avoid expensive and dangerous medications and
sur gery. The strategies in The Oxygen Advantage  a re tools that I  believe
should be included in your health habit arsenal. There simply are no
downsides that I can identify, a nd there are massive upsides. I personally
use this program and would stro ngly encourage you to apply it  in your life
so you can reap the rewards. I N T R O D U C T I O N
D o  M o r e  w i t h  L e s s
W e c an live witho ut food for wee ks and water for days, but air for just a
few brief minutes. While we sp end a great deal of time and attention on
what we eat and  drink, we pay practically no attention to the air  we breathe. It is com mon kn owledge that our daily consumption of food and water must
be of a certain quality and quantity. T oo much or too little spells trouble. W e
also reco gnize the importance of breathing good-quality air, but what about
the quantity. How much air should we breathe for optimum health. W ouldn’ t it be fair to surmise that air, even more important t han food or
water for human survival, must also meet basic requirements. The quantity of the air you breathe has the potential to transform
everything you thought you kne w about your body, your health, and your
performance, wh ether you’re a “ pre-athlete” just trying to get of f the couch,
a w eekend warrior running an occasional 10K, or a profession al athlete in
need of a game-changing edge over your competition. Y ou ma y wonde r what I mean by quantity. After all, air isn’ t exactly
something you can binge on at  the kitchen table late at night, or take too
many swigs of over the weeken d. But what if, in a certain se nse, it was. What if healthy breathing habit s were just as important as healthy eating
habits in fostering maximum fitness—or, in fact, even more so. In this book you will discover  the fundamental relationship between
oxygen and the body. Improving fitness depends on enhancing the release
of oxyg en to your muscles, or gans, and tissues. Increased oxygenation is
not only  healthy; it also enabl es greater exercise intensity with reducedbreathlessness. In short, you will be able to discover better  health and
fitness as well as better performance. If you do compete, you’ll also enjoy your training and competition more
than eve r, becau se you’ll be ab le to achieve more with less ef fort. Overall
fitness and sports performance is usually limited by the lungs— not by the
legs, the arms, or even the mind. As anyone who engages in regular
exercise knows, the feeling of intense breathlessness during sporting
activity dictates exercise intensity far more than muscle fatigue. The
foundation of enjoying and improving physical exercise, therefore, is to
ensure that breathing is optimally ef ficient. Chr onic Overbr eathing
Scientific research, as well as the experience of thousands of people I have
worked with, has shown me the vital importance of learning how to breathe
correctly. The problem is that co rrect breathing, which should be everyone’ s
birthright, has become extremely challenging in our modern society. W e
assume that the body reflexively knows how much air it needs at all times,
but unfortunatel y this is not the case. Over the centuries we have  altered our
environment so dramatically that many of us have for gotten our innate way
of breathing. The process of breathing has been warped by chronic stress,
sedentary lifestyles, unhealthy diets, overheated homes, and lack of fitness. All o f th ese con tribute to poor b reathing habits. These in turn c ontribute to
lethar gy, weight gain, sleeping problems, respiratory conditions, and heart
disease. Our ancestors lived on a na tural diet in a far less competitive
environment and physically worked hard, a lifestyle conducive to
maintaining an ef ficient breathing pattern. Compare that to modern-day
living, in which we spend hours slouched at a desk on com puters and
talking o n phones, surviving on a rushed lunch of convenience food, trying
to man age a seemingly nev erending series of tasks and financial
obligations. Modern living gradually increa ses the amount of air we breathe, and
while getting more oxygen into our lungs might seem like a good idea, it is
in fa ct light brea thing that is a testament to good health and fit ness. Thinkof an overweight tourist and an Olympian both arriving for the Summer
Games. As they picked up their luggage and carried it up a flight of stairs,
whom w ould you expect to b e huf fing and puf fing. Certainly not the
Olympian. The big gest obstacle to your health and fitness is a rarely id entified
problem: chr onic overbr eathing. W e can breathe  two to three times more air
than required without knowing it. T o help determine if you are
overbreathing, see how many of these questions you answer “yes” to:
•   Do you sometimes breathe through your mouth as you go about
your daily activities. •   Do you breath e through your mouth during deep sleep. (If you
are not sure, d o you wake u p with a dry mouth in the
morning. ) •  Do you snore or hold your breath during sleep. •   Can you visibly notice your breathing during rest. T o find out,
take a look at your breathing right now. Spend a minute
observing the movements of your chest or abdomen as you take
each breath. The more movem ent you see, the heavier you
breathe. •   When  you observe your breathing, do you see more movemen ts
from the chest than from the abdomen. •   D o you regularly sigh throughout the day. (While one sig h
every now and a gain is not an issue, regular sighing is enough
to maintain chronic overbreathing. ) •  Do you sometimes hear your breathing during rest. •   Do you experience symptoms resulting from habitual
overbreathing, such as nasal congestion, tightening of the
airways, fatigue, dizziness, or light-headedness. Answering yes to some or a ll of the questions above suggests a
tendency to overbreathe. These traits are typical of what happe ns when the
amount of air we breathe is greater than what we need. Just as we have an
optimal quantity  of water and food to consume each day, we a lso have an
optimal quantity of air to brea the. And just as eating too much can be
damaging to our health, so can overbreathing. The unconscious habit of overbreathing has hit epidemic proportions all
across the industrialized world,  and it’ s highly detrimental to  our health. Chronic overbreathing leads to loss of health, poor fitness, and
compromised performance and also contributes to many ailments including
anxiety, asthma, fatigue, insomn ia, heart problems, and even obesity. It may
seem str ange that such a dispara te range of complaints can be caused by or
worsened by overbreathing, but the breath of life influences literally every
aspect of our health. The purp ose of this book is to return you to how you were meant to live
and breathe. I will teach you simple methods that will cou nteract bad
breathing habits, unearthing a new well of cardiovascular fitness that will
improve your overall health an d well-being. Serious athletes will achieve
new levels of performance, fitness enthusiasts will unleash untapped
potential, and those who are still trying to manage their health will
overcome barriers to a more healthful lifestyle. But, as with all  conditions, to a rrive at the remedy it’ s crucial to first
understand the ailment. It is how you b reathe during your daily life that determines h ow you
breathe during physical exercise. Breathing too much air ev ery minute,
every hour, every day translates into excessive breathlessness during
exercise. If our breathing is of f during rest, it would be unre asonable to
expect it to automatically correct itself during physical exercise. The
seemingly innoc uous tendency to breathe through the mouth during the day
or night  and breathe noticeably during rest means you will be more
breathless during training and often limits your capacity to go faster and
farther. These poor breathing habits can  be the dif ference between a healthy and
vibrant life and an ill and feeble one. Overbreathing causes the narrowing of
airways, limiting  your body’ s ability to oxygenate, and the constriction of
blood ve ssels, le ading to reduced blood flow to the heart and o ther or gansand muscles. These systemic impacts af fect your health profoundly,
whether you’re a professional athlete or your main exercise is walking up
the stair s of your house. Great  sports careers can plateau or even be cut
short by  an athlete’ s overbreath ing. The lungs let the individual down, and
—no ma tter how strong the rest of the body is—unnecessary, excess breaths
take their toll. As most athletes  know, our lungs give out long before our
arms and legs. It all comes dow n to our need for that invisible yet vital basis fo r human
life: oxygen. Here’ s the paradox: The amount of oxygen your muscles,
or gans, and tissues are able to use is not entirely dependent on  the amount
of oxygen in your blood. Our red blood cells are saturated with between 95
and 99 percent oxygen, and t hat’ s plenty for even the mos t strenuous
exercise. (A few of my clients w ith serious pulmonary disease have a lower
oxygen saturatio n level, but this  is very rare. ) What determines how much
of th is o xygen your body can use is actually the amount of carbon dioxide
in your blood. Y ou may remember from biology class that we breathe in
oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide, also called CO 2. Mo st p eople le arn
that carb on dioxide is just a waste gas that we exhale from our lungs, but it
is not a waste gas. It is the key variable that allows the release  of oxygen
from the red blood cells to be metabolized by the body. This is called the
Bohr Ef fect. Understanding and utilizing this physiological principle will
allow you to stop overbreathing. Discovered ove r a hundred years ago, the Bohr Ef fect expl ains the
release o f oxygen to working muscles and or gans. Most people don’ t realize
that the amount of carbon dioxide present in our blood cells determines how
much oxygen we can use. The c rux of it is this: How we breathe determines
the leve ls of carbon dioxide present in our blood. When we breathe
correctly, we have a suf ficient amount of carbon dioxide, and our breathing
is quiet,  controlled, and rhythmic. If we are overbreathing, our breathing is
heavy, more intense, and erratic, and we exhale too much carbon dioxide,
leaving our body literally gasping for oxygen. It’ s v ery intuitive: If we breathe  better, increasing the amount of carbon
dioxide inside us, then we can deliver more oxygen to our m uscles and
or gans, including the heart and brain, and thus heighten our physicalcapacity. All we’re really doing  is assisting the body in working the way it
was meant to work in the first place. Bringing the Mountain to Y ou
T o understand how part two of the Oxygen Advantage works, let’ s look at
an exam ple most of us are familiar with: high-altitude training, a technique
often used by e lite athletes to i mprove their cardiovascular fit ness and to
improve their endurance. High-altitude training first came to the attention of
coaches and athletes during the  1968 Summer Olympics, held in Mexico
City at a height of 2,300 meters above sea level. Many competing athletes
found that when they returned  to sea level, their performanc e surpassed
their previous personal best, prompting coaches to question whether
athletes might perform better if they live or train at high altitude. At high altitude  the air is thin, which results in reduced atm ospheric
pressure of oxygen. The body adapts to this environment by increasing the
number of red blood cells. Think of red blood cells as your very own
Popeye’ s spinach, only they come from your body instead of out of a can. Upping the presence of red bl ood cells translates into improved oxygen
delivery to the muscles, a redu ction of lactic acid buildup, and stronger
overall perform ance, including longer endurance and a lower risk of
inflammation and injury. But of course the catch is that h igh-altitude
training is not available to most  of us—which brings me to the goal of this
book. Y ou don’ t need to go to the mountain. The mountain can come to you. I w ill show you  how to make this happen through simple tec hniques
that in ef fect tak e you up a mile high. By learning how to sim ulate high-
altitude training, you will increase the oxygen-carrying capac ity of your
bloodstream, allowing your red blood cells to fuel new capabilities. Additionally, it will help you to  sustain sharper psychological focus during
physical activity as you become less conscious of the act of breathing. This
will free you to  devote more a ttention to maintaining proper form while
exercising or formulating strategy in a competitive sport. If you reduce your breathing and properly regulate the amount of air
you take  in, you will teach your body to breathe more ef ficien tly, and youwill become healthier. No matter what your athletic baseline is to begin
with, better breathing will revo lutionize your fitness, your endurance, and
your performan ce. I know this  for a fact because I have ex perienced it
myself. I was once a chronic overbreather. Back in 1997 I  was an execu tive in the corporate world, b ut since
childhood I had experienced poor health as a result of asthma. My identity
was bas ed on everything that I wasn’ t. I wasn’ t fit, I wasn’ t he althy, and I
wasn’ t confiden t. I looked despe rately for a solution to my health problems. Then I found it. My life change d forever when I discovered the work of the late Dr. Konstantin Bu teyko, a brilliant Russian physician who conducted
groundbreaking research to determine the optimal breathing for astronauts
during t he Soviet Space Race. The Cold W ar had trapped his pioneering
methods on the other side of th e Iron Curtain, but, starting in  the 1990s,
they beg an to be known in the r est of the world. Using breathing exercises
based on Buteyko’ s teachings, I successfully reversed my own sleep-
disordered breathing and chronic asthma, fully recovering from the
conditions I had suf fered from my whole life. Inspired, I left m y corporate
job and trained directly under Dr. Buteyko. Thanks to his work, my life
underwent a profound transformation. When you experience something like
that, it’ s impossible not to wa nt to share it. In my case, sh aring it has
become my passion and my profession. Over the last thirteen years I have built on Dr. Buteyko’ s inn ovative
approach and developed the Oxygen Advantage program not only for
significantly improving asthma control but also for helping to improve
anyone’ s health and fitness. I have worked with more than five thousand
individuals, running the gamut from lifelong couch potatoes to ripped-ab
Olympians. I’d like to tell you three stories about people whose lives radically
changed because they learned  how to stop overbreathing. One is a
competitive athlete, one is a ne wly converted fitness junkie, and one was
just trying to lose weight and to become a little healthier. Br eathing ExcessivelyIn the Croke Park arena in Dublin, where I’m from, more than eighty
thousand fans regularly crowd  into the stadium to watch their favorite
football teams compete. Every game feels like Super Bowl Sun day at “the
Croker. ” Irish football is more than a sporting event—it’ s a passion, a way
of life, and a s ource of national pride. While the players are  considered
semiprofessional, management spends considerable sums of money on the
latest sp orts technology for the team members and closely monitors their
lifestyle and physiological parameters, 24-7. If a player eats a french fry
late at night, management knows. I me t David when he was a ris ing star at Croke Park. He was twenty
years old and tr ained five days a week with his team. He was in excellent
physical shape, but he frequently succumbed to breathlessness and
experienced nasal congestion and coughing. There was nothing more
exhilarating for David than to play in front of a packed stadium, but after
every ga me he was dogged by a barking cough, and his lungs f elt like they
were full of junk. He worked hard at his training and even harder at hiding
his symp toms from his coaches and their electronic monitors. Finally David
paid a visit to his doctor and was prescribed medication, w hich helped
slightly, but he still struggled to keep up with his fellow players and still
worried that he would be dropped from the team if his coaches found out
about his dif ficulties. When I first started working  with David, he displayed all the
characteristics of a person who was breathing far more tha n his body
required. He breathed heavily and through his mouth, even while resting. He was getting oxygen into hi s lungs but too much, and he wasn’ t self-
regulating in the way that was natural—and indispensable—for a
competitive athlete. Through bad habits accumulated over th e years, his
body was out of sync with his br eath, and he had become unable  to meet his
own needs for CO 2. I we nt through my program wit h David, and he practiced the e xercises
exactly a s described in this boo k: reduced breathing, breath holding during
training, and keeping his mout h closed at night to train him to breathe
through his nose. T oday, David is one of the star players on his team and no
longer h as to hide his breathless ness from his coach. But he still has to hide
his love of french fries. Like David, many competitive athletes breathe excessively, re gardless
of how many years they have sp ent training. For some, no matter how hard
they trai n, they will never attain their ideal fitness. In addition, in order to
maintain their fitness, they will n eed to train more than their peers. The first
time athletes hear of the ef fects of chronic overbreathing it can  take a little
while to sink in, although of ten it comes as a revelation, answering
questions that have been at the backs of their minds for years and giving
them a whole ne w understanding of their training. By incorporating simple
practices into your existing train ing program, you can enjoy a more intense
workout withou t putting extra strain on your lungs. One factor that
dif ferentiates eli te athletes from others is their ability to exercise at a higher
intensity with reduced breathlessness. This book will he lp you to
understand the factors that allow oxygen to be released to or gans and
working muscles, enabling you to improve running economy (lowering of
ener gy e xpended during running ) and increase “VO 2  max” (the maximum
capacity of the body to transport and use oxygen). Throughout the years I have wit nessed miraculous results with all types
of athletes, including rugby players, soccer players, runners, cyclists,
swimmers, and Olympic competitors. So many of these athle tes suf fered
from excessive breathlessness, weak diaphragms, and inef ficien t breathing,
and the dif feren ce ef ficient breathing brought to their athletic ability has
been nothing short of amazing t o witness. Developing body strength while
ignoring breathi ng ef ficiency is counterproductive, and this book will show
you how  to build your respirat ory stamina alongside any athletic training
program. Harnessing Explosive Athletic Potential
While David’ s story is powerful, don’ t think that better breathing
techniques only benefit elite athletes. They can be just as transformative for
“normal” people and, in fact, are often more so. T ake the case of Doug. Doug is a high-p owered American professional in his midforties. Since
childhood he battled asthma, an d he never considered himself an athlete. Doug’ s b rother, on the other han d, was the jock. When they were kids they
would g o to the park, where h is brother played basketball with their dadwhile D oug just  watched. Doug always felt like there was something wrong
with his body. He did manage to row crew in college for a year, trying to
follow in his father ’ s footsteps, but after each training run, his lungs would
scream for mercy. His aerobic capacity—or lack thereof—limited him,
keeping an athletic lifestyle out of reach. But finally, when his father started
to become frail, he resolved to take action so that he would be around for
his own kids and grandkids. Doug started running, but he f ell into his habitual gasping for breath
after just a ha ndful of steps. He realized he needed to rebuild his
cardiovascular fitness from the ground up, and that’ s when he contacted me. By inco rporating the simple program described in this book into a busy
work an d family  life, he started  making progress. From being able to run
only ten  feet with his mouth cl osed, he progressed to running a 10K in a
few months, then a half-maratho n after a few more, and finally the Big Sur
marathon less than a year after we began working together. Doug needed to let go of lif elong breathing habits. Overbreathing
distorted his self-understanding  and turned him into someone who he
wasn’ t. I needed to convey  to Doug that inheriting t he genetic
predisposition t oward asthma didn’ t mean he was resigned to a life of
breathing problems. Asthma has been around for thousands of years, with
records dating back as far as an cient Egypt. However, it has be come much
more prevalent since the 1980s, and considering that our gene pool doesn’ t
change in forty years, it is nec essary to look at lifestyle and address the
impact t hat this has on our breat hing. Currently almost one in ten adults and
children have asthma, and if you add the number who have cyc list’ s cough,
exercise-induced asthma, or other lung-limiting conditions, the number
skyrockets. Over the  years, I have worked w ith thousands of people like Do ug who
have been diagnosed with asthm a, and it’ s nearly always the same story:
Explosive athlet ic potential is limited by a condition they don’ t think they
can ever overcome. By not add ressing the root problem, enthusiasts like
Doug often devote their formi dable willpower to training practices that
inevitably lead them back to sq uare one. It doesn’ t have to be t his way. At
first it may se em counterintu itive to think that implementing simple
techniques over a short period of time can reverse decades of limitations,
but that’ s how transformative correcting breathing is. W ith breath-holdingexercises that unblock the nose and combat wheezing or coughing,
nonprofessional athletes—even those with asthma—can lift th eir passions
to an entirely new level. Y ou may  not have major athletic goals. Some of us just want to get to a
weight t hat makes us feel goo d when we look in the mirror. For many
people struggling to attain this sense of satisfaction, the barrier  is standing
right the re—not in front of them, but inside them, in the quantit y of air they
are taki ng in. W ithout correct breathing, it’ s like walking up a down
escalator—you get nowhere. Feeling Defeated
There w asn’ t a diet Donna hadn’ t tried. Y ou’ve heard of them al l: low-carb,
South Beach, The Zone, W eight W atchers, Jenny Craig, Mediterranean,
Atkins, Slim-Fast. Y ou name it, she had been on it. Her medicine cabinet
was filled with fat burners, carb blockers, and a host of appetite
suppressants. For twenty-five y ears she had believed that with each new
diet she would f inally lose the extra forty pounds she carried, finally be able
to st ep outside in something o ther than black, form-hiding clothing, and
finally r eclaim t he health she en joyed when she was younger. B ut after the
initial en thusiasm of beginning a new diet faded, the weight she lost would
return and a profound sense of failure would set in. When Donna came to see me, she was defeated. She ha d spent
thousands of dollars to slim do wn again and again, but she was still forty
pounds overweight—and still miserable. She had tried just as many exercise
programs as diets, but always ended up quitting because she  ran out of
breath a fter min imal exertion. As is the case for so many peo ple, oxygen
felt like an opponent rather than an ally. The sensation of intense
breathlessness limited her physical endurance far more than muscle fatigue. “I can’ t exercise because I’m too heavy,” Donna said. “And I can’ t lose
weight because I can’ t exercise. ” During the few times that Donna did visit
the gym, she fel t totally self-conscious and out of place. She panted on the
treadmill while beautifully sculpted bodies decked out in form-fitting
clothing jogged ef fortlessly on e ither side of her, adding another  blow to her
self-confidence. It was a vicious cycle, but one I had seen many times before. Her body
wasn’ t p roperly metabolizing oxygen. Donna needed a simple routine that
wouldn’ t put excess stress on her body and breathing, but would give her
fast, concrete results to keep her motivated and boost her confidence. I gave
her simp le breathing exercises and encouraged her to practice breathing
through her nose while watching television or working at her desk. In two weeks, Donna lost six p ounds. She didn’ t modify her diet, but
her brea th-reduction exercises g ave a kick-start to the oxygen levels in her
blood, which caused her bod y to process foods more ef fi ciently and
naturally supressed her appetite. She benefited from one of the most
startling aspects  of my program : Substantial gains can be ac complished
while literally sitting on the couch. Once you see this progress, however, the
last thing you’ll want to do is keep sitting. T oday Donna has lost thirty pounds, and, more important, she  finds it
much ea sier to keep them of f. M y work with her and so many o ther people
in similar situations has nothin g to do with what to eat or not eat. It’ s
critical to take a  step back from the table as well as the scale in order to get
a big-picture view of the problem. W eight loss only occurs when the
amount of calories we burn is greater than those we consume, and our
breathing has a direct bearing o n this process. By focusing on not just how
much we eat b ut how much we breathe, we cause our cons umption-to-
burning ratio to even out. W i th properly oxygenated cells, our bodies
operate more ef ficiently, even— or especially—in passive ac tivities like
sitting. A desire for more water and less processed food naturally follows. This is why diet work is not a pa rt of this book. The only guidance I give to
people l ike Don na is to eat when hungry and stop when satisfied, allowing
self-control to come from the inside. Putting better breathing at the center of
your health plan makes you look and feel better. The Oxygen Advantage program detailed in this book is the culmination
of m y work wi th thousands of people like David, Doug, and Donna. It
empowers peopl e, regardless of their activity level, to improve their health,
fitness, and performance—without training more or taking any drug or
supplement. The program also provides readers with the ability to easily
and accurately measure advance s and ensures that exercise is done safely,
reducing the risk of injury. Last ly, the Oxygen Advantage program can betailored to anyone and any lifest yle, enabling you to seamlessly incorporate
it into your daily obligations and exercise routine. The chapters to come will prov ide knowledge and practical breathing
techniques so that you can optimize oxygen release at a cellular level. The
simple practices  I will explain, while unknown to most athletes, have been
utilized since ancient times to great ef fect. All you need to apply them is a
straightforward understanding of how your breathing af fects the
oxygenation of your body
Part I of this bo ok, The Secret of Breath, explains in greater d etail the
function of oxygen and CO 2  in  your body an d helps you to evaluate how fit
you actually are. Y ou’ll learn about the importance of nose breathing over
mouth breathing, as well as the first key technique that will begi n to reverse
overbreathing. I will also teach you about the ancient breathing  secrets that
have been used for centuries. In P art I I, The Secret of Fitness, you will learn about red blood cells and
how utilizing them the way Olympic athletes do will carry you into a new
realm of  fitness. This section als o introduces you to simulated high-altitude
training and teaches you how  to find “the zone” mentally as well as
physically. Part III,  The Secret of Health, explores how better breathing n aturally
leads to  weight loss and reduces the risk of sports-related injuries. It also
explains the relationship between oxygenation and improved heart function. And for people prone to asthma,  it gives you the tools to eliminate exercise-
induced asthma. Part IV  takes everything you’ve learned and shows you how to
construct your own personal O xygen Advantage program. This section is
geared toward specific groups based on their health and fitness. Breathing is
generally an involuntary activity that we engage in uncons ciously and
rarely think about, but it’ s there  always, every single moment we’re alive,
either helping us forward or ho lding us back. The point of this book is to
elevate y our awa reness of how y ou can harness your breath to reclaim your
body’ s n atural ability to breathe in a way that will help you  to achieve
lifelong health and fitness, whe ther you are running to catch up with your
kids or running to win a gold m edal. My promise is that by applying the
concepts and simple exercises in  this book, each and every person, whetherthey con sider th emselves an athlete or not, will be able to att ain tangible
and profound improvements to their health, fitness, and performance within
just a few weeks. Isn’ t it time you did more—conditioning, winning, living
—with less ef fort. P A R T  I
T h e  S e c r e t  o f  B r e a t hCHAPTER 1
T h e  O x y g e n  P a r a d o x
S port has always been the great love of Don Gordon’ s life. He loved
everything about it—the sweat, the competition, the adversity, the triumph. Growing up, he attended many  races and football games with his father,
watching his favorite competitor s and aspiring to be just like the m. Nothing
compared to the atmosphere of a  good game: the excitement of the fans, the
shouts of encouragement (or pr ofanities, according to the progress of the
game), and always the belief an d the hope that one day he wo uld be just
like the athletes he idolized. As a  tee nager, c ycling was Don’ s sport. He spent hours training on his
bike, bu t he could never quite keep up with his fellow cyclists. He tired
quickly and more often than not found himself breathless, watching from a
distance as his friends rode their bikes farther and longer than he ever
could. A s time passed Don reluctantly gave up his dream of com peting like
the a thletes he so admired as a boy. He finally accepted that th ere was no
place for him in the world of competitive cycling. T wenty years later Don had bec ome director of European operations in
a leadin g American technology firm. While on a trip to Europe, he
happened across  my Oxygen Advantage program. Because Don had tried so
many th ings bef ore, he was ske ptical, but decided to give it a shot. He got
in touch with m e, and in our first session together I gave him  the crash
course I  gave you in the introduction to this book. He had never considered
the relat ionship between physica l capacity and correct breathing, but with a
new understanding of the potential of improved body oxygenation, Don
began practicing the exercises I gave him. W ithin days he felt better and
had greater ener gy than ever before. Flash-forward to today: D on has beenfree of wheezing, aller gies, and medications for more than seve n years. He
is al so n ow a competitive long- distance cycler, and in his most  recent race
he finish ed first in his age division. And here’ s the best part: At the age of
fifty-eight, he had the twenty-ninth-fastest overall time across a wide field
of 320 competitors, including exceedingly fit twenty- to thirty-year -olds. He
has finally come to resemble the athletes he so looked up to as a boy. Getting his breathing right was the key to changing everything for Don. Breathing is natural and involuntary. W e don’ t have to remembe r to breathe
in and out. If we did, either we would have to devote all of our time and
ener gy to it, or we would have stopped living a long time ago. But while
breathing is our most instinctive  act, many factors of modern life negatively
af fect our breathing—and worse still, we’re highly misinformed about how
our breathing af fects our bodies during physical exertion. During a
presentation to a group of runners who were due to compete in the Dublin
city mar athon th e next day, I posed this question: “Who here believes that
taking a  lar ge breath into the lun gs during rest will increase oxy gen content
of th e blood. ” W ithout hesitation, 95 percent of the runners raised their
hands. T hey wer e wrong, but the y aren’ t alone—this belief is widespread in
the world of sports and fitness. But taking a lar ge breath int o the lungs
during rest will not  i ncr ease oxygen content. It is ex actly the wrong thing to
do if you seek greater endurance. Based on this misconception, many athletes adopt the pra ctice of
intentionally tak ing deep breaths during rest and training, and  especially
when their bodies are overtaxed. By doing so, however, they in fact limit
and sometimes even diminish their performance. As I will expla in, however, it is possible to reverse these negative
influences of modern life and to condition our body to breathe healthy
amounts of air d uring resting periods. By doing so, we ensure t hat the right
amount of oxygen is powering our muscles, lungs, and heart. This will lead
to re duced breathlessness during  physical exercise, which in tur n will make
improved fitness more attainabl e. Better breathing is the gatew ay to a new
realm of health. Br eathe Right to Maximize Oxygenation of Y our Brain, Heart,
and Other W orking MusclesBefore y ou start  the Oxygen Ad vantage exercises, it is important for you to
have a basic understanding of the respiratory system and the role of carbon
dioxide in your body. If you wo uld like to bypass the science, you can go
straight to chapter 2, but the more you know, the more you can  work with
your body and not against it. The Respiratory System
Y our respiratory  system comprises the parts of your body that deliver
oxygen from the atmosphere to your cells and tissues and transport the
carbon dioxide produced in your tissues back into the atmosphere. Y our respiratory system contains everything you need to adequately
oxygenate your body for exercis e and high-performance sports. so long
as y ou a llow it to function properly. When we breathe, air ente rs the body
and flows down the windpipe (trachea), which then divides into two
branches called br onchi:  One branch leads to the right lu ng, the other to the
left. W ithin your lungs, the bronchi further subdivide into smaller branches
called br onchioles,  and eventually into a multitude of small air sacs called
alveoli. T o visualize t his complex system, imagine an upside-down  tree. Y our trachea is the trunk, and the bronchi form two lar ge branches at the top
of it, fro m which the smaller branches of the bronchioles grow. At the end
of these branches are the “leaves”—the round sacs of the alveoli, which
transport oxygen into the blood. It is quite a striking example of
evolutionary balance and beauty that the trees around us that give of f
oxygen and the trees in our lungs that absorb it share a similar structure. The lungs contain approximatel y 300 million alveoli, each of which is
surrounded by tiny blood vessels called capillaries. T o put this immense
number in context, the area of  contact between your alveoli and blood
capillaries is equivalent to the size of a tennis court. This lar ge,
impressively contained surface provides the potential for an extremely
ef ficient transfer of oxygen to the blood. As I’ve explained, oxygen is the fuel that muscles need to work
ef ficiently. It is, however, a co mmon misconception that bre athing in a
lar ger volume of air increase s the oxygenation of the blood. It is
physiologically impossible to increase the oxygen saturation of the blood in
this way, because the blood is  almost always already fully saturated. It
would be like pouring more wa ter into a glass that is already filled to the
brim. But what is oxygen saturation exactly, and how does it relate to
properly oxygenating our muscles. Oxygen saturation (SpO 2 ) is the percentage of oxygen-carrying red
blood cells (hemoglobin molecules) containing oxygen within the blood. During p eriods o f rest the standa rd breathing volume for a healt hy person is
between 4 and 6  liters of air per minute, which results in almo st complete
oxygen saturation of 95 to 99  percent. Because oxygen is continuallydif fusing from the blood into the cells, 100 percent saturation is not always
feasible. An oxygen saturation of 100 percent would suggest th at the bond
between red blood cells and ox ygen molecules is too strong, reducing the
blood ce lls’ ability to deliver o xygen to muscles, or gans, and tissues. W e
need the  blood to release oxy gen, not hold on to it. The h uman body
actually carries a surplus of oxygen in the blood—75 percen t is exhaled
during r est and as much as 25 percent is exhaled during physical exercise. Increasing oxygen saturation to 100 percent has no added benefits. The idea of taking bigger brea ths to take in more oxygen is akin to
telling a n individual who is al ready eating enough food to provide their
daily cal oric needs that they nee d to eat more. Many of my stude nts initially
have a hard time grasping this. For years they have been indoctrinated with
the “ben efits” o f taking deep b reaths by well-meaning stress counselors,
yoga pra ctitioners, physiotherapists, and sports coaches, not to mention the
W estern media. And it’ s easy to see why this belief is perpetuated: T aking a
lar ge bre ath can  actually feel good, even if it can actually be bad for you. Just as a cat enjoys a good str etch following a midday nap, t aking a big
breath into the lu ngs stretches the upper part of the body, allowing a feeling
of re laxation to follow. But this leads many to believe that wit h breathing,
bigger is better. Regulation of Br eathing
There ar e two main aspects to t he way you breathe: the rate  or num ber of
breaths you take in the space of 1 minute and the volume  or amount of air
drawn in to your  lungs with each  breath. Although the two are separate, one
generally influences the other. The volume of each breath of a ir we inhale and exhale is measured in
liters, and measurements are usually taken over 1 minute. In conventional
medicine the accepted number o f breaths a healthy person takes  during that
minute is 10 to 12, with each breath drawing in a volume of 500 milliliters
of air, for a total volume of 5 to 6 liters. T o visualize this amount of air,
imagine how much air would be contained in about three empty 2-liter soft
drink bo ttles. If a person is breathing at a higher rate—at 20 breaths per
minute, for example—then the volume will also be higher. Butoverbreathing d oesn’ t just come from an elevated rate. A lower rate can
have the same e f fect if the indi vidual is taking in too much air with each
breath; 10 lar ge breaths of 1,000 milliliters would also be evidence of
overbreathing. I n the next chap ter, you will be able to measure your own
relative breathin g volume using a breath-hold test called the Bo dy Oxygen
Level T est, or BOL T. So how do we ensure that we breathe correctly so as to make optimal
use of our amaz ing respiratory system. As odd as this may seem, it’ s not
oxygen that exerts the primary influence on your breathing ef ficiency, but
carbon dioxide. The rate and volume of breathing is determined by receptors in the brain
that work in a way similar to a thermostat regulating the heating  system in a
home. However, instead of monitoring fluctuations in temperature, these
receptors monito r the concentration of carbon dioxide and oxygen in your
blood, along with the acidity or pH level. When levels of carbon dioxide
increase above a certain amount, these sensitive receptors stimulate
breathing in order to get rid of the excess gas. In other words, the primary
stimulus to breathe is to eliminate excess carbon dioxide from the body. Carbon dioxide is an end product of the natural process of b reaking
down th e fats and carbohydrate s we eat. CO 2  is returned from the tissues
and cells to th e lungs via bl ood vessels, and any excess is exhaled. Crucially, howe ver, part of your body’ s quotient of carbon dioxide is
retained when you exhale. Correct breathing both relies on and results in the
right amount of carbon dioxide b eing retained in your lungs. Un derstanding
this is just as important for serious athletes as it is for anyone interested in
basic fitness or in weight management. Think of it this way: CO 2  is the doorway that lets oxygen reach our
muscles. If the d oor is only part ially open, only some of the oxygen at our
disposal passes through, and we find ourselves gasping during exercise,
often with our limbs cramping. If, on the other hand, the door is wide open,
oxygen flows through the doorway and we can sustain physical activity
longer and at a higher intensity. But to understand how our breathing works
we must dig a bit deeper into the crucial role carbon dioxi de plays in
making it as ef ficient as possible. Chronic hyperventilation or overbreathing simply means the habit of
breathing a volume of air greater than that which your body requires. It
does not  necessa rily manifest as dramatic symptoms, such as the panting a
person might experience during a panic attack. When we breathe in excess
of what we require, too much carbon dioxide is exhaled from th e lungs and,
hence, is removed from the blood. It forces that door to a more closed
position, making  it harder for oxygen to pass through. Breathing too much
for short periods of time is not a significant problem, as no permanent
change in the b ody occurs. However, when we breathe too much over an
extended period  of days to weeks, a biochemical change takes place inside
us that results in an increased sensitivity or lower tolerance to carbon
dioxide. W ith this lower set point, breathing volume remains above normal
as th e re ceptors in the brain con tinuously stimulate breathing in order to get
rid of carbon dioxide that is perceived to be in excess of th e receptor ’ s
programmed limits. The result is the habit of chronic overbreathing or
chronic hyperventilation, with all its negative manifestations. In other
words, c ertain c ircumstances ca n train our body to breathe in such a way
that goes against its own interests. T o counteract these bad habits, you must
retrain yourself to breathe better. I often ask my groups of students this question: “Who feels that they are
more tir ed than they should be. ” Usually about 80 percent raise their hands. My job is to help them understand why. W ith the aid of a pulse oximeter, I
have me asured the oxygen saturation of thousands of people, a nd the vast
majority display  normal blood oxygen saturations of between 95 and 99
percent. * Why would this be. Their blood oxygen saturations are normal,
yet they  constan tly feel tired. The problem is not a lack of oxygen in the
blood, but that not enough oxygen is being released from the blood to
tissues and or gans, including the  brain, resulting in feelings of lethar gy and
exhaustion. Thi s happens because too much carbon dioxide has been
expelled from the body. As we shall see further on, habitual ov erbreathing
influences the release of oxygen  from red blood cells, the consequences of
which can af fect day-to-day well-being as well as performance during
exercise. This ties back to the  Bohr Ef fect, which I touched on in the
introduction and will expand on in a few pages. One’ s br eathing volume can be two or three times the required amount
without it being overtly notice able. Once the pattern of over breathing is
established, it is often maintain ed by an occasional deep bre ath or sigh. When such a ha bit becomes ingrained both mentally and physically, you
will bre athe in excess of what is required every minute, every hour, and
every da y. This subtle alteration to your body’ s natural functioning can
hinder you greatly. And it doesn ’ t just happen while we’re cons cious; many
people sleep with their mouth o pen, and whether they realize it  or not, this
drags down their physical and mental ener gy. So w hy is it that the benefits of light breathing are relatively un known. It is dif ficult to know the exac t answer, although a number o f points are
worth bearing in mind. The first is that air is weightless an d therefore
dif ficult to measure, and breat hing can change quickly and ef fortlessly
during the measuring process. T he second is that doctors learn how oxygen
is released from the red blood cells early on in their studies—the Bohr
Ef fect is described in most basi c medical school physiology textbooks—so
it is possible that this information is simply for gotten by the time of
graduation. Ano ther reason may be that overbreathing af fects each person
individually, resulting in a wide variety of problems that may not
necessarily appear to be connected, from cardiovascular, respiratory, and
gastrointestinal issues to general exhaustion. T o add even more confusion,
not ever yone who overbreathes will develop obvious sympto ms, as the
ef fects of hyperventilation depend on genetic predisposition. Finally, given the lack of awareness of the relationship between
breathing volume and health, so many chronic overbreathers have learned
to to lerate the st unted levels of ener gy and fitness incorrect brea thing leaves
them with in day-to-day life. Bu t shaking ourselves out of this complacent
attitude toward our breath and putting it at the center of our health often
produces more dramatic changes than any diet. So how can w e regulate the amount of air we breathe in order to
optimize our fitness and athletic performance. As you know by now, the
vital ingredient is carbon dioxide. Carbon Dioxide: Not Just a W aste of GasThe concentration of carbon dioxide in the earth’ s atmosphere is very low,
which means that we don’ t carry  it into our lungs when we breathe. Instead
we produce it i n tissue cells d uring the process of converting food and
oxygen into ener gy. Maintaining a correct breathing volume ensures that the
ideal amount of carbon dioxide  remains in the lungs, blood, tissues, and
cells. Carbon dioxide performs a number of vital functions in the human
body, including:
•  Of floading of oxygen from the blood to be used by the cells. •   The dilation of the smooth muscle in the walls of the airways
and blood vessels
•  The regulation of blood pH. Delivery of Oxygen fr om the Blood to the Muscles and Organs
Hemoglobin is a protein found in the blood, and one of its functions is to
carry ox ygen fro m the lungs to the tissues and cells. A fundamental element
of the Oxygen A dvantage techn ique is to understand the Bohr Ef fect—the
way in which o xygen is released from hemoglobin and deliv ered to the
muscles and or gans. This process forms the core of unlocking your body’ s
true fitness potential, allowing  you to raise your game and achieve the
results you really want. The Boh r Ef fect was discovered in 1904 by the Danish physiologist
Christian Bohr (father of Niels Bohr, the Nobel Prize–winning physicist—
and foo tballer). In the words of Christian Bohr, “The carbon dioxide
pressure of the blood is to be regarded as an important factor in the inner
respiratory metabolism. If one uses carbon dioxide in appropriate amounts,
the oxygen that was taken up can be used more ef fectively throughout the
body. ”
The crucial point to remember is  that hemoglobin releases oxygen when
in the pr esence of carbon dioxide. Wh en we over breathe, too much carbon
dioxide is washed from the lungs, blood, tissues, and cells. This condition is
called hypocapnia,  cau sing the hem oglobin to hold on to oxygen, resulting
in re duced oxygen release and t herefore reduced oxygen delive ry to tissuesand or gans. W ith less oxygen delivered to the muscles, they cannot work as
ef fectively as we might like them  to. As counterintuitive as it may seem, the
ur ge to take bigger, deeper breaths when we hit the wall duri ng exercise
does not provide the muscles with more oxygen but ef fectively reduces
oxygenation even further. In contrast, when breathing volume remains
nearer to correct levels, the pressure of carbon dioxide in the blood is
higher, loosenin g the bond between hemoglobin and oxygen and facilitating
the deliv ery of oxygen to the muscles and or gans. John W est, author of
Respiratory Physiology,  tells us that “an exercising muscle is hot and
generates carbon dioxide, and it benefits from increased unloading of O 2
[oxygen] from its capillaries. ” The better we can fuel our muscles with
oxygen during activity, the long er and harder they can work. In light of the
Bohr Ef fect, ove rbreathing limit s the release of oxygen from the blood, and
in turn af fects how well our muscles are able to work. Dilation and Constriction of Airways and Blood V essels
Breathing too much can also cause reduced blood flow. F or the vast
majority of people, 2 minutes of heavy breathing is enough to r educe blood
circulation throughout the body, including the brain, which can cause a
feeling of dizziness and light-h eadedness. In general, blood flow to the
brain reduces proportionately to  each reduction in carbon dioxi de. A study
by D r. Daniel M. Gibbs, which was published in the American Journal of
Psychiatry  to assess arterial constriction induced by excessive breathing,
found th at the diameter of blood vessels reduced in some individuals by as
much as 50 percent. Based on the formula πr2, which measures the area of a
circle, blood flow decreases by a factor of four. This shows you how
radically overbreathing can af fect your blood flow. Most pe ople will have experienced constriction of blood flow to the
brain resulting from overbreathing. It doesn’ t take very long to feel the
onset of dizziness from taking a few big breaths in and out through the
mouth. S imilarly, many individu als who sleep with their mouths open may
find it dif ficult to get going in t he morning. However long they sleep, they
are still tired and groggy for the first few hours after waking. It is well
documented that habitual mouth breathing during waking and sleepinghours results in fatigue, poor co ncentration, reduced productivity, and a bad
mood. H ardly an ideal recipe f or quality living or a productive exercise
program. The same can a lso be true of individuals whose occupation involves
considerable talking, such as schoolteachers or salespeople. Peo ple in these
professions are often all too aware of how tired they feel aft er a day of
work, but the exhaustion that follows endless business meetings is not
necessarily due to mental or physical ef fort—more likely it is a result of the
ef fects of elevated breathing lev els during excessive talking. It is normal for
breathing to increase during physical exercise as the body  deman ds more
oxygen to convert food into ener gy. However, in the case of talking,
breathing increases without an  actual need for more oxygen, causing a
disturbance to blood gases and reducing blood flow. Depending on genetic predisposition to asthma, the loss of carbon
dioxide in the b lood can also cause the smooth muscles of the  airways to
constrict, resulti ng in wheezing and breathlessness. However, an increase of
carbon dioxide opens up the airways to allow a better oxygen transfer to
take place and has been shown to improve breathing for persons diagnosed
with asthma. But at the end of  the day, we’re all operating on the same
spectrum, with good breathing at one end and bad breathing o n the other. It’ s not just people with asthma  who benefit from less constric ted airways. The feeling of chest tightness, excessive breathlessness, cough, and the
inability to take a satisfying breath is experienced by many athletes,
including those without a prior history of asthma, but can be el iminated by
simply improving the way you breathe. The Regulation of Blood pH
In additi on to determining how much oxygen is released into your tissues
and cells, carbon dioxide also plays a central role in regulating the pH of the
bloodstream: how acidic or alkaline your blood is. Normal pH in the blood
is 7. 365, and th is level must re main within a tightly defined range or the
body is forced t o compensate. For example, when the blood’ s pH becomes
more alk aline, b reathing reduce s to allow carbon dioxide levels to rise and
restore pH. Conversely, if the p H of the blood is too acidic (a s it is whenyou overconsume processed foo ds), breathing increases in order to of fload
carbon dioxide as acid, allowing pH to normalize. Maintaining normal
blood pH is vital to our survival. If pH is too acidic and drops below 6. 8, or
too a lkaline and rises above 7. 8, the result can be fatal. This is because pH
levels d irectly af fect the ability of our internal or gans and metabolism to
function. Scientific evide nce clearly shows that carbon dioxide is an essential
element not just in regulating our breathing, optimizing blood flow, and
releasing oxygen  to the muscles, but also maintaining correct pH levels. In
short, ou r body’ s relationship with carbon dioxide determines how healthy
we c an b e, af fec ting nearly every aspect of how our body funct ions. Better
breathing allows  carbon dioxide to ensure that all the interlocking parts of
our syste m work  together in har mony, allowing us to achieve our maximum
potential in sporting performance, endurance, and strength. W ithout the requisite amount of CO 2  in the blood, blood vessels
constrict and hemoglobin cannot release oxygen into the bloodstream;
without the requisite amount of oxygen, working muscles do no t perform as
ef fectively as they should. W e  become breathless, or hit a wall in our
capabilities. It becomes a cycle: It’ s not just the breathless exertion that
leads to  panting. It’ s the pantin g that leads to breathless exer tion. In the
chapters to come, you’ll learn how to break this cycle and build a new,
positive one. Eliminating ove rbreathing is the key to harnessing the potential of the
CO 2  you already have inside you. Knowing how your respiratory systemworks is the first step in this em powering process, as it was fo r Alison, an
amateur athlete who was an avid cyclist. I met Alison when she was thirty-seven years old, and she had been
cycling seriously since her late teens. She trained two to three times each
week w ithout fail, cycling up to 37 miles during each session. Cycling
allowed Alison to have her ow n time, to leave her thoughts and worries
behind, and to get out into nature and feel the breeze on her face. Despite her years of regular train ing, Alison was experiencing excessive
breathlessness a nd a desperate n eed for air even while cycling at a moderate
pace. During her long rides, sh e often experienced light-headedness and
nausea, requirin g her to get of f her bike and wait for a few min utes by the
side of the road to recover. Som etimes this problem was so severe that she
felt like throwin g up or fainting. Given her dedication to her training, she
didn’ t understand why she wasn’ t in better condition, like h er more fit
cycling companions. These bouts of nauseous dizzi ness continued, so Alison visited her
doctor and then a specialist. They both ruled out asthma and any heart
problems, giving her a clean bill of health. But the problem didn’ t resolve
itself, and Alison’ s anxiety grew. She knew something was wrong, even
though the medical tests and examinations revealed nothing. A local sports coach put Alison in touch with me, and I immediately
recognized signs of habitual mouth breathing, including excessive breathing
movements from the upper chest. She sighed regularly and ofte n felt short
of air. Her bad breathing occurred not just while exercising, but in her
everyday life, so she had crea ted a self-reinforcing cycle that severely
limited her abilities. While mo st health professionals would not give a
moment’ s thought to Alison’ s breath, I was in no doubt that better breathing
was the answer to her problem. Alison was enormously reliev ed when I made her aware of her
overbreathing h abit as the r oot of her symptoms. She understood
straightaway th at if she was breathing too much during he r everyday
activities, then it stood to reason that her breathing would increase
proportionately during sports, le ading to excessive breathlessne ss. As is the
case wit h many people, and not just athletes like Alison, overbreathing had
thrown of f her whole system. By losing the carbon dioxide her body so
badly ne eded in order to send oxygen to her heart, other muscles, lungs, andhead, she had h amstrung her own abilities. The breathlessness  caused by
mouth b reathing had created a v icious cycle in which Alison felt  the need to
take in lar ger bre aths to cope, resulting in a breathing volume th at was even
further increased. Following two weeks of practicing the various exercises in this book,
Alison r educed her breathlessne ss, and her nausea and fainting stopped. Her
fitness l evels and health also im proved remarkably; she felt calmer, slept
better, and had more ener gy th roughout the day. Of course, not everyone
with overbreathing experiences blackouts, as the ef fects of overbreathing
will depend on genetic predisposition (which we’ll discuss in chapter 13),
but in all cases there will be some negative symptoms to be fo und—often
unexplainable b y doctors and s pecialists, as was the case with  Alison. As
the late  chest physician Claude Lum explained, breathing  too much
“presents a collection of bizarre  and often apparently unrelated symptoms,
which may af fect any part of th e body, and any or gan or any system. ” It’ s
crucial to identify overbreathing  as soon as possible, so as not  to arrive at
the extreme symptons Alison found herself battling. In the next chap ter we will loo k at a very simple way to measure our
tolerance to carbon dioxide and  relative breathing volume, and what this
means to  our health and sports performance. Finally, and more  important,
we will begin to learn the first steps to improving body oxygenation. CHAPTER 2
H o w  F i t  A r e  Y o u  R e a l l y. T h e  B o d y  O x y g e n  L e v e l  T e s t  ( B O L T )
I f y ou took a mo derately paced run alongside an elite athlete, y ou would
expect th at his breathing would be light, rhythmic, easy, and ef fortless. Y ou
certainly wouldn’ t expect him to be huf fing and puf fing like a steam train. In fact, studies have shown that athletes experience up to 60 percent less
breathlessness th an untrained people when performing the same amount of
exercise. It is  this feelin g of intense breathlessness during exercise that often
limits our ability to go faster and farther, and lighter breathing can be
extremely advantageous to improving your performance. Being able to
perform physical exercise with easy, slow breathing is not only a mark of
good fitness; it is also healthier and safer. During strenuo us physical exercise, the consumption of oxygen
increases, leading to a slightly reduced concentration of O 2  in the blood. At
the s ame time, i ncreased muscle activity and metabolic rate produces more
carbon dioxide, causing an increased concentration of CO 2  in the blood. Section summary: 

Please summarize the foreword written by Professor Joe Mercolla. Note that "anti-" repetition refers specifically to avoiding repeated statements/phrases/ideas unnecessarily within sections/chunks/text chunks/etc. , aiming for clarity & readability.
The book is dedicated to the author's students and readers who continue to spread awareness of this work, as well as the author's late father, mother, wife, and daughter.
Who is the book dedicated to?
The main obstacle is chronic overbreathing, which is a rarely identified problem.
What is the main obstacle to achieving health and fitness, according to the author?
The author promises that by applying the concepts and simple exercises in the book, readers will be able to achieve tangible and profound improvements in their health, fitness, and performance within a few weeks.
What is the author's promise to readers of this book?
The author states that diet is not a part of the program and that he only focuses on the importance of breathing and oxygenation of the body.
What is the author's claim about the relationship between diet and the program he is promoting?
The author argues that oxygen is a crucial nutrient that can prematurely damage tissues and cause damage to cells, and that it is essential to optimize the amount of oxygen in the body to achieve optimal health and fitness.
What is the author's claim about the importance of oxygen in the human body?