During a recent dinner with Dr. Nate Crain, Nate asked if I was familiar with Patrick McKeown’s work on nasal breathing—specifically his book, “The Oxygen Advantage“.
Anyone that knows me knows I read… a lot!
And yet, I had to say no. Not just no to having read it, but no to having even heard of Patrick McKeown, or his book.
But as Doc Crain was telling me about some really fascinating results he’d been having with some patients, I ordered it there on the spot!
So, as we do with anything before rolling out changes to what we do, I’ve been experimenting with the things I’m learning from this book for the past couple of months.
Things like:
- ONLY breathing through my nose throughout my regular day
- exhaled breath-hold walks in my warm-ups
- ONLY breathing through my nose when I work out
- Suppressing yawns or sighs
- even… tape over my mouth at night (I did this every night for about 2 weeks)
- and… tape over my mouth while working out (some of you saw this lol… I did it for about a week while getting used to it)
And while we aren’t rolling out exact changes yet, I am really digging some of the results I am experiencing from this experiment: lower resting heart rate overnight; increased energy and endurance—even while breathing through my nose; quieter, more relaxed breathing; significant increase in exhaled breath hold.
I am also paying attention to how folks breathe more than I ever have in the past, and I find myself simply asking about their ability to breathe through their nose.
Just this past week a returning member, Ellie, was blown away that I picked up on her breathing, leading to an eye-opening conversation.
The full article that Ellie posted can be accessed here, but I thought I’d share some interesting bullet points that align with the book:
- Air that we inhale through the nose passes through the nasal mucosa, which stimulates the reflex nerves that control breathing. Mouth breathing bypasses the nasal mucosa and makes regular breathing difficult, which can lead to snoring, breath irregularities and sleep apnea.
- When there is proper oxygen-carbon dioxide exchange during respiration, the blood will maintain a balanced pH. If carbon dioxide is lost too quickly, as in mouth breathing, oxygen absorption is decreased, which can result in dizziness or even fainting.
- Breathing through the nose forces us to slow down until proper breath is trained; therefore, proper nose breathing reduces hypertension and stress. It also helps prevent us from overexerting ourselves during a workout.
- Our sinuses produce nitric oxide, which, when carried into the body through the breath, combats harmful bacteria and viruses in our bodies, regulates blood pressure and boosts the immune system.
- Mouth breathing accelerates water loss, contributing to dehydration. (MY NOTE: sound crazy? Exhale onto glass with your mouth and look at how it fogs up. Now do it with your nose.)
- The nose houses olfactory bulbs, which are direct extensions of part of the brain called the hypothalamus. The hypothalamus is responsible for many functions in our bodies, particularly those that are automatic, such as heartbeat, blood pressure, thirst, appetite and sleep cycles. The hypothalamus is also responsible for generating chemicals that influence memory and emotion.
- The increased oxygen we get through nasal breath increases energy and vitality.
Pretty cool, huh?
Now that I’ve piqued your interest I’ll leave you with a little test, straight out of the book…
- Take a normal breath in your nose and allow a normal breath out through your nose.
- Hold your nose with your fingers to prevent air from entering your lungs.
- The the number of seconds until you feel the first desire to breathe, or the first stresses of your body urging you to breathe. These sensations may include the need to swallow or a constriction of the airways. You may also feel the first involuntary contractions of your breathing muscles in your abdomen or throat as the body gives the message to resume breathing. (this is not a test of how long you can hold, rather how long it takes your body to react to a lack of air)
- Release your nose, stop the timer, and breathe in through your nose. Your inhalation at the end of the breath should be calm. If you need to take a big breath on your first inhalation, you have held your breath too long.
- Resume normal breathing.
Email me your time to chris@beyondstrengthperformance.com and I’ll share what your score says! 🙂
