Do You have a fueling problem?

Phantom pain? Chronic soreness? Low energy? Lack of focus? Could it be a fueling problem?

All of these very general symptoms above can be the result of lack of oxygen. Your body receives oxygen from ⁹two primary resources: nutrition and breathing. Let’s just ignore the nutrition aspect for a minute and focus on your breathing.

Is there a way to assess whether or not we’re breathing optimally? Yes. It’s easy.

Assessment time

Alright- what’s hurting? What’s sore? How is your focus? If it’s your knees do a few air squats. Shoulder? Do a quick range of motion test. How’d it feel? Give it a score. Alright- let’s check under the hood.

-Exhale all the way. Then hold your breath on empty lungs.

-Now do a safe (non painful) exercise of your choice. Any exercise will do.

-Do as many reps as you can until you HAVE to take a breath.

Alright take that breath. Shake it off for a few seconds.

-Now retest your knees, shoulder, mental acuity. Feeling better? If you are then chances are you’re over breathing, and we’ve identified a potential solution to your problem.

What’s going on here?

See the oil and water? They don’t mix. That’s kind of how CO2 and Oxygen sit in your hemoglobin.

We want that Oxygen out of the bloodstream and into your muscles, brain, etc. The level of CO2 (oil) has to rise and push that O2 (water) out of your cell. In science terms:

“When you breathe too much, you exhale large amounts of carbon dioxide, removing it from your blood. This is unhealthy because blood needs carbon dioxide in it to pass oxygen on to muscles and organs—a phenomenon called the Bohr effect. The less carbon dioxide there is in your blood, the less your body can access its blood oxygen.”

When you held your breath and exercised for a few reps your body created more CO2 (olive oil); and by holding your breath you kept it in the cells. That CO2 pushed more O2 (water) from your bloodstream and into your cells. That O2 fueled your body. So by holding your breath your muscles got more Oxygen.

Trippy.

Breathing is a skill

What does one do If they retested well after creating air hunger?

Easy.

Take a seat. Look at a clock. Breathe 5 times a minute (the ideal number of breaths.) for a few minutes. You’ll feel better instantly.

The average adult breaths from 10-20 times a minute.

Ask yourself- do I want to be someone who breathes slowly and purposefully every 12 seconds?

Or do I want to breath in and out rapidly every 3 seconds?

Breathing is a skill. Practice creates improvement.

You can practice by sitting and breathing slowly.

You can practice by gradually increasing your cardio-vascular workouts.

You can practice by breathing in and out of your nose solely.

Just think- you may have been running around your whole life on a half empty tank. Let’s fill it up. There’s no telling what you’re capable of now.