You don’t have to “blood dope” like Lance Armstrong to boost your blood oxygen.
Intermittent hypoxic training (IHT) is the #1 strategy to reset carbon dioxide tolerance and boost energy levels.
Practicing IHT strengthens your respiratory system just like you strengthen your muscles.
IHT mimics high altitude training.
You don’t have to be an athlete or even a fitness buff to do it!
This style of training causes hormetic stress = transient metabolic stress that challenge the body.
Not all stress is bad!
Giving your body a challenge can actually get you out of weight plateaus as well as being stuck in fight or flight mode.
The best part?
It works fast!
Your spleen produces more red blood cells (RBCs) within minutes of doing IHT training.
More RBC = better oxygen carrying capacity.
Hypoxia (low oxygen) training helps regenerate diseased mitochondria.
This training helps the mitochondria become more efficient at making energy.
Plus it decreases oxidative stress in athletes as well as every day women and men.
IHT speeds up stem cell tissue facilitated repair = you recover from workouts and stressful events faster!
You can do this type of training with or without exercise.
Because IHT is a challenge and will put stress on your heart and lungs, please do talk to your doctor before you do this type of training to make sure it is safe for you!
Wim Hoff (Tummo) Breathing, DMT breathing or Fire Breathing are examples of IHT that done independent of a workout.
Fire breathing is a popular form of IHT but it’s advanced…
Ex:
Step 1: 30-50 breaths of rapid “fire breathing”. Inhale and exhale through the nose as fast as you can with short and forceful, half-second inhales and exhales
Step 2: after 30-50 breaths, breathe out all your air and hold your breath for as long as possible
Step 3: Do 3-5 rounds.
An entry level type of IHT with fitness is walking breath holds.
Here’s how it works…
Walking Breath Holds
Step 1: Exhale and hold the breath out
Step 2: Count how many paces you can do before you need to breathe
Step 3: Breathe until you return back to normal breathing
Step 4: Repeat – 4-12 rounds.
A way to add in IHT to a workout or everyday life looks like this….
Breathe fast first: Breath in deeply and forcibly exhale until your lungs are clear 5-10 times.
I imagine that I’m pushing the air from the bottom of my lungs out.
It’s a very muscle-clenching type push compared to regular exhalation.
Hold a Deep Breath: Take one final deep breath, about 90% full, and hold it.
I’ve found that taking too deep of a breath can cause some discomfort during the following exercises.
Do Push-Ups (or perform any weight lifting or house hold task while holding your breath): While holding your breath, do as many push-ups as you can.
If you run out of arm strength before you need to breathe, stand up and start doing some free-standing squats.
The goal is to get your muscles to use up oxygen.
Breath Normally: When you can no longer fight the biological imperative to breathe, take a deep breath and start breathing normally again.
If you tend to push yourself, I suggest taking a knee here to get used to any lightheadedness you might experience.
Repeat 2-3 Times: Allow yourself to recover for a few minutes, I wait until my heart rate returns to my normal resting heart rate, and then start over from step 1.
I notice a marked reduction in the number of push-ups I can do if I don’t rest long enough.
If you feel like really geeking out…
…you can get a pulse oximeter and see how low you can get your pulse oximeter to go while you’re holding your breath.
The lower you can go and then bounce right back the more trained you are at IHT.
IHT is meant to reduce your breathing rate and increase levels of carbon dioxide.
By doing so it helps you to improve your circulation of oxygen which subsequently improves your energy because your mitochondria need oxygen to thrive!
More oxygen to your mitochondria = faster recovery from workouts and better detox from environmental toxins that you can’t control!
Doing IHT will improve your circulation, metabolism and overall health.
The more efficient you can train your body to be…
… the longer more vibrant life you will have!
So if you’re wanting to stay active in your sport or adventures or just have all day energy to get whatever you desire done – you want to add in a little IHT training at least once a week!
You can do it with any household or fitness workout you do (that is of course minus lifting really heavy with barbells, that’s dangerous).
Brainstorm what how you can incorporate this into your routines at least 1x a week.
Got ideas but want to know if they are safe for you? Hit reply!
I’d love to hear if you try this out!
Open to learning more about how I am incorporating IHT into my client’s and group programs?
Hit reply – let’s see if it’s a fit for you!
Here’s to your health,
Dr. J
