Re: V02 Max Challenge
Posted: Fri Sep 15, 2023 7:29 pm
[This thread seems to be where most people on the forum are talking about it, so I'm posting it here, and I'll make a tie-in to athletic performance.]
Regarding nasal breathing...
Very early on in the pandemic period e.g. late 2019-early 2020, I came across the topic of nasal breathing. Specifically, there is a book called "The Oxygen Advantage" by Patrick McKeown (https://www.youtube.com/@OxygenAdvantage), which I stumbled upon and read. Up until that point, I hadn't really thought much about nasal breathing other than to say that my nose was usually pretty stopped up and as a result I was typically breathing though my mouth. Like just about everyone, when I went running, I would breath through my mouth.
I like to experiment on myself, so naturally, I tried to shift to 100% nasal breathing. Some interesting results followed:
1) There are nasal unblocking exercises that basically take you from stopped up nose to a relatively clear nose in a matter of minutes (see "popular" on above youtube). Mindblowing for me.
2) Before my converting to nasal breathing, I found that when I went to bed, and was lying there waiting to fall asleep, I needed to clear my throat a lot. This was something that had relatively recently developed (within a year) but was turning into a regular thing, and quite an annoying one at that. Nasal breathing (and nasal breathing while sleeping) completely and immediately stopped that.
3) Before nasal breathing, when I went for a run, something kind of weird would happen where I would feel a little breathless (subtle, but noticeable) during the first mile or so of the run. My suspicion looking back on it is that I might have been having a mild exercise-induced asthma kind of thing. When I run breathing only through my nose, this doesn't happen.
4) So I started running while 100% nasal breathing. The biggest issue I had was that my nose would be so wet! I would literally take a tissue on my runs so than after the first 10-15 minutes I could blow out all the buildup. Other than that, it was fine (although at that time I was probably running way too hard on most of my runs). Now, when I go on runs, I have zero moisture issues with my nose.
5) I am now really good at doing breath-holds, particularly while walking or even running through large groups of people. I'm sure my CO2 tolerance has improved quite a bit. Thanks pandemic!
Fitness-related: I'm basically on full nasal-breathing autopilot now 100% of the time unless I am sprinting. A few years ago, I did a little bit of a nasal-breathing-running-physiology academic paper deep dive, which only turned up a relatively few papers (the vast majority of people mouth-breathe when running), but the take-home message was something like: nasal breathing is just as good perfomance-wise as mouth breathing when it comes to running. It does feel a little different though, and the unaccustomed runner being forced to do it on a physiology rig + treadmill is not going to like it. In particular, what I find interesting is that nasal breathing is more efficient, but feels harder. It's more efficient because more oxygen is actually extracted out of each breath for use by the body. (The corollary is that the same runner at the same speed - so, same energy output - breathes less frequently when nasal breathing). It feels harder because there is much less air resistance breathing through the mouth than through two tiny little nostrils.
Okay, now VO2max related: So I've been doing roughly hour-long runs off and on for a while now (over a year) doing only the nasal breathing and trying to stay in Zone 2* (that is, pre-lactate buildup, which I've been guesstimating for me that means keeping HR around mid-140s) then doing some strides at the end. What I'm kind of amazed by is how easily and slowly I am breathing while doing the Zone 2. It's a respiratory rate that is pretty slow - faster than rest, but not all that much moreso. When I sleep my respiratory rate is something like 14 breaths/min, which is apparently normal (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Respiratory_rate). I'm pretty sure it's much lower when I'm awake, <10. So when I'm running I'm back up there at maybe 15 breaths per minute? Basically, while I run I am breathing like most people breathe just sitting on the couch or even asleep. I have no idea if this is abnormal or typical for the rest of you exercisers. Alas, it may have nothing to do with nasal breathing...
Of course, it could be that I am super super fit. (I am not)
Or, it could be that I am really running somewhere in Zone 1, but whenever I've done max HR tests, I've never gotten past ~180bpm (ironically, a good match with 220-age), so mid 140s is 80% of that. (Caveat, this is on an optical watch, so you know...)
How many of you have tinkered with 100% nasal breathing?
How has that worked out for you (what was that journey like)?
Have you experienced any performance advantages (or disadvantages)?
And I get it, Zone 2 is supposed to feel physically easy, but when you are in Zone 2, is your breathing like super easy and casual?
*Some would call this Zone 3. The point is, I can carry on this level of energy expenditure, with no heart rate creep, for at least 70-80 minutes.
Regarding nasal breathing...
Very early on in the pandemic period e.g. late 2019-early 2020, I came across the topic of nasal breathing. Specifically, there is a book called "The Oxygen Advantage" by Patrick McKeown (https://www.youtube.com/@OxygenAdvantage), which I stumbled upon and read. Up until that point, I hadn't really thought much about nasal breathing other than to say that my nose was usually pretty stopped up and as a result I was typically breathing though my mouth. Like just about everyone, when I went running, I would breath through my mouth.
I like to experiment on myself, so naturally, I tried to shift to 100% nasal breathing. Some interesting results followed:
1) There are nasal unblocking exercises that basically take you from stopped up nose to a relatively clear nose in a matter of minutes (see "popular" on above youtube). Mindblowing for me.
2) Before my converting to nasal breathing, I found that when I went to bed, and was lying there waiting to fall asleep, I needed to clear my throat a lot. This was something that had relatively recently developed (within a year) but was turning into a regular thing, and quite an annoying one at that. Nasal breathing (and nasal breathing while sleeping) completely and immediately stopped that.
3) Before nasal breathing, when I went for a run, something kind of weird would happen where I would feel a little breathless (subtle, but noticeable) during the first mile or so of the run. My suspicion looking back on it is that I might have been having a mild exercise-induced asthma kind of thing. When I run breathing only through my nose, this doesn't happen.
4) So I started running while 100% nasal breathing. The biggest issue I had was that my nose would be so wet! I would literally take a tissue on my runs so than after the first 10-15 minutes I could blow out all the buildup. Other than that, it was fine (although at that time I was probably running way too hard on most of my runs). Now, when I go on runs, I have zero moisture issues with my nose.
5) I am now really good at doing breath-holds, particularly while walking or even running through large groups of people. I'm sure my CO2 tolerance has improved quite a bit. Thanks pandemic!
Fitness-related: I'm basically on full nasal-breathing autopilot now 100% of the time unless I am sprinting. A few years ago, I did a little bit of a nasal-breathing-running-physiology academic paper deep dive, which only turned up a relatively few papers (the vast majority of people mouth-breathe when running), but the take-home message was something like: nasal breathing is just as good perfomance-wise as mouth breathing when it comes to running. It does feel a little different though, and the unaccustomed runner being forced to do it on a physiology rig + treadmill is not going to like it. In particular, what I find interesting is that nasal breathing is more efficient, but feels harder. It's more efficient because more oxygen is actually extracted out of each breath for use by the body. (The corollary is that the same runner at the same speed - so, same energy output - breathes less frequently when nasal breathing). It feels harder because there is much less air resistance breathing through the mouth than through two tiny little nostrils.
Okay, now VO2max related: So I've been doing roughly hour-long runs off and on for a while now (over a year) doing only the nasal breathing and trying to stay in Zone 2* (that is, pre-lactate buildup, which I've been guesstimating for me that means keeping HR around mid-140s) then doing some strides at the end. What I'm kind of amazed by is how easily and slowly I am breathing while doing the Zone 2. It's a respiratory rate that is pretty slow - faster than rest, but not all that much moreso. When I sleep my respiratory rate is something like 14 breaths/min, which is apparently normal (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Respiratory_rate). I'm pretty sure it's much lower when I'm awake, <10. So when I'm running I'm back up there at maybe 15 breaths per minute? Basically, while I run I am breathing like most people breathe just sitting on the couch or even asleep. I have no idea if this is abnormal or typical for the rest of you exercisers. Alas, it may have nothing to do with nasal breathing...
Of course, it could be that I am super super fit. (I am not)
Or, it could be that I am really running somewhere in Zone 1, but whenever I've done max HR tests, I've never gotten past ~180bpm (ironically, a good match with 220-age), so mid 140s is 80% of that. (Caveat, this is on an optical watch, so you know...)
How many of you have tinkered with 100% nasal breathing?
How has that worked out for you (what was that journey like)?
Have you experienced any performance advantages (or disadvantages)?
And I get it, Zone 2 is supposed to feel physically easy, but when you are in Zone 2, is your breathing like super easy and casual?
*Some would call this Zone 3. The point is, I can carry on this level of energy expenditure, with no heart rate creep, for at least 70-80 minutes.