How to Measure Control Pause with Aimwell AYO BT+ Breathing Measurement and Exerciser

by admin | May 12, 2024 | 6&6 breathing pattern, breathing exercises

How is Control Pause normally measured?

If you have been practicing Buteyko Breathing, you may measure the Control Pause (CP) daily or even multiple times per day.

Indeed, CP is the most important parameter to measure in the Buteyko Method.

According to Dr. Buteyko, the Control Pause or the Buteyko-defined breath-hold time is an accurate and sensitive parameter that normally reflects the tissue oxygenation level in the body at rest.

Research has also indicated a good correlation between CP, minute ventilation, and CO2 level in the body, the three important breathing health metrics, such that if we know one of them, the other two can be more or less correlatedly estimated.

To measure CP correctly, according to the Buteyko Method, do the following:

Sit down comfortably with a straight back and all body muscles relaxed, including your breathing muscles.
Breathe normally and calmly for 5 minutes – do not breathe more than you need to.
Then obtain a watch, breathe in and out normally, and at the end of the exhalation, pinch the nose and start the timer.
Keep the nose pinched until the first distinctive urge to breathe, then stop the watch immediately, and the time recorded is the CP. The first such desire often comes with an involuntary and distinctive push of the diaphragm or a pulsing movement in the throat.
The first few breaths immediately after the CP should be similar to the breath before the CP.

How does AYO BT+ help measure Control Pause easily with confidence?

The challenge or tricky bits of performing the CP test following the above guide include some uncertainty about what exactly ‘breathe in and out normally’ is before the breath-hold, how distinctive the urge to breathe at the end of the breath-hold, how to determine if the breaths after the hold are similar to those before the hold. To do all these properly is quite challenging for us humans. We need some tools to help us here.

AYO BT+ Breathing Measurement and Exerciser is designed to measure breathing while performing breathing exercises, and one of its featured exercises in its App is dedicated to measuring Control Pause – a great tool to automate the measurement process and aid Buteyko Reduced Breathing training.

The Control Pause test can be done with either an AYO BT+ Boost, Essential, or Lite as follows:

If you use a Boost, connect the L Module on the Left side of the mask, and the E Module on the right side of the mask, then connect the BTo module at the back of the right-side module. Optionally, you can also connect the BTi module at the back of the left-side module for inhalation resistance adjustment.
If you use an Essential or Lite, connect the BTo module on the left side of the mask, and the E Module or L Module on the right side of the mask.
Power on and wear the device, then open the App.
Select “Control Pause” in the “Featured “screen in the App.
The test starts with 5 minutes of relaxed breathing, and when the time is up, the App will instruct you to have a normal inhalation, then at the end of a relaxed exhalation hold your breath.
Once you stop the hold and start breathing, you will need to breathe for another minute before the App provides the hold time and the capture of breathing waveforms and data before and after the hold for your review.
The captured CP data can be saved on your mobile for later viewing.

Note: you can’t pinch your nose when wearing the BT+, however, there is no need to, as if you breathe even slightly, the BT+ will sense it and stop the test immediately.

The following screen capture shows a reference CP reporting screen:

blog image inserts - reference control pause

To determine if you performed the CP test correctly, the key is to make sure:

The TV adjacent before the hold is similar to the TV Average before the hold.
The TV Adjacent after the hold is similar to the value before the hold.

As a rule of thumb, the TV Adjacent after the hold should not be 10% more than that before the hold. If it is, your hold is a bit too long.

If the TV Adjacent after the hold is noticeably smaller than that before the hold, you may have stopped a bit too early, and you can try to hold a bit longer next time.

By measuring like this for some time, you will develop a more accurate sense or feel about what it means to ‘breathe in and out normally” before the hold, the “first distinctive urge to breathe”, and what kind of breath after the hold can be qualified as similar to or not more than 10% of the breath before the hold.

To practice and progress successfully with Buteyko Reduced Breathing, it is important to measure your CP correctly, and AYO BT+ is the first and only tool to date to help achieve it.

How does AYO BT+ help determine if a Positive Maximum Pause is correctly performed?

Positive Maximum Pause (PMP) is another way to measure breath-hold in the Buteyko Method. In fact, Dr. Buteyko mostly used PMP for his work.

PMP is defined as the maximum length of time you can hold your breath comfortably, and on resumption of breathing force your breathing into the pattern of breathing you had before the breath-hold.

Breathing after PMP is heavier compared with a normal CP, so it is harder to determine if the breath is well-controlled as expected without a tool. For this reason, the BT+ App continues to measure your breathing for 1 minute after you resume breathing, such that even if you can manage the first breath low but fail to control any breaths after that, the measured waveforms can clearly show that as an indication of over-hold.

As an example, the above reference CP screen capture shows well-controlled breaths after the hold, indicating an acceptable PMP measurement.

The following table gives the relationship between CP and PMP:

Montserrat - relationship between CP and PMP

Reduced Breathing Exercise Protocol with AYO BT+

by admin | Apr 26, 2023 | 6&6 breathing pattern, breathing exercises

Why Reduced Breathing?

Believe it or not, research shows that 90% of modern people over-breathe. Like over-eating, over-breathing or hyperventilation is detrimental to our health. Chronic over-breathing contributes to a number of chronic diseases, such as asthma, high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, cancer, etc.

Then what is normal breathing? The key is the breathing volume in one minute or Minute Ventilation. The physiological norm is 6 liters for a 70 Kg adult at rest. As a typical example of over-breathing, asthmatics tend to breathe at twice the normal volume. In the 1950s of the last century, Dr. Buteyko discovered the link between hyperventilation and asthma, and the Buteyko Method developed after that has cured hundreds of thousands of asthmatics since.

The critical factor to achieve normal breathing is the CO2 level in our body, which most of us have a lower-than-normal level.

The goal of reduced breathing is to train the brain to adapt to higher CO2 concentrations during a sustained period of air hunger by reducing the amount of air to breathe so that, over time, the CO2 level in our body will be increased towards a normal level.

Nowadays, more and more people become aware of the benefits of Buteyko Reduced Breathing and practice the Method in an ever-increasing trend, among them from asthmatics to mental disorders and even elite athletes, just to name a few. However, there are a number of challenges to learning and practicing the Method. One is that there are limited qualified Buteyko Method practitioners, and the other is lacking an effective tool to assist the practice.

Practice Reduced Breathing with AYO BT+

Aimwell AYO BT+ is designed for breathing training and monitoring, in particular, to train reduced breathing using the diaphragm via the nose.

One of the difficulties to practice reduced breathing is how to control air hunger properly: doing too little or too much will not give good results.

For example, light air hunger is defined as 5 – 10% less than the normal breathing volume, however, human is not born to have the ability to sense it properly, and this is what AYO BT+ can do best: measuring breathing volumes along with a large number of breathing data.

Here are the protocols and guides for reduced breathing training with AYO BT+.
Basic Requirements When Training at Rest:

Diaphragmatic breathing via nose only.
Sit with back straight and the full body relaxed.
Breathe calmly and slowly focusing on each breath.

Reduced Breathing (RB) at Rest

Obtain an AYO BT+ Boost and open the App.
Condition the breath: Full body relaxed, breathe slowly and comfortably, observing each breath and aiming at a near-zero air hunger. Do this in the Breathing in Meditation featured exercise for 3-5 minutes, then stop the session and read the recorded MV as a baseline MV1.
Calculate the Reduced Breathing (RB) MV for a light air hunger: 90 – 95% of MV1.
Do a Control Pause (CP) test and record the value as CP1.
Perform RB for 3-5 minutes followed by a Breath-hold (0 – 10 s after the initial urge to breathe). Do this in Breathing in Meditation, and read the MV, Tidal Volume, and times for each breath as feedback to adjust the breathing towards the desired MV.
Repeat ‘5’ for a duration of 15-20 minutes and relax the diaphragm and the full body in every breath.
When time is up, read the recorded MV as MV2.
Calculate the actual RB % by MV2/MV1.
Do a normal and relaxed breath for 3-5 minutes.
Do a second CP test and record the value as CP2.

Tips for RB at Rest:

It is recommended to do the exercise 2 hours after a meal or on empty stomach and before sleep.
Try to control the breath rate between 5 – 7 breaths per minute, so that the breath control and monitoring can be narrowed down to Tidal Volume in every cycle and Minute Ventilation in every minute for the most time.
After the exercise, you should feel warmer than before the exercise, such as your hands and feet are warmer.
Your CP2 should be Longer than CP1, ideally longer than 5 seconds, and you should feel your desire to breathe is reduced.
If the CP2 is less than CP1, check your actual RB and see if it is too high or low, and if the duration of the session is too long or short. Adjust it accordingly in your next exercise to have a higher CP2.
Consider using the BTi setting from 0 to 2 to assist the RB.

Reduced Breathing (RB) in Low or Medium Intensity Workouts

Find out a baseline:

Choose a targeted workout.
Obtain an AYO BT+ Boost or Essential.
Fit the E module on the Left side of the mask only and open the App
Fit the BTi and adjust it to the maximum setting.
Record the breathing using the Real-time screen.
Start the workout until the desired duration is reached.
Stop recording and use the MV recorded as a baseline MV1.

RB Workout:

Obtain an AYO BT+ Boost or Essential.
Fit the E module on the Left side of the mask only and open the App.
Fit the BTi and adjust it to a low setting, such as Setting 3.
Set your desired RB, for Light Air Hunger, 90-95% of MV1, Moderate Air Hunger 70-80% of MV1, and Strong Air Hunger 40-50% MV1.
Start the RB workout and record the breathing using the Real-time screen or GPS Enabled Exercise for running, cycling, or walking.
Read the MV every minute or the Tidal Volume often as feedback to adjust your breathing towards your RB target.
When the workout is finished, save the data, and read the MV.
Calculate the actual RB % by MV2/MV1.
Read Power of Breath and Work of Breath, and compared them with previous results for breathing efficiency improvement.

Tips for RB at Workouts:

Diaphragmatic breathing via nose only.
Relax the diaphragm, especially when the urge to breathe is heavier.
At the end of each relaxed exhalation, further extend it by pressing the belly inward briefly, especially when the urge to breathe is heavier, so that the breath rate is not increased too much when the breathing urge is high.
Breath-hold can be added during the RB every few minutes to enhance air hunger and CO2 tolerance.
The Breath-hold can be variable, such as starting from 5 s, then 10 s, then 5 s, then no Breath-hold.
Within 30 minutes of rest after the RB session, you should feel your breath is very calm and effortless. If you notice your breathing is still a bit tired, the air hunger during the RB may be too high or the period of RB a bit too long. Adjust the RB and its duration accordingly.
To avoid overtraining, limit the session with moderate air hunger to 30 minutes, and strong air hunger to 20 minutes.

Reduced Breathing Target at Rest:

Breath Rate: 5 – 7 Breaths per minute for maximum Heart Rate Variability (HRV)
Minute Ventilation (MV): 6L for 70 kg athletes. For 100 Kg athletes, the MV can be calculated proportionally: 100/70 * 6 = 8.6L
Control Pause (CP): 40 seconds.

Note:

The process toward the MV and CP targets should be gradual.
For CP, aim to achieve 30 s first, then 35 s, then 40 s.
It is recommended to have a minimum total RB training time of 1 hour each day, which could consist of 3 – 4 short sessions spreading out over a day. If you are an active person, Ideally, one of them is in low to mid-intensity workouts with a light to moderate air hunger.

How to Use AYO BT+ to Practice Reduced Breathing of Buteyko Method and ‘Calibrate’ Your Breathing

by admin | Feb 13, 2023 | 6&6 breathing pattern

Buteyko Breathing Method has proven to be very effective for alleviating or even treating a wide range of chronic diseases, particularly asthma.

The key element of the Method is Reduced Breathing, which is described by Dr. Buteyko in his original manual in the last century as:

Decrease
The depth
Of breathing
By relaxation of the diaphragm
Till slight shortage of air (Buteyko, 1991)

It is understandable that without access to advanced breathing measurement equipment at the time for each individual outside a medical lab, this was probably the most practical way Dr. Buteyko could describe the method.

Based on this description without measurement metrics, the task has to be taken by Buteyko Method practitioners to interpret and guide the learners correctly.

For example, some practitioners describe the breathing method as: Light, Slow and Deep breathing, where:

‘Light’ means small volume.
‘Slow’ means low breath rate.
‘Deep’ means diaphragmatic breathing.

However, how light and how slow are not clearly defined here, thus it is up to each learner to perform based on how they feel or guess about it. Inevitably, this could be done incorrectly.

If you could have face-to-face training sessions with a qualified practitioner, you might learn the right way, but there are only limited qualified practitioners worldwide, although the number is increasing yearly, however, compared to the potentially vast numbers of people wanting to learn the Method, the number of practitioners looks like a drop in the ocean. That may explain why this proven method has not gained widespread adoption after so many years since its introduction.

Further, when you eventually reach the prescribed breathing pattern, over time, your feel and sense of the breathing pattern may shift. Even scientific measurement equipment requires periodic calibration, let alone the sense of human beings.

Here is where Aimwell’s AYO BT+ would come in, which can accurately measure your breathing while you practice the Buteyko Method.

For practicing Buteyko Reduced Breathing, the Lite model of BT+ is adequate, and here is a quick guide for what you should monitor during the practice:

Real-time waveforms:	Make sure the breathing waveforms are smooth with gentle rise, fall, and pause in between.
Peak Flow:	Monitor the Peak flow when practicing ‘breathe-light’. The typical Peak flow of light breathing should be < 40 L/Min.
Minute ventilation:	This is THE most important parameter when practicing Reduced Breathing. It is the air volume you breathe in a minute that needs to be reduced. The physiological norm is 6 L in a minute, which is the target you should practice towards.
Tidal volume:	This is the volume of air you breathe in each previous breathing cycle. It is a quicker feedback to monitor in order to timely control the air volume you breathe. As to how much you should control the Tidal volume depends on the Breath rate, which is the next parameter to monitor.
Breath rate:	in Buteyko Method, there is no specific requirement for breath rate. However, medical research in the past 10 years shows that breathing at around 6 breaths per minute will maximize Heart Rate Variability, which is an important indicator of human health. For this reason, we recommend a breath rate of around 6 per minute. Therefore, the tidal volume should be aimed at around 1 L.

Thus, we simplify and vary the Reduced Breathing of Buteyko Method as ‘6&6’ breathing pattern.

The practice is best done with the Meditation exercise of the BT+ App, where at the end of each session, a summary report will be provided, which can be saved for you to refer to/compared with later. This is a great way to monitor your progress over time.

The screenshot on the right is from the BT+ App as an example to practice for the ‘6&6’ Reduced Breathing.

Don’t be discouraged if you can’t do it right away. With persistent practice and using historical data to see your progress before you could feel it, you will be sure on your way to mastering this optimal breathing pattern.

It is also advisable to breathe the ‘6&6’ breathing pattern whenever you can throughout the day. Using the BT+ to practice the ‘6&’6 breathing pattern once a day, especially before sleep will ‘calibrate’ your sense and feel for the pattern, thus enabling a better quality of sleep and reaffirmed reference for breathing the next day.

AYO BT+ is an ideal training and management tool for asthmatics or for many of those with lung/breathing issues, and it is a great Australian invention and a game-changer for helping you breathe better.

A small investment today will open the door towards a giant leap for your breathing and overall health.

How to Unblock a Stuffy Nose with AYO Breathing Exercise Device

by admin | Jan 18, 2023 | 6&6 breathing pattern

A blocked nose is one of the common physiological phenomena most of us experience from time to time, and according to research, at least 10% of people suffer from chronic nasal congestion of different severities.

Among many causes, such as the common cold or allergies, it has been demonstrated that in many cases, the culprit is actually due to over-breathing!

Back in the 1950s, Dr. Konstantin Buteyko discovered that many common chronic diseases, such as asthma, can be caused by over-breathing. He and his clinical team went on to spend almost half a century researching and developing breathing techniques to help people normalize their breathing.

According to Dr. Buteyko, the blocked nose from over-breathing is due to a defensive mechanism of the body against excessive CO2 losses. Often, when people have a stuffy nose, they would open their mouths to breathe, which would make them continue to over-breathe, resulting in the noses being kept blocked by the body’s defensive reaction.

One of the exercises from the Buteyko Breathing Method is to help you unblock the nose, which involves one or more short breath holds.

This is a temporary method to quickly unblock the nose. However, if you still over-breathe after that, the nose would block again.

If we analyse the principle of this exercise, it works by temporarily stopping or reducing breathing, which:

Increases CO2 which works as an air passage dilator that helps reduce the blockage.
Reduces nasal constriction due to the defensive reaction of the body to over-breathing.

So with this understanding, here, we introduce a solution to fix the root of a stuffy nose due to over-breathing by using the AYO breathing exercise device AYO BT or BT+.

Why AYO breathing trainers can help unblock the noses? This is because they can:

Reduce the air intake to cut the culprit of the issue directly and effectively.
Increase the CO2 level in the air passages as well as in the blood thanks to the unique design of the mask, which the increased CO2 works as a nasal dilator, and it also helps oxygen release to tissues from the blood thus reducing the need to breathe more.
The uniquely designed mask also works as a humidifier to warm and moisten the air and to thin the mucus in the nose.

AYO BT method:

Adjust the BTi to a low setting, such as Setting 2 or lower.
Sit on a comfortable chair, with the back straight and full body relaxed.
Wear the BT as normal.
Breathe in slowly and gently, so that you don’t feel much resistance otherwise from fast and hard breathing.
Breathe out slowly and gently, trying to create a slight but tolerable air hunger.
If your nose is completely blocked, try to purse your lip to breathe via your mouth a bit, but as soon as your nose is not completely blocked, use your nose immediately but breathe slowly and gently.
Do not panic if you have the urge to breathe fast and hard, just relax, it is quite OK.
After a while, you will find it easier to breathe as your brain adapts to a higher CO2 in the blood, and your nose will be completely unblocked.
Continue to breathe like this for 20 -30 minutes to finish one session.
If feasible, you could do this a few times throughout the day, such as 3 times a day.

AYO BT+ method:

Adjust the BTi to a setting of your choice, but preferably Setting 2 or lower.
Sit on a comfortable chair, with the back straight and full body relaxed.
Wear the BT+ as normal.
Use the Real-time screen to monitor your breathing data and waveforms.
Your key breathing metrics are: 6 breath per minute and 6 litres per minute –This is Aimwell’s recommended 6&6 healthy breathing pattern.
Try to breathe towards the metrics by breathing slowly and gently, so that you don’t feel much resistance otherwise from fast and hard breathing.
If your nose is completely blocked, try to purse your lip to breathe via your mouth a bit, but as soon as your nose is not completely blocked, use your nose immediately to breathe slowly and gently.
Do not panic if you have the urge to breathe fast and hard, just relax, it is quite OK.
After a while, you will find it easier to breathe as your brain adapts to a higher CO2 in the blood, and your nose will be completely unblocked.
Continue to breathe like that for 20 -30 minutes to finish one session.
If you can achieve the 6&6 breathing pattern, your nose should be completely unblocked.
In fact, if you breathe with 6&6 breathing pattern all the time, you should always have an unblocked nose.

These methods are found effective not only for blocked noses caused by over-breathing, but in many cases apply for common cold and allergies induced blocked noses as well. When applied correctly, you would eliminate using a nasal spray and enjoy life-long unblocked noses!

Further, if you can naturally breathe with the 6&6 healthy breathing pattern whenever you are in a calm and resting condition, your breathing health will be enhanced, and so will your general health.