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.

Science – The Optimal Breathing Pathway
AYO BT Modular Breathing Trainer
AYO BT+ Breathing Measurement and Training Device