CONCEPT: Want a quick test that will provide you with a real-time gauge of your fitness, recovery and stress tolerance? In this post, we will discuss how carbon dioxide (CO2) is vitally important to breathing. We will explain how to perform a simple, equipment-free, non-invasive test you can perform anywhere to determine your CO2 tolerance or relative breathlessness.
In a previous post My Journey: Discovering the Power of the Breath, I discussed how we can use the breath to regulate our autonomic nervous system, reduce stress, and improve our overall health and well-being. However, breathing can also be damaging if we chronically breathe too much.
What does that mean? These days over breathing is far too common. Whether we are athletes or not, whether we are exercising or sitting on the lounge, many of us breathe too much air, too frequently. In the short term, for a specific purpose, this is not an issue, but for too many unconscious over breathing is a chronic problem. In both, Breath by James Nestor and The Oxygen Advantage by Patrick McKeown, they discuss how chronic over breathing can result in negative health manifestations such as fatigue, anxiety, breathlessness, and may even contribute to cardiovascular and respiratory issues down the road.
A common reason that people over breathe is due to a low CO2 tolerance. People with a low CO2 tolerance have loud, noisy, irregular and heavy breaths with no natural pauses between breaths. They often experience a hunger for air during even light daily activities and habitual upper chest and mouth breathing is common. Resting breathing rate for people with a low CO2 tolerance can be 15-20+ breaths per minute. Whereas, optimal resting breathing rate should be as little as 5-8 breaths per minute!
Importance of CO2 Tolerance
CO2 is the end product of energy production in our cells. We use oxygen from our blood and nutrients stored in our cells (mainly carbs or fats) to provide our body with energy and as a result we end up with CO2 and water.
CO2 is a critically important molecule that has numerous functions in the human body. It is the main regulator of breathing. A common misconception is that we are not getting enough oxygen, and therefore we need to breathe more, but this is not the case. When CO2 levels get too high in the blood we increase breathing rate and when they are low in the blood we decrease breathing rate. Yes, you read that right it is actually CO2 levels that make you hungry for air NOT oxygen.
Our ability to tolerate levels of CO2 in the blood can provide us with a relative gauge to measure our breathing efficiency and exercise tolerance, recovery from exercise, and stress tolerance. A higher CO2 tolerance is typically associated with greater breathing efficiency, systemic recovery from exercise, and a greater resilience to stress.
How to Measure Your CO2 Tolerance?
The CO2 Tolerance Test or BOLT Test is a simple, equipment-free, non-invasive test you can perform anywhere to determine your CO2 tolerance or relative breathlessness in real-time. It is a crude metric that is best used to track your individual sensitivity to CO2 and breath holding. It has been used to identify breathing patterns that may contribute to poor oxygenation of the tissues, such as over breathing or hyperventilation.
I have personally been using this test to assess my body’s recovery from different workouts as well as general stress resilience on a day-to-day basis. Somedays my result is higher and others it is lower, but I take into account how intense I have exercised in the days prior as well as my subjective stress levels and use the test to help manage my daily activities. I also try to record a result every Monday morning to objectively see if the various Breathwork practices I engage in have been improving my score over weeks to months.
The Test Protocol
- Start by finding a comfortable static position, standing, sitting or laying down.
- Rest for 2-5 minutes before starting the test.
- Take a normal breath in through your nose and allow a normal breath out through your nose. Repeat 3x.
- On the 4th inhale take a full breath filling your lungs completely.
- Close your mouth and exhale through your nose as slow and long as you possibly can until lungs empty.
- Start a timer when you begin exhaling and time the duration of your slowest exhale.
- If during the exhale you pause, experience panic, swallow, or run out of air then the test is over.
- Record your time.
Once you record your time visit this page by Shift Adapt to see where your CO2 tolerance level sits. Based on your time you can determine a good starting point for your breathing practice. Input your time to find a personally tailored apnea or cadence breathing practice to improve your CO2 tolerance.
Before starting any new health protocol please consult a qualified medical professional to see if it is appropriate for you. If you have any questions regarding this simple, at-home CO2 tolerance test please reach out to us on any of our social links.
References
- Nestor, J. (2020). Breath: The new science of a lost art. London, England: Penguin Life.
- McKeown, P. (2016). The oxygen advantage: Simple, scientifically proven breathing techniques to help you become healthier, slimmer, faster, and fitter. William Morrow & Company.
- How to Breathe Correctly for Optimal Health, Mood, Learning & Performance – Huberman Lab Podcast
- Get Started with Breathwork. Shift Adapt. https://shiftadapt.com/breathwork/