The therapeutic potential of bicarbonate of soda may soon become more widely known, since Dr. Mark Pagel from the University of Arizona Cancer Center was recently awarded a grant of $2 million from the National Institutes of Health to study the effectiveness of bicarbonate of soda therapy in treating breast cancer.
Over the years many studies have demonstrated the benefits of bicarbonate of soda as a method to help improve sports performance. During high-intensity training, the availability of oxygen for working muscles decreases, which causes an accumulation of acid, leading to muscle fatigue. By ingesting bicarbonate of soda, you can help to maintain normal blood pH by decreasing lactic acid buildup during anaerobic exercise. This alkaline soda neutralizes the acid that accumulates during high-intensity training, resulting in greater endurance and power output.
Bicarbonate of soda can also have positive effects on maximum breath-hold time. As noted throughout this book, improved breath-hold time has positive implications for breathlessness during exercise and your ability to improve your VO2 max. The ingestion of bicarbonate of soda prior to the practice of breath-hold exercises has been shown to increase maximum breath-hold time by up to 8.6 percent.
For swimmers, the addition of bicarbonate of soda has resulted in an improvement of several seconds during test trials, as well as having significant effects on resting blood pH. Researchers who have investigated the effects of bicarbonate of soda on swimming performance have concluded that the ingestion of bicarbonate of soda can act as an effective buffer during high-intensity interval swimming and could be used to increase training intensity and overall swimming performance. These benefits have even been applied to boxers, leading to improved punch efficacy!
What is consistent throughout all these studies is that the practice of ingesting bicarbonate of soda before exercise successfully neutralizes acid buildup in the blood. In terms of fitness and performance, this means:
• Improved endurance
• Increased maximum breath-hold time
• Reduced breathlessness
• Higher average power output
All in all, quite an impressive array of benefits from a household agent that has no known side effects when taken in small doses!
How to Take Bicarbonate of Soda
* * *
I find the following recipe beneficial for improving breathing habits and increasing breath-hold time, and I use it quite often. Try it and take note of its effects on your exercise performance.
You can take bicarbonate of soda an hour or so before training. When you are used to taking it before training, you may also wish to do so before a competition. But like anything else, there is no point in overdoing it. As a precautionary measure, please talk to your doctor before using this approach.
½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (also known as baking soda or bread soda)
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1. Put the bicarbonate of soda in a glass.
2. Add the apple cider vinegar and stir for about 1 minute, or until the soda is thoroughly dissolved.
3. Drink the mixture. It will taste a little acidic.
It’s as simple as that. Alternatively, you can try drinking ordinary soda water from the grocery store. While traditionally used as a mixer for alcoholic beverages, the carbonation of the water can provide an added effect.
If you drink soda water, please also make sure that you drink your required intake of ordinary still water to ensure adequate hydration. The color of your urine will allow you to determine when you are adequately hydrated; drink enough plain water to ensure it is not too dark, but don’t drink so much that your urine is completely clear throughout the day. Drinking too much water is probably just as bad for you as drinking too little. It is about getting the balance right! Until recently, water intoxication or hyponatremia was a little-known and even less understood medical condition. Most people understand that it is sensible to stay hydrated during and after exercise, but when this advice is taken to excess and athletes overdo it, dangerous side effects can result. Marathon runners are particularly susceptible to drinking too much during training and competition—whether water or sports drinks—and this excessive hydration can cause the brain to swell as sodium levels decrease to critically low levels. In a 2002 study of Boston Marathon runners, 13 percent of the runners sampled showed low sodium levels, putting them at risk of serious or even fatal illness. In that very same marathon, twenty-eight-year-old Cynthia Lucero collapsed and died. The state medical examiner’s office concluded that the cause of death was a series of medical events brought on by drinking too much fluid during the event. Commenting on the tragedy, Dr. Arthur Siegel of McLean Hospital advised for athletes to weigh themselves prior to a race and write their weight on their race bib. Then, if runners felt unwell during the race, they could be weighed again and treated for dehydration if it was found that their weight was down. If, however, their weight had increased, it would mean that they were overhydrated and that they should retire from the race and stop drinking.
Breath Holding to Prepare for Ascent to High Altitude
Every year, millions of sea-level residents make the journey to high altitudes for recreational skiing and climbing, or for religious, spiritual, or other purposes. Adventurers, climbers, walkers, and sports enthusiasts have ventured to altitudes of over 1,500 meters for the challenge and thrill of the mountains.
British adventurer Bear Grylls reached the summit of Mount Everest in 1998 at the age of twenty-three. In his book Facing Up, Grylls describes how he trained for his ascent of Mount Everest by “swimming countless lengths of the local pool—one underwater, then one on the surface, for hours at a time. This boosts one’s ability to work without oxygen, making the body more efficient.”
There is no doubt that Grylls’s training regimen helped his body to acclimatize to the reduced partial pressure of oxygen he would experience during his climb to the top of Mount Everest. Similar to swimming repetitive underwater lengths of a pool, the exercises of the Oxygen Advantage program that simulate high-altitude training can be very helpful to prepare for an ascent to high altitude. More important, as these breath-hold exercises are performed on land, they involve no risk of drowning!
Acclimatization refers to the adaptive changes that the body makes in order to cope with reduced oxygen levels. Most people can ascend to 2,500 meters without difficulty, since oxygen availability is still sufficient at that altitude. However, at higher elevations the oxygen saturation in the blood significantly decreases, making physical activity difficult to sustain.
As you ascend above 2,500 meters, your breathing will become heavier to compensate for the reduced availability of oxygen. Although heavier breathing brings greater quantities of oxygen to the lungs, it also increases the loss of carbon dioxide. As discussed earlier, the loss of carbon dioxide causes blood vessels to narrow and red blood cells to cling on to the oxygen they carry, resulting in reduced oxygenation of tissues and organs. Ironically, as the body breathes more intensely in an effort to take in more oxygen, less is delivered. In a high-altitude environment, oxygenation is more important than ever if altitude sickness is to be avoided.
Almost half of those who attempt to trek or climb to an altitude above 4,000 meters will develop one or two symptoms of mountain sickness after a rapid ascent of more than 400 meters per day. Symptoms vary depending on the individual’s physical condition and health and the speed of the climb. Generally, symptoms are mild to moderate and may include:
• Headaches
• Fatigue
• Insomnia
• Loss of appetite
• Nausea or vomiting
• Rapid pulse
• Light-headedness
• Shortness of breath during exertion
A faster climb tends to increase the severity of these symptoms, and may bring about additional symptoms, including:
• Tightening of the chest
• Confusion
• Coughing or c
oughing up blood
• A bluish discoloration of the skin
• Shortness of breath during rest
• An inability to walk in a straight line
Increasing the oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood is the most important factor when adjusting to an increase in altitude, and breath-hold training exercises are an ideal way to prepare in the weeks before ascent. Spending two to three months performing 5 to 10 maximum breath holds each day will condition the body to accept this intense feeling of breathlessness as a familiar occurrence, potentially resulting in a reduced response to this experience at higher altitude.
Finally, any individual who is serious about his climb should have a basic understanding of how his breathing influences delivery of oxygen to tissues and organs. I can only imagine the number of climbers who intentionally make their breathing more intense to try to counteract the feeling of breathlessness as they climb above 2,500 meters. By now you will be acutely aware that this is exactly the wrong thing to do, and will most likely result in more severe symptoms of altitude sickness. The right thing to do would be to start off with a high BOLT score, to breathe through the nose at all times, and to alter your pace to reduce the feeling of breathlessness.
At least one study shows that breath-hold time is a very useful predictor of mountain sickness and that the lower the breath-hold time, the greater the likelihood of developing symptoms of altitude sickness. In fact, those with a high breath-hold time and a high concentration of hemoglobin in the blood will be better able to tolerate desaturation of oxygen.
Though the ideal BOLT score for each individual will vary, it is reasonable to suggest that a BOLT score of 40 seconds would certainly afford a greater protection from conditions of high altitude than a BOLT of 20 seconds or below.
Prevent Dehydration with Nasal Breathing
The air in mountainous regions and at higher altitudes is cooler and drier than air at sea level. As you ascend to higher altitudes, the increased sensation of breathlessness is likely to induce the switch to mouth breathing. However, since one of the functions of the nose is to moisten and warm incoming air, breathing through the mouth can lead to dehydration, as considerable moisture is expended.
Another factor is that during exhalation, mouth breathing is completely ineffective in retaining moisture. To verify this, gently breathe out through your mouth onto a glass and check the moisture left behind. Now do the same thing, except exhale through your nose. You will find that the moisture left on the glass following nasal exhalation is far less than the moisture left from exhaling through the mouth.
This loss of fluid can contribute to moderate dehydration, resulting in dryness of the lips, mouth, and throat. Other symptoms arising from dehydration include headache, fatigue, and dizziness, which at high altitude could easily be confused with mountain sickness. Heavy breathers and mouth breathers will certainly experience a far greater loss of moisture than those who have a normal breathing volume and who breathe through the nose. Remember that there are no convenience stores at high altitude, so the more moisture you can hold on to, the less you need to carry!
Finally, inhaling cold, dry air through the mouth can cause the airways to narrow. As the airways constrict, the feeling is similar to breathing through a narrow straw, and the result is often to breathe harder and faster to compensate for the restricted airflow. This is a common occurrence experienced by individuals with asthma and can cause even greater dehydration and cooling of the airways, which may lead to even greater respiratory problems.
In the next chapter we will learn exercises that simulate high-altitude training in order to increase the oxygen-carrying capacity of your blood for better sports performance, or to prepare for an ascent to high altitude.
CHAPTER 7
Bring the Mountain to You
World-renowned Brazilian track coach Valério Luiz de Oliveira used breath-hold training techniques with Olympic athletes Joaquim Cruz and Mary Decker, who between them set six world records in 800-meter to one-mile distance running events in the 1970s and 1980s.
De Oliveira’s goal was to enable athletes to maintain form at the end of an anaerobic race of 400–800m. Another aspect was to improve psychological preparedness by allowing the athletes to maintain composure during an oxygen-deprived state. One final factor was to train the runners not to pay attention to their breathing, but instead to focus on tactical maneuvers and running form. De Oliveira’s techniques were a case of getting results first and figuring out the science later, but his theories certainly proved to be right.
The method de Oliveira used with his athletes is as follows:
• Athletes run 200 meters on a straight course at near race pace, holding the breath on an inhalation for the last 15 meters.
• After a partial rest of 30 seconds, this breath hold is repeated 3 more times.
• Athletes then spend 3 minutes recovering before repeating.
• In total, the athletes perform 3 sets of 4 breath holds.
According to de Oliveira, “Everybody’s capable of holding their breath for a very long time. But you’ve got to do three of these sets. By the final set, you’re going to become very, very tired. It’s hard to hold your breath at that point. But if you use my drill, you will see results.”
De Oliveira uses another exercise in which his 400m and 800m runners hold their breath for the last 30 meters, simulating the end of a race when they will be most fatigued. Maintaining form during the last 30 meters of a race like this is crucial. According to de Oliveira, “The most important thing you can do in the race no matter how exhausted you get is to maintain your form.”
Joaquim Cruz, coached in this way by de Oliveira, won gold in the 800m competition during the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles and silver at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul. Further accomplishments included bronze in the 800 meters at the 1983 World Championships and gold in the 1,500 meters during the 1987 and 1995 Pan American Games. By the end of 1984, he was the National Collegiate Athletic Association champion and Olympic champion; undefeated in all seven of his 800m finals; had run the second-, fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-fastest 800m times in history; and easily ranked as number one in the world for the 800 meters in 1984.
The legendary Czech athlete Emil Zátopek, described by the New York Times as perhaps one of the greatest distance runners ever, also incorporated breath holding into his regular training. Zátopek was a man of small stature, standing 5 feet 8 inches tall and racing at 139 pounds, but he found an edge over his competitors by developing his own innovative training techniques, which included interval training and breath holding. While walking to and from work each day, he passed a lane lined with poplar trees. On the first day, he held his breath until he reached the fourth poplar. On the second day he held his breath until he reached the fifth poplar, increasing the distance of his breath hold by one tree each day until he could hold his breath for the entire line of trees. On one occasion, Emil held his breath until he passed out. While it is not necessary to practice to this extreme, it is fascinating to note that one of history’s greatest runners was performing breath holding long before it formed part of training for some present-day athletes.
The difficulty in presenting accounts of active athletes is that they strive to keep their training regimens a secret. It doesn’t make much sense to disclose your innovative techniques, especially when they give you an edge over the competition. To date, I have worked with a number of Olympic and professional athletes who have incorporated the breathing exercises in this book into their training. Given the tiny (but highly important) difference in margin of performance between one elite athlete and another, I am very much aware of the importance of keeping training information close to one’s chest.
However, sometimes hints and snatches of information can be gleaned through the press, suggesting that breath holding is becoming more widely practiced in the athletic community. For example, a recent article on the athletic website Eightlane.org reported that Galen Rupp—the
current American record holder for the 10,000 meters and indoor 3,000 meters, and silver medal winner at the 2012 London Olympics—had recently collapsed during training. Rupp’s headphones had fallen off and “he was unable to hear his coach reminding him to breathe.” Reading between the lines, it seems as if Rupp may well have been practicing breath holding during his training sessions, with his coach setting his limits. Please note that it is neither necessary nor safe to hold your breath in order to create such an extreme air hunger. To get the most benefit from the breath-hold exercises in this book, only hold your breath until you experience a medium to strong urge for air. Pay attention to the intensity of the air hunger you create as you perform each exercise, and release your nose when you feel challenged. You should be able to recover your breathing within 2 to 3 breaths following a breath hold.
To the uninitiated, purposely holding the breath may seem strange. Oxygen is necessary for life, so why subject the body to such a limitation? Just as physical training is a very natural activity for mankind, so too is breath holding. As a child, you might have held your breath any time you swam to pick up a coin or other object from the bottom of a swimming pool. At other times, you may have held competitions with siblings or friends to see who could hold their breath for the longest, with passing the 1-minute mark being an acceptable accomplishment.
For the past thirteen years, thousands of children have attended my courses to help address coughing, wheezing, and symptoms of breathlessness and asthma. Children as young as four are able to practice a number of different breath-hold exercises, each with a specific purpose. For example, there is a breath-hold exercise to help unblock the nose, another to help stop a wheeze or a cough, while another is designed to improve breathing volume by holding the breath for as long as possible.
The Oxygen Advantage: The Simple, Scientifically Proven Breathing Techniques for a Healthier, Slimmer, Faster, and Fitter You Page 12
