Stress causes hyper-ventilation

For most people when they’re stressed, increased adrenergic responses causes hyperventilation. The last thing they need to do is take a deep breath in (unless you are suffering acute respiratory failure, pneumonia or choking). Most of the time, what you need to do first instead is exhale everything out. This is true for both acute and chronic stress as well as asthma attacks and even COPD patients. In acute phases of stress, such as an anxiety attack, the effects of hyperventilation are well known. Your diaphragm gets stuck locked short- ie. in an inhalatory position. Breathing becomes fast and shallow. But what people don’t talk about is the build-up of oxygen and the decrease in carbon dioxide and how this actually isn’t good for you.

Carbon dioxide isn’t just a waste product and is just as important, if not more important, than oxygen!!!

This is why blowing into the paper bag works: you are increasing your levels of carbon dioxide to help calm you down. You are taking yourself out of that hyper-inflated/overdosing-on-oxygen state (or more correctly, a state of carbon dioxide deficiency). Because we need carbon dioxide in our blood, not just oxygen.

Let's talk about stressed state breathing

In chronic stress, though, we often overlook this state of hyper-inflation. Yet, when you begin treating patients, it becomes extremely obvious. So many people are essentially hyperventilating all day without even realising that they’re doing it. You’ll see them taking short, shallow breaths using their accessory muscles. Then there’s hardly any exhale before they’re looking for the next breath in. Or they’re holding their breath and not even realising. You get them to perform a basic movement and they cannot do it without holding their breath first. It’s the same thing.

This is a problem. The full effects of carbon dioxide on nerves do not seem to be fully understood, however carbon dioxide is generally considered to be an important dampener of nervous system responses. Therefore, in states of hypocapnia (in other words states of hyperventilation), where there is a lack of carbon dioxide, irritability, muscle twitches, cramping, hypersensitivity, tingling and numbness all seem to ensue. It also causes vasoconstriction, which is how a panic attack can lead to chest pain and the symptoms of a heart attack.

And what about performance?

And in terms of performance, it’s crucial to understand that it is the carbon dioxide levels in your blood that allow the oxygen to be released from your bloodstream into your muscles and organs. We call this the Bohr effect. When you are hypocapnic (low in carbon dioxide), the oxygen remains bound to the haemoglobin in your blood and is not transferred to the muscles or organs for energy production. This is known as the Bohr effect. It’s also why, contrary to popular belief, you shouldn’t hyperventilate before going diving. As many unfortunate divers have found, when you hyperventilate, you put yourself into a state of carbon dioxide deficiency, and, even though you have more oxygen in your body, it is not able to be transferred from your bloodstream into your muscles and organs. Many divers have passed out underwater or worse, drowned, because of a lack of understanding of this principle.

I think generally there is too much of a focus on inhalation in movement practices. This may have stemmed from this notion that inhalation is active and exhalation is passive. What people mean by this is that the inhalatory phase of breathing involves the diaphragm actively contracting, whilst the exhalatory phase involves the diaphragm actively relaxing. But it is in no ways passive. Firstly, the act of inhaling is predominantly triggered by rising carbon dioxide levels in the blood anyway. If anything, it’s exhalation that controls inhalation. And most people are terrible at controlling their exhalation. As seems to be the case so commonly with movement, eccentric control, or the ability to control a muscle whilst it is lengthening, in this case the diaphragm, tends to be the issue here.

There is also research that hypercapnic-hypoxic training (training to increase blood carbon dioxide levels and decrease blood oxygen levels), similar to what is taught in the Buteyko method or by Patrick McKeown in The Oxygen Advantage, is effective at improving VO2max and haemoglobin efficiency. Essentially it entails pausing between inhalation and exhalation and making the exhalation longer than the inhalation. A good practice is a 1:2:3:1 breathing practice. In other words, inhale for 1, hold for 2, exhale for 3, hold for 1. As you get better this will look more like: inhale for 10 seconds, hold for 20 seconds, exhale for 30 seconds, hold for 10 seconds. The trick is that it should be challenging but not stressful. You should be able to do it repeatedly for a couple of minutes without left gasping for breath. If you end up gasping for breath, you’ve become too hypercapnic, forcing you to gasp for air. This is not the point. Over time, this will make you a more efficient mover as you can use your oxygen more efficiently (thanks to carbon dioxide!). For my runners, this means improved running economy and more gas left in the tank for longer.

You can change

Many medical practitioners think of hyperventilation as a side effect of another more serious medical condition. However, we could also argue that it is these states of hyperventilation, or hyopcapnia, that result in these more serious medical conditions. The good news is breathing is accessible. We can change the way we breathe. We can train it. And in doing so, have incredible health benefits for a multitude of body systems.

So respect carbon dioxide more. Respect like you respect oxygen. Certainly respect the inhale but don’t neglect the exhale either. And consider that the 20,000–25,000 breaths you take every single day are 20,000–25,000 opportunities to improve yourself.

Embody the change you want to see.