Frequently Asked Questions

The difference between the two methods is explained in this article: THE WIM HOF BREATHING METHOD & PATRICK MCKEOWN’S OXYGEN ADVANTAGE® 2 EXPERTS, 1 GOAL.

Yes. There is a special children’s breathing re-education program, which you will find at www.buteykoclinic.com/buteykochildren/. This will always be available free of charge.

There is no difference. The book has two different covers because it is published separately in the USA and UK. The text is the same in both.

Yes. Our mobile app can be downloaded here. 

It’s just the first distinct feeling that your body wants to resume breathing. You will experience it as involuntary contractions of your breathing muscles. Your breath at the end of the measurement should be fairly normal. You should not finish the breath-hold gasping for air.

BOLT stands for Body Oxygen Level Test. The BOLT score is the time in seconds that you can hold your breath on exhalation until the first definite desire to breathe. It is used as a simple objective measure of chemosensitivity to carbon dioxide (how sensitive your body is to the build-up of CO2 in the blood), or a measure of breathlessness. That’s it.

The best time in order to get an accurate reading is first thing in the morning, soon after waking.

It is normal for the BOLT score to fluctuate. The measurement can depend on parameters including your diet, your level of exercise, how much you are talking and, for women, where you are in your menstrual cycle. This is why it is important that the BOLT score is measured first thing in morning before you expose your body to too many confounding factors.

Yes, just hold the breath. You don’t need to pinch the nose.

This is a personal thing. If you are suited to the breath holds, you can hold breath until you feel a moderate to strong air hunger. If you have certain conditions like panic disorder, you should only hold the breath to achieve a very light air hunger. If you are pregnant, don’t practice any breath holds.

These are really three different exercises:

• Breathe light, biochemistry – the focus is on air hunger
• Breathe light, biomechanics – the focus is on breathing with greater use of the diaphragm
• Breathe light, cadence – the focus is on slowing the breath to six breaths per minute

When practicing the exercises for biomechanics and cadence, it is really important not to over breathe. It is common for people to breathe low, but in the process take full, big breaths, which disrupts the biochemistry. It’s all about balance. You don’t need air hunger while practicing biomechanics and cadence. But a light hunger will ensure that you are not over breathing.

The aim with all three exercises is to reduce the breathing volume, which is why it’s called Breathe Light. In terms of cadence, six breaths per minute has been recorded as optimum for many cardio-respiratory parameters in a large number of different scientific studies. Research (Bilo et al., 2012) directly shows how this impacts gas exchange. At 12 breaths per minute, 4.2 liters of air reaches the alveoli (the tiny air sacs in the lungs where exchange of oxygen and CO2 takes place). At 6 breaths per minute, it’s 5.1 liters.

Many people find this. It is likely, in part, to be due to the distraction. The body can cope better with air hunger during movement. Also, sitting can compress the diaphragm.

During reduced volume breathing (breathe light to breathe right), blood oxygen saturation might drop a little. That is fine as long as you are not stressed. If in doubt, please stop practicing the exercises. Seek out an instructor who can help you.

Yes, there are video lessons available as part of the online video course, or in our Advanced Instructor Training certification.

Breathing out through the nose is preferable to exhaling through an open mouth. When you exhale through the nose, heat and moisture is retained in the body. Mouth breathing causes the loss of 42% more water from the body. Nasal exhalation also causes greater resistance to airflow, which contributes to better gas exchange in the lungs. For the same reason I also discourage the practice of breathing in through the nose and breathing out through pursed lips. Pursing the lips may prolong the exhalation, but so does nasal breathing.

Yes. Particularly in terms of maintaining nasal breathing during physical exercise. For people with small nostrils I recommend NasalDilator.

The nitric oxide that is produced in the paranasal sinuses and inhaled during nasal breathing is not the same as the NO that is produced in the cells or dietary NO. The effects of NO from the nose are isolated to the airways and lungs.

No, I would not advise taping one nostril during sleep. This could cause greater negative suction pressure in the throat which will increase the risk of airway collapse. If you want to reduce your breathing during sleep, wear the Buteyko belt at night to add a little extra resistance to the breath. You can purchase this in our store.

Yes, EPO increases the oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood. However, there are many benefits from the Oxygen Advantage® exercises in terms of endurance and general performance. EPO is just one of them.

For injured athletes, I would recommend all the techniques involving functional breathing and breath holding. They are all explained in the book and online courses. Also, make sure you are nose breathing during wakefulness, exercise and sleep. As long as you can maintain a good BOLT, you will find it easier to get back into training.

Holding your breath directly before competition will not boost EPO, because the red blood cells take around three days to mature. Breath holding should be practiced every day. Do 5 reps twice daily.

It’s important to understand that different HRV readers give different kinds of readings. It’s also best to keep it simple, which is why I don’t give ‘ideal’ readings. In a webinar for our OA training, Dr. Jay T. Wiles, who is a Clinical Health Physiologist specializing in sports performance and holistic and integrative health, and board certified in biofeedback and Heart Rate Variability Biofeedback (HRVB), explained that the focus should be on self-comparison only. You’re looking to develop the ability to modulate your HRV, not to hit target readings.

HRV is improved by cadence breathing at 6 breaths per minute. The Oxygen Advantage® focuses more on changing the biochemistry and biomechanics of breathing, but this in itself will slow the respiratory rate leading to increased HRV. In essence, you don’t have to do anything specific to improve your HRV. Just do the exercises.

Mouth breathing during swimming is fine. Take one breath every five strokes. Work on increasing your BOLT score. This, and nasal breathing day and night outside of swimming will help your performance.

Yes, adaptations do take place. To answer the question, breath holds should not cause too much stress. We teach people to hold the breath after an exhalation until moderate to strong air hunger, but never to extreme air hunger. You should always recover within a couple of breaths. Practice 5 reps twice daily. That is enough.

The first few weeks of nose breathing will be tough. But this is where the body makes adaptations. It is necessary to be persistent during training, spending as much time breathing through the nose as possible. Also, you should never wake up with a dry mouth. Keep the mouth closed at night by taping the lips with MyoTape, which you can purchase in the online store. Then sleep is deeper, and focus is better. Before competition, practice five strong breath holds. During the rounds, take slow and deep breaths. Take fuller breaths but fewer of them. Also, make sure your BOLT score (40 seconds) and MBT score (80 paces) are good enough. See both tests on the homepage.

Healthy blood pressure changes all the time. But there are certain things to look out for. Read our article by trained breathing instructor and medical doctor, Dr. Charles Florendo for more info.