OXYGEN ADVANTAGE® BREATHING APP

The Oxygen Advantage® is a unique breathwork training program created by Patrick McKeown. It covers the science and applications of optimal breathing for physical and mental health, as well as performance in sports.

The Oxygen Advantage® breathing app offers a personalized experience and tailored exercises based on individual health requirements. As a virtual breathing instructor, the app guides you through the breathing journey on daily basis, adapting the training to the momentum and providing constant feedback and progress insight.

Exercises are focused on two areas: functional breathing and high-altitude simulation. They include: 

• Breathing light 
• Paced and slow breathing
• Diaphragm activation 
• Vagus nerve stimulation
• Light and strong breath holds
• Voluntary hyperventilation
• Physical movement
• Using the OA™ breathing accessories.

Breathing plans are for adults only. Not to be practiced by children under 16 years. However, the app offers the Buteyko Breathing Method program for kids, suitable for ages 5 and older.

DO follow the safety notice for each exercise and check it is right for you. If you have a serious medical condition, DO speak to your doctor or a certified breathing instructor before you begin. Never practice breath holds involving moderate to strong air hunger if you have:

• High blood pressure
• Epilepsy
• Diabetes
• Schizophrenia
• Uncontrolled hyperthyroidism
• Chest pains or heart problems
• Sickle-cell anemia
• Cancer
• Arterial aneurysm 
• Kidney disease
• Panic disorder and/or anxiety
• Sleep apnea
• Cardiovascular issues

The app is entirely free of charge, and there are no in-app costs.

The app is currently only available in English.

The app can be used on iOS and Android mobile devices. Tablets are currently not supported.

The BOLT score (Body Oxygen Level Test) is a subjective measure of breathlessness. It gives feedback on functional breathing and exercise tolerance. For the most accurate results, measure your BOLT just after waking.

How to measure BOLT score?

• Take a normal, silent breath in through your nose
• Allow a normal, silent breath out through your nose
• Hold your nose with your fingers to prevent air from entering your lungs
• Count the number of seconds until you feel the first distinct desire to breathe in

You don’t need to measure your BOLT score every day. But we advise you to do so at least once a week. This lets you track your progress. And it means we can adjust your breathing plan to your current health and fitness.

To keep you safe and help you progress towards your goals, we only include exercises in your daily breathing plan that are appropriate for your BOLT score. To improve your health and experience the full benefit of the exercises, aim to achieve 100 points every day.

If you fall short, don’t worry. Just start again tomorrow. Once you get started, you can pause any exercise and continue it later the same day. Set reminders. Practice the exercises in any order you want. The timings we suggest are guidelines and will help you build a routine. When your BOLT score changes, if it is much higher or lower than the previous measurement, your daily breathing plan will automatically reset and all progress for that day will be lost. For this reason, we advise you to measure your BOLT in the morning, before you start your practice.

Pick the challenge that is most difficult for you at the moment and that best describes where you are today. The good news is, even the simplest exercises will help with every challenge. And, as you progress, you will reset your breathing plan and choose a new one. 

Follow your mind & body readiness weekly average scores and choose a challenge that you found the most daunting during the past week.

By using the Speed and Air Hunger buttons, you can adjust the pacer’s cursor speed. In this way, you can adjust the exercises according to your momentum and breathing pace. During Breathing Light exercises, you are aiming to achieve a tolerable level of air hunger, while during cadence breathing exercises, you are aiming to slow down your breathing.

Creating an account allows you to access the app’s entire functionality and content. You can save preferences, personalize your daily plan, check in mind & body readiness and BOLT data, and track your progress.

Your data is stored within your account. Your account data is stored on an Ireland server. If you want to delete it anytime, you can do so by deleting your account.

You can change your username, email address and reset your password on the Profile page. 

If you have forgotten your password, follow these steps:

• Go to the Login page
• Select Forgot your Password? 
• Enter your email address and select Submit
• Open the message sent to your email address
• Click on the link provided 
• Type the new password
• Save your new password 

If you have created an OA™ account through social login, you will only be able to update the username – the email address will be obtained from the social media account through which the sign-up happened. 

You can delete your OA™ account by following the steps below.

Please note that this cannot be undone. All data, including your profile, daily plan stats, BOLT and mind & body readiness records, will be permanently deleted.

• Go to Settings
• Go to Profile
• Select Delete Account
• Confirm that you wish to delete your account

You will need to unsubscribe separately from OA™ emails if you subscribed to the mailing list.