30 Day Buteyko Method Challenge - Week 1

If you've come straight to this page read this Buteyko Method Introduction first

How did my first 7 days of Buteyko Method Training go? Well - as you can see below- it was more difficult than I expected. But then nothing goes as smoothly as we'd like :)

Here's What I Planned To Do ....

Breathing Exercises

40 minutes in the morning. Sometimes 20 minutes in the afternoon.

Physical Exercise

Running, cycling and rowing for 40 minutes day in my local Gym.

Diet

Mostly vegan, not overeating.

I'd measure the effects of all this with the Control Pause (CP).

I'd also be looking out for Cleansing Symptoms. People get a variety of physical symptoms as their CP rises. This usually happens at fairly regular intervals - when the CP is about 20, 30 and 40 seconds. The most common symptoms are:

• A runny nose, sore throat, mild fever.
• More frequent bowel motions - sometimes diarrhea.

The symptom intensity can vary a lot. But usually last for just a few days. After that I should feel healthier and have more energy.

I used a device designed by Artour Rakimov for Resistance Breathing

Here's How To Use It....

Place your mouth over the end of the tube and breathe in deeply - and quite forcefully - over about 7 seconds. Then breathe out very slowly and gently for about 20 seconds - and repeat.

The device creates a resistance. So it's harder to move air in and out of your lungs. If you breathe slowly this has the same effect as Reduced Breathing - your body Carbon Dioxide increases.

And that's what we're after. It's all about training the body to get used to higher levels of Carbon Dioxide.

What Happened...

How Did Resistance Breathing Affect Me?

I found it easy to generate and maintain a feeling of air hunger with this method. About half-way through the out-breath I noticed diaphragm spasms every few seconds - as my body tried to breathe.

This and the feeling of air hunger told me that my Carbon Dioxide levels were up - so I knew I was doing the method correctly. I also got hot. My nose started to run - also expected results from a rising Carbon Dioxide.

It was fairly easy to finish the 30 to 40 minutes Resistance Breathing - although I did sometimes feel tired in the last 10 minutes or so. I also had a dry mouth at first. But this settled when I moved the breathing tube to rest away from the roof of my mouth.

Control Pause (CP)

This the one independent measure of my progress. Nowadays most people probably have a CP of about 15 to 19s. Buteyko says 40 to 60 seconds is healthy...

• Day 1 - 18
• Day 2 - 19
• Day 3 - 22
• Day 4 - 20
• Day 5 - 24
• Day 6 - 25
• Day 7 - 24

Cleansing Symptoms

Bowels

This was where I saw the most obvious and instant effect. I went from once every other day to at least twice a day.

Cold Symptoms.

The cold symptoms started on Day 6. My first thoughts?

1. This could either be a cleansing symptom - so good. It might be unpleasant but this was progress.

2. Or it could just be a cold - not so good!

The symptoms were mild so I decided to carry on with my current training regime. At least 30 to 40 minutes of Buteyko Breathing exercises and 30 to 40 minutes of physical exercise a day. If my symptoms got worse I'd reduce the amount or intensity of the training.

Things Get Harder...

Day 7 My symptoms got much worse. I now had a fever, sore throat, cough, and generally felt exhausted. I wanted to keep pushing the training - but decided I just couldn't keep up the intensity....

So I decided to

• Stop the physical exercise for a few days
• Change the Breathing Exercises to Multiple Short Breath Holds

At this stage I was determined to finish the 30 days - but surprised and a little worried that it was already so difficult. But I knew many people struggled with Buteyko - with the effect of a rising Carbon Dioxide on the body (cleansing symptoms). And with resistance from the breathing center.

Coming soon

Buteyko Method Week 2

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