Archives of High Performance

INTERMITTENT HYPOXIC TRAINING (IHT) PART 2/4

Intermittent Hypoxic Training The last blog introduced desaturation, which is where we intentionally reduce Oxygen (02) supply to the tissues at rest or when we are exercising. This is done in various ways, which is what we will explore this post.   Just a reminder: Red Blood Cells are the cars driving around our blood […]

Intermittent Hypoxic Training (IHT) Part 1/4

This is a four part series unpacking the “highs” and lows of what we know about hypoxic training. There is some great research out there about the ‘old’ ways and there are some fantastic new and innovative ways to gain some potential benefits from this training. (15 minutes reading time)   This type of training […]

How to breathe underwater – A definitive guide

How do we breathe when we’re underwater? Does it matter how we breathe? let’s find out if it matters!   I recently had a SCUBA and free-diving holiday on a liveaboard in Komoda National Park, Indonesia. It made me think critically about what exactly happens to the breath and our body when we are breathing using […]

Why do we go to the gym?

There are many reasons we see patients, athletes and everyday people going to the gym. The health benefits have been well documented but here are a few reasons we might not think of straight away. Strong Bones – going to the gym maintains the strength of your bones. This becomes particularly important for elderly females […]

Some FAQs about the breath, whats yours?

I have compiled a list of the 5 most common questions I get about the breath from my friends, colleagues, patients and athletes. If you have one, please send it through. 1. Do we take breathing for granted? Is it something we should be devoting more attention towards?   Its useful  to think of our […]

The Low down on Altitude Masks

Today’s post is going to be short and sharp. Altitude masks have been on my mind this week as I see more friends and amateur athletes add them to their training programs and altitude gyms keep popping up around me. So, of course I decided to take a look from a science perspective. First of […]

The thing most breath training programs forget

Breath training programs, pulmonary rehabilitation and breath hold experts need to start addressing the incredible strength of our breathing muscles.   From breath hold to performance enhancement, anxiety control to asthma management and lung rehabilitation – here’s why you need to start lifting weights with your lungs. There are so many different theories these days […]

Chris Froome, Asthmatic or Drug cheat?

Some sports have a cloud of scandals that follow them around, and none more so than elite cycling. The drug scandals that tarnish this sport have ramped up, recently targeting respiratory inhalers that are used to manage asthma, a condition which, interestingly, affects a higher percentage of athletes than it does of the normal population. […]

Breathing muscle fatigue Part 2

Our last post discussed breathing muscle fatigue and its effect on performance. We know these muscles can get fatigued, and this post will investigate the effects on the exercising muscles when this happens. Before we get into the practical application, the reasons we focus on the fatigue of the breathing muscles are: FACT CHECK When […]
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