Are You an 'Unfit Hiker’? Or is it Just Carbon Dioxide?

[@ChaseMountains]

Whats your BOLT score?👇

[@Elixyon]

Around 8 ~ 12 😅

[@Sandalwoodrk]

27!

[@leecasteen]

40ish. I’m def unfit lol

[@jonasbrandenburg9025]

20secs... I think?

[@AncientAstroAthlete]

35

[@nattydred2593]

My resting heart rate dropped significantly after watching your video on learning to breath through my nose by taping my lips closed before sleep at night. Today I can maintain maximal sustained leg output going uphill, without shortness of breath, breathing through my nose only. At 62, my resting heart rate is 53, and routinely goes above 150 when running or rowing hard. Thank you.

[@s_kavan]

Great video, people need to hear about this. I got into breathing stuff a couple of weeks back because of always getting a cold, a pollen allergy, and having a hard time breathing after long exercise sessions. I read the book Breath by James Nestor and then I read Close Your Mouth by Patrick McKeown and it really changed my life. I still have some symptoms, but the quality of my life has improved a lot I'd say. I started hiking, cycling, and running with my mouth closed and it's great. And of course I use the app as well and I love that it's free.

[@ChaseMountains]

That’s great to hear man! Keep it up reach out if you have questions

[@healing5323]

What a great video! I'm 70 and it looked like I had a bolt score of at least 25. I was a serious competitive swimmer in high school and college training 4 hours a day. The breathing you describe reminds me a great deal of swimming. When I worked for the lifeguards at the beach, we had to do running and swimming in combination while training. One trick we did was to do the rhythmic breathing as if we were swimming while running so that when we hit the water we weren't out of breath.This is great stuff I'm glad you're sharing.

[@sjoerdknol]

I used to swim a lot and on a pretty high level as a teenager. I quit swimming after that for no clear reason. Mostly went to the gym after that but over the span of 10 years my fitness and training regressed. Now I remember quite vividly how relaxed I was swimming as well as my breathing. I recently about 6 months ago started swimming again - thank god for muscle memory - and it has been great. Especially relaxed box 2 front crawl (freestyle) swimming. You’re forced to hold your breath while working out and breathing in a regular pattern of for example 3 or 4 strokes 1 breath. The breathing is regular, the strokes are regular and your power output is regular. It gets me really in the zone and relaxed while working out. Now seeing this video, surely certain types of swimming must be great for proper breathing. Since you physically can’t breath underwater and therefore must relax until the next cycle of breathing and strokes. Interesting! Great video, packed with good information. Thanks!

[@glecor1]

Thanks!

[@jonmoore4050]

box breathing as well as double full inhales are excellent for breathe work & calming the body. Has helped my hiking performance. Great video.

[@ianrobertson1667]

Great vid. Just one comment on the shape of your box illustration, I would expect the inhale to be up, exhale to be down, and the holds to be horizontal - not that it matters!

[@ChaseMountains]

Lol. that makes total sense 🤦‍♂️

[@Gcorliss89]

​​@@ChaseMountainsOr if we're paying attention to the diaphragm: inhalation on the down stroke, exhalation* on the up

[@health7747]

Really interesting video and very well explained. I've recently become more aware of how often I'm mouth breathing during day to day tasks and will be looking to change that in order to help more whilst exercising. BOLT score of 17 to start, so lots to improve! Much appreciated

[@Captainmattwebb]

I got a BOLT of 57… but I’ve been doing WHM on and off for quite a while, so very relaxed when I have empty lungs. I’ve tried counting my steps with no breath and only got around 15-18 but I was in the middle of a pretty long and fast hike so my body was pumping at the time. I’ll try it again but in a relaxed state. I normally find that if I’m getting short of breath and my legs are getting tired, I can usually just focus on breathing and I can carry on hiking without having to stop. Just slow and big deep breaths. Magic.

[@ChaseMountains]

That’s a hell of a BOLT score man! I would be interested to hear your MBT when you’re rested.

[@aliciasorenson3807]

Bolt test 31. Maximum test 64! Even though I'm currently out of shape. I've mentioned before that I grew up running, then spent years competitively running in Cross country and track, and that I was also trained as a teenager through now(I'm 40) as a singer. I've wondered if this is why I do so well on these tests and why my friends can't keep up with me while hiking. But you said something else in this video that gave me another idea too. My normal way to breath is to breath minimally and periodically through my nose, and then every now and then I'll feel the need to breath in really deeply. Especially when I'm sitting down. This is just naturally how I breath. Not sure why I do that but it sounds like it is helping me!

[@ChaseMountains]

Yeah that’s a great test result! Sighing and yawning are the ways the body uses to balance out the biochemistry, so it may be that you’re unconsciously pausing, and not breathing periodically through the day. This is very normal, nothing to worry about, just a sign of room for improvement 🙏

[@ben_daniels11]

My friend, your videos are very well thought out and informative. I appreciate them!

[@PoppyJr11]

It’d be really cool to see how/if you incorporate the sports mask from OA, and your experience with it. Love these kinds of videos, keep them up. 🔥

[@ericcsuf]

BOLT score 40-45. resting heart rate 48, age 82. Long time casual runner into my early 70s, but now I just hike in a local wilderness park about 15 miles a week spread over 3 or 4 outings. Just started dedicated breath work about a month ago after reading "Breath" by James Nestor. Thanks for the informative video on this hugely important and largely neglected subject.

[@ChaseMountains]

@@ericcsuf an inspiration to those of us who strive for longevity! Well done 👍

[@kstoeb]

Wow, you've come a long way from those typical (thru)hiking videos to gear films, and now the fitness for hikers and the breathing stuff! Congrats.

[@MrProphetius]

I love the fact youre combining mountaineering and fitness, health and more. If youre planing to expand international, let me know. German speaking countries would love that, I could take over.

[@ChaseMountains]

Cool! Yep I’m hiring coaches! DM me on Insta!

[@googlepipes6323]

I had no idea “box breathing” was more than just a temporary stress reducer. Thank you!

[@IronicleseAndSardoniclese]

Thank you so much for this! I came across it looking for something else but I think this may be a game changer for me! I have HUGE difficulty breathing in humid weather or very cold weather and I can tell my body starts panicking. It’s become overwhelming since moving to the southern USA. I can nearly do anything once it gets near 70 degrees because of the humidity. I’ve always had an issue with freaking out when I think I can’t breathe. I just figured I was too out of shape to exercise ( even though I’m not really overweight) and have been considering getting tested for asthma. I tried someone else’s inhaler a few times and it did nothing though. I think this may be the issue. I also have extremely tight muscles and headaches from that. I’m excited to find and try something that isn’t medication or a complete change of everything in my entire life all at once.😂 If I can breathe, I can excersize again! I can go hiking! I hope this works….Yay!!!!!!😁 😂

[@BackcountryPilgrim]

Good work, Chase. Thank you!

[@michaellundphotography]

Look up oxygen-hemoglobin disassociation curve. If you breath fast, your CO2 drops, making your blood more basic (opposite of acidic)... this makes oxygen more difficult to be transported properly. So you feel like you're dying lol If you breath less, or through your nose (smaller airway) your CO2 increases, your blood becomes more acidic, and oxygen is transported more easily throughout your body. This is why people with severe COPD use pursed lipped breathing, it stops their hyperventilation, and their oxygen levels improve slowly. These slow breathing techniques can help us hikers too =)

[@ChaseMountains]

Bohr effect! Nicely done. Gonna go a whole video on this

[@airiin6134]

That is not quite how the curve works and it adapts really well to changes. People with enphysema breath that way because their lungs have areas of destruction where air acumulates and they have a difficulty emptying their lungs, but with that position of the lips, they find easier to exhale.

[@jasmineobrien9141]

BOLT score of 24 and 29 on second try. Asthmatic and heart murmur (both manageable) and enjoy hiking but find I'm out of breath although legs etc feel fine. Hoping to use this method to improve!

[@cdhikes2906]

I got a BOLT score of ~19. It will be interesting how implementing breathing exercises affects my training and performance, as I've switched my focus this year from hiking the mountains to running in them.

[@MrProphetius]

so Trail running. cool, the more important are the joints.

[@lukepaulson3428]

This is great information and hopefully I can incorporate into my daily routine. Are there additional techniques to use while exercising? Whether at aerobic or anaerobic levels.

[@ChaseMountains]

Yes, but with care. PerformsShort breath holds, like 10-15 steps without breathing at first walking, then jogging then running and then literally sprinting. Pinching the nose will help to accumulate N02 in the nose which has added benefits… But pleaaaase, go slow and build up to this very very slowly over a period of several weeks. Don’t overdo it. Make sure your BOLT score is above 25 first.

[@hillwalkingcommunityradioclub]

Top class video, thank you.

[@ChaseMountains]

@@hillwalkingcommunityradioclub much appreciated 👍

[@timebor]

I'm not really getting a 'first definite desire' as expected. The desire seems to rise gradually. Within 5 seconds I already feel light but increasing discomfort around the chest and neck. I felt a definite involuntary contraction of diaphragm around 25s in, but had to breath in too strongly, so that renders the test invalid. When I tried again, I thought I noticed some diaphragm contractions start overshadowing my heart beat at around 15 seconds (after I could breath in nasally without sound, but deeper than a light breath). But no clue which of these is the 'first definite desire'. If I take the instruction literally and really listen to my body, I pick the BOLT score of 3. I definitely feel light discomfort and desire to breath at that time. Edit: MBT was 52 at first try.

[@mitchs3886]

Good stuff, Chase!

[@Nihilimus]

I'm a long time subscriber and love your approach to fitness in general. I understand how you got into the whole Oxygen Advantage thing as it certainly seems scientific on the face of it. If you dig deeper though, you see that it's basically a rehash of the Buteyko method, which they even cite. These are not methods backed by scientific consensus or supported by the medical community and many of their claims are not backed by good evidence. I understand that you're personally and financially invested in this though.

[@ChaseMountains]

First of all, the Box Breathing method is not an OA method, neither is the BOLT score. Actually oxygen advantage is one of the few, likely the only breathing method based off the information of thousands of scientific studies, AND they're been kind enough to GIVE this knowledge and the exercises for free in the app. In contrast, almost every other method is based in tradition, or random experimentation and charge a premium for recorded nonsense as certifications. As far as OA methods being widely researched and approved, no you're right, they aren't, because that would require millions in funding, it would be great if there was scientific will to understand breathing to the point that it is researched more heavily but at this stage it is not. Patrick discussed this openly when I interviewed him. Am I financially invested? No, I do not own any part of Oxygen Advantage. I'm happy to read anything you have that might change my mind. Is there a more scientifically proven option in your opinion?

[@a12i9]

​@@ChaseMountainsI don't know OA (yet) but I recently discovered breath ball which is a very simple and adjustable app for breathing exercises. It really has everything I need and is independent from (Google) accounts. I'm not sure though, if it's available in English, I have a German version.

[@stalar2892]

The first time you did the BOLT test in a vid I did it and definitely gave myself a higher score, so this time I actually tapped out when my brain first suggested breathing, so got 22. But then I did the maximum breathlessness test and got 62 so I guess I tapped out too soon. I still breathe heavy when running or going uphill though and am not unfit :-/

[@mezmerya5130]

interesting what issues people run into. i've had an issue of last uphill push in the end of the day. appeared it wasnt' aerobic isssue, i was just weak. once i got my squat back to 1,5x bodyweight, issue disappeared, without any changes to my zone 2 aerobic routine

[@pixelpoppyproductions]

I got like 10-12. Not great. I used to do a lot of swimming, and you’re effectively not breathing for 3-4 stokes. It must have had a similar effect, I felt like I never would run out of breath. But we don’t have anywhere to go swimming anymore.

[@ChaseMountains]

Yes, swimming is great both for the C02 accumulation and the pressure which the water places on the breathing muscles. Kind of like strength training for respiratory muscles. Try out the breath light exercise and. Some short breath holds to increase your BOLT score

[@golopeters1152]

Sounds pretty much like buteyko. How come you don't mention him? Where does this knowledge come from? Buteyko calls this test cp-test. Heard of it. Thanks for the vid.

[@DavidsWayOfLife]

Is the assessment still open? I tried to set a date but all days in May were grayed out and not possible to set any other month. Thanks

[@ChaseMountains]

Hey David, yeah I’m pretty well booked up on the calendar but I’ve opened up some more times in the next few weeks! Hit me up on Instagram if you have any trouble booking in! Look forward to our chat

[@andrewrivera4029]

Yea I’m 58 and I hike 14’ers here in the US in the summer and I’ve passed a lot of younger people obviously more fit but their breathing stops them from being able to access their extra aerobic capacity.

[@MrProphetius]

keep up the fitness! great job

[@MrRandomguy1001]

only 28 for now just started though

[@davidstrumsky7012]

"Relaxing is a skill..."

[@yspegel]

If increasing your fitness doesn't do a lot then how come I could far exceed the performance of any hiker high up the mountains without even increasing breath speed when I was a well trained cyclist. You might forget, when spending hours on end doing endurance training, you train this naturally. The more relaxed you are, the better you perform, making extra exercises needless.

[@ChaseMountains]

To be clear, increasing your fitness will work if you already have an excellent breathing pattern. Likely you are very lucky! And yeah, most of my work now is about teaching people how to relax, both at rest and during movement.

[@ancalagon113]

Maybe the editing decision at 1:56 isn't the smoothest, because it makes it seem that George Floyd was killed due to breathing patterns rather than racism... I'm sure that's not what you meant but it irritated me within all the useful information.

[@ChaseMountains]

Yeah fair point. Maybe wasn’t the best choice of images.

[@suzannemackenzie7926]

Definitely worth removing the image.

[@JuanRamirez-jm9bp]

I'm not sure this respiratory exercice would have improved Derek Chauvin's case 😉

[@ChaseMountains]

Probably not. But that is a legitimate reason why law enforcement and military use this exercise. Respond rather than react.

[@obiwanjacobi]

Better than gear videos, hey? 😁

[@ChaseMountains]

It’s certainly easier preparation wise. This was unscripted from the top of my head haha