Blood and Breath Holds

Blood and Breath Holds

By Col Wajid Hussain

Blood is made up of three parts: oxygen-carrying red  blood cells, white blood cells, and plasma. Hemoglobin is a protein found within the red blood cells. Its function is to carry oxygen from the lungs to the cells, tissues, and organs of the body, where it is released in order to burn nutrients for the production of energy. Once oxygen has been released, the resultant carbon dioxide is collected by hemoglobin and returned to the lungs, which exhale the excess carbon dioxide.

Normal levels of hemoglobin
Male: 13.8 to 17.2 gm/dL
Female: 12.1 to 15.1 gm/dL (gm/dL = grams per deciliter)

Breath Holds Simulate High-Altitude and High-Intensity Exercise
The breath-holding techniques allow us to simulate many of the positive benefits of high-altitude and high-intensity training. With as few as 5 breath holds, there is an increase in hemoglobin concentration of 3.3 percent in the blood. This happens as spleen size decreases by a total of 20 percent, demonstrating a rapid contraction of the spleen. The releasing of additional red blood cells into circulation improves the oxygen carrying capacity of the body improving the aerobic capacity. Even very short breath holds of 30 seconds can cause significant splenic contraction. As breath holds signify higher tolerance to carbon dioxide, so more oxygen is delivered to tissues and cells . The other benefits are reduced stress and fatigue while working and Improved recovery time after exercise because of reduced lactic acid level in blood. Pak Destiny

col wajid hussain

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