Cardiovascular Endurance and Body Oxygen Levels

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Female athletes competing in running Cardiovascular endurance, apart from training and heredity (i.e., VO2max), depends on resting body oxygen levels. If body oxygen levels are low, one can simply succumb to chronic diseases and effects of stress. This is often the case for most modern athletes since they typically have less than 25 seconds for the simple DIY body oxygen test, while the medical norm is 40 seconds.

What are the effects of abnormally low body oxygenation on cardiovascular endurance, naturally chosen lifestyle and health?

Lifestyle factor:	Body oxygen < 30 s	Body oxygen > 50 s
Energy level	Medium, low, or very low	High
Desire to exercise	Not strong, but possible	Craving and joy of exercise
Intensive exercise with nose breathing	Hard or impossible	Easy and effortless
Typical mind states	Confusion, anxiety, depression	Focus, concentration, clarity
Craving for coffee, sugar and junk foods	Present	Absent
Addictions to smoking, alcohol, and drugs	Possible	Absent
Desire to eat raw foods	Weak and rare	Very common and natural
Correct posture	Rare and requires efforts	Natural and automatic
Sleep	Often of poor quality; > 7 hours	Excellent quality; < 5 hours naturally

If we apply this Table to cardiovascular endurance, we can explain low levels of fitness in modern people and huge reserves related cardiovascular endurance that are hidden in correct breathing 24/7.

What reduces cardiovascular endurance?

Oxygen model There are 3 main respiratory factors that produce negative effects on body oxygenation and cardiovascular endurance: thoracic (chest) breathing, mouth breathing, and habitual overbreathing (increased breathing frequency and tidal volume at rest). All these factors reduce body oxygenation and worsen sport performance, physical health, sleep, recovery from injuries, digestion, metabolism of carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and many other fundamental physiological parameters.

Brain oxygen levels for normal breathing and deep breathing Our basal or unconscious breathing pattern at rest is the main factor that defines cell oxygen levels. Hence, when we breathe faster and deeper at rest (chronic hyperventilation), we have less oxygen in body cells and less desire and motivation to exercise. Furthermore, overbreathing, which is present in over 90% of modern athletes, leads to reduced cardiovascular endurance, hampered recovery after workout and injuries, symptoms of chronic diseases, and many other negative effects.

Consider how breathing at rest (4 different automatic breathing patterns) controls breathing and cardiovascular endurance during exercise with moderate intensity (15-fold increase in metabolism).

Table. MV (Minute Ventilation) and Rf (Respiratory Frequency) at Rest

Condition	MV, L/min	Rf, breaths/min	Oxygen extraction, %	Breath pattern	References (click below for details)
Diseases*	12-18	>18	<12 %	Overbreathing	Over 40 studies
Healthy	6-7	10-12	25 %	Normal	Results of 14 studies
Norm	6	12	25 %	Normal	Medical textbooks
Super-health	2	3	>60 %	Ideal	Observations/yoga

*Chronic diseases include heart disease, diabetes, asthma, COPD, cystic fibrosis, cancer, and many others. Study Hyperventilation Syndrome for references and numbers.

As it is easy to observe, heavy breathing at rest results in relatively heavy breathing during exercise and that makes moderate or intensive exercise in the sick very difficult or impossible.

Table. Minute Ventilation During Moderate Exercise (15-Fold Metabolism)

Condition	Minute ventilation	Short-term respiratory effects	Blood lactate	Duration of performance
Chronic diseases	Over 150 L/min	Maximum mouth ventilation	Very high	A few minutes
Normal breathing	90 L/min	Heavy nose breathing	Elevated	1-2 hours
Super Health States	30 L/min	Easy nose breathing	Nearly normal	Many hours

Furthermore, low body oxygen level undermines desire to exercise, sports performance and cardiovascular endurance, as the next Table shows.

Table. Effects of automatic breathing patterns on cardiovascular endurance

Body oxygen level	Breathing pattern	Level of cardiovascular endurance
1-5 s CP	Very heavy breathing pattern	Physical activity can be life-threatening since acute exacerbation can occur at any moment due to critically low body oxygen level. No performance.
5-10 s CP	Heavy breathing pattern	Exercise can cause acute exacerbation of health problems (asthma attacks, stroke, angina pain, seizures, and so forth). Poor performance
11-20 s CP	Ineffective breathing pattern	Most people experience and complain about chronic fatigue, but can walk with only nose breathing for hours on a flat surface. Fit athletes can exercise with mouth breathing. Cardiovascular endurance and health are greatly compromised.
20-30 s CP	Deep breathing pattern	There are less or no complaints about fatigue. Physical activity (e.g., easy relaxed jogging) is well tolerated, but requires considerable psychological effort and self-discipline, unless one is an athlete. Reduced cardiovascular endurance.
30-40 s CP	Light degree of hyperventilation	Exercise is comfortable and relatively easy, but systematic or daily exercise routine generally requires some self-discipline. Subnormal level of cardiovascular endurance.
40-60 s daily CP, less than 40 s morning CP	Subnormal breathing pattern	Exercise is easy and pleasant; nose breathing during exercise is natural and comfortable. Nearly normal levels of cardiovascular endurance and performance.
About 60 s morning CP	Normal breathing pattern	Exercise is joyful and people crave it. Level of energy is very high. If people force themselves not to exercise, their CP drops. Physiologically normal cardiovascular endurance.
Over 90 s MCP	Very light breathing pattern	States of super health with enhanced cardiovascular endurance

Man running on beach For more information how basal breathing patterns predetermine health symptoms, lifestyle, and health states, visit Buteyko Table of Health Zones.

How to improve cardiovascular endurance?

Improve your cardiorespiratory and cardiovascular endurance by better breathing at rest. You need to increase your body oxygenation up to 50-60 seconds 24/7 in order to be very fit and enjoy great physical health. If you want to be super fit, you need to get up to 2-3 minutes for the body oxygen test by slowing down your automatic or unconscious breathing. This site provides detailed instructions how to increase cardiovascular endurance using the most natural way. You can also study the pages and articles provided below.

Web pages about cardiovascular endurance, physical exercise, running, body building, and sports:
- Cardiovascular Endurance and Body Oxygen Levels: How brain and body oxygenation influence cardiovascular endurance, desire to exercise, fitness-related lifestyle factors and physical health
- Physical Health: Impossible without high body oxygen levels since low tissue oxygenation promotes chronic fatigue, diseases and abnormal states of the mind
- Breathing techniques for running: Which breathing techniques provide maximum body oxygenation at rest and during running?
- Benefits of Physical Activity: The main benefits of correct physical activity for health are due to more oxygen in body cells. Learn how to exercise correctly to get maximum benefits from exercise and sports
- Benefits of Running correctly include increased cell and body oxygen levels provided that you run with nose breathing only (in and out) mimicking some effects of high-altitude training
- Effects of Exercise on the Respiratory System: They are short-term and long-term and mainly depend on your breathing route: mouth vs. nose breathing
- How to Build More Body Muscle with Less Diet Protein: Bodybuilding requires less protein in diet to build muscles if the body cells are well oxygenated due to correct breathing 24/7
- Graded Exercise Therapy: How to Make It Very Effective: Graded exercise therapy can be very beneficial, if it is done with one old key rule: nose breathing only.

Short sport and fitness articles: Breathing at rest, cardiovascular endurance and sport performance:
- Simple Breathing Exercise For Higher VO2max
- Changing VO2max by Breathing Differently at Rest
- Exercise is Joy Only When Body is Oxygenated at Rest
- When exercise is 100% safe for chronic diseases
- Why modern man gets little, if any, benefits from exercise
- Which exercise parameters increase body oxygenation

Reference Web Pages: Breathing norms, Medical Graphs and Tables about Breathing Rates (Minute Ventilation) and Body Oxygen in Healthy, Normal and Sick People
Breathing norms Parameters, graph, and description of the normal breathing pattern
6 breathing myths 6 myths about breathing and body oxygenation (prevalence: over 90%)
Hyperventilation Definitions of hyperventilation: their advantages and weak points
Hyperventilation Syndrome in the Sick. Table 1. Western scientific evidence about prevalence of CHV (chronic hyperventilation) in patients with various chronic conditions (34 medical studies)
Normal Minute Ventilation in Healthy Subjects: Easy and Light Breathing (14 Studies)
Hyperventilation Prevalence Present in Over 90% of Normal People (24 medical publications)
HV and hypoxia How and why deep breathing reduces oxygenation of cells and tissues of all vital organs
Body oxygen test How to measure your own breathing and body oxygenation (a simple DIY test)
Body oxygen in healthy Table 4. CP (body oxygen level) in healthy people (27 medical studies)
Body oxygen in sick Table 5. CP (body oxygen level) in sick people (14 medical studies)
Buteyko Table of Health Zones with clinical description of most common zones
Morning HV Morning hyperventilation effect or how and why critically ill people are most likely to die during early morning hours

References: CO2 Effects Web Pages
Vasodilation: CO2 expands arteries and arterioles facilitating perfusion (or blood supply) to all vital organs
The Bohr effect How and why oxygen is released by red blood cells in tissues
Cell Oxygen Levels and oxygen transport are controlled by alveolar CO2 and breathing
Oxygen Transport depends on breathing and these two effects (Vasoconstriction-Vasodilation and the Bohr effect) are parts of two diagrams that summarize influences of hypocapnia (low CO2 content in the blood and cells) on circulation and O2 delivery
Free Radical Generation takes place due to anaerobic cell respiration caused by cell hypoxia. Hence, antioxidant defenses of the human body are also regulated by CO2 and breathing
Inflammatory Response is controlled by breathing since hypoxia leads to or intensifies chronic inflammation through over-expression of the hypoxia-inducible factor 1, while normal breathing reduces these processes
Nerve stabilization takes place due to calmative or sedative effects of carbon dioxide in neurons or nerve cells
Muscle relaxation or relaxation of muscle cells is normal at high CO2, while hypocapnia causes muscular tension, poor posture and, sometimes, aggression and violence
Brochodilation - dilation of airways (bronchi and bronchioles) by carbon dioxide, and their constriction due to hypocapnia
CO2: Best Natural Cough Suppressant and "home remedy" since it calms urge-to-cough nerve receptors located in the tracheobronchial tree and larynx
Blood pH regulation and regulation of other bodily fluids
CO2: Lung Damage Healer: Elevated carbon dioxide prevents injury and promotes healing of lung tissues
CO2: Skin and Tissue Healer
Synthesis of Glutamine in the Brain, CO2 fixation, and other chemical reactions
CO2 myth "CO2 is a toxic waste gas" myth
Breathing control How is our breathing regulated? Why hypocapnia makes breathing uneven and erratic?

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