Humans have widely leveraged the connection between breathing and physical health throughout millennia as a healing tool for the disorders of our body and the soul. Our previous article, “Breathing & Psychological Stress: A two-way street,” described the physiological processes that connect the brain and breathing, enabling us to control stress levels and emotions by deliberately changing our breathing. However, a set of similar functions can also heavily influence other core physiological processes that can impact our physical health.

The scientific community’s renewed interest in the mechanics and biology of breathing has shed light on the fundamental mechanisms connecting respiration and the mind and those connecting respiration and physical health. By analyzing them, we can begin to understand how chronic inflammation and over-excitation of our immune system lead to auto-immune disorders, lower back pain, digestion disorders, and more.  

As a first step, let’s understand the fundamental biomarkers that characterize how healthy our breathing process is.

These include

• End-tidal CO2: The amount of carbon dioxide we exhale
• Tidal volume: The volume of air we exhale
• Breathing frequency: The number of breaths we take per minute.

These biomarkers reflect our breathing health because they constitute the basic mechanisms by which breathing affects nearly every process in our body, including our digestion, immune response, mitochondrial function, cardiovascular health, and hormonal balance. To understand how all these systems are affected by our breathing, let’s examine, step by step, the sequence of events occurring when the three fundamental breathing variables are perturbed from their average values.

How breathing affects the nervous system. 

Breathing and the autonomic nervous system (ANS) are inextricably linked through various mechanisms. ANS is divided into two parts, the Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS) and the Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS). SNS causes us to go into “fight-or-flight” mode by engaging all the mechanisms required for movement, preservation, and fast reaction. PNS, on the other hand, causes feelings of relaxation and enables us to recover, digest, and heal. The link between ANS and breathing is made possible through how the neurons connect to the different lung parts. Specifically, SNS is connected to the upper part, whereas PNS is connected to the lower lungs. Due to the anatomy of the connection among lungs, SNS, and PNS, when we breathe faster and shallower, we engage SNS and partially deactivate PNS. On the contrary, when we deliberately breathe deeper and slower, we can activate PNS thanks to its connection to the lower part of our lungs and thus enable feelings of relaxation.

Breathing continuously faster and shallower, a condition called Chronic Hyperventilation Syndrome (CHS), causes a chronic hyper-activation of SNS setting our body in a perpetual state of increased stress. Engagement of SNS signals to our body the presence of danger and thus triggers a chain of reactions aimed to prime us for facing it. Although these processes have been developed over thousands of years of evolution and can be life-saving given their effect of setting us ready to respond to threats, their constant activation causes a cascade of negative repercussions. Here are the main mechanisms and physiological systems affected:

• Digestive System: The engagement of SNS causes blood to leave the stomach and core and is channeled to the brain and muscles to render our body ready to think and react fast. Stomach ischemia (lack or absence of blood) causes digestion to slow down or ultimately halt, leading to chronic digestion and gastrointestinal issues.
• Cardiovascular System: Engagement of the SNS increases blood pressure to render our muscles better able to reach fast and respond to threats. However, a chronic increase in blood pressure leads to hypertension, eventually leading to life-threatening cardiovascular conditions such as coronary artery disease. Moreover, irregular breathing patterns can lead to diaphragmatic atrophy, the state in which the diaphragm moves less adding additional strain to the heart.
• Immune System: Engagement of the SNS also engages our immune system through the Hypothalamic-Pituatery-Adrenal (HPA) axis. The HPA axis is the conglomeration of three critical physiological systems, namely the Hypothalamus, the Pituitary, and the Adrenal gland that cooperate to convert brain signals and stimuli into physiological responses necessary to elicit the appropriate bodily reaction. When stress stimulus occurs
• Endocrine regulation: Engagement of the SNS also impacts our hormones critical to the endocrine balance through the Hypothalamic-Pituatery-Adrenal (HPA) axis. The HPA axis is the conglomeration of three crucial physiological systems, namely the Hypothalamus, the Pituitary, and the Adrenal gland, that cooperate to convert brain signals and stimuli into physiological responses necessary to elicit the appropriate bodily reaction. When a stress stimulus is perceived through the hypothalamus, it sends an alert to the pituitary gland through the corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH). In addition to stimulating the sympathetic nervous system, CRH will stimulate the pituitary gland and cause it to release adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH). ACTH travels through the body and targets the adrenal gland causing them to release cortisol. When stress is constantly elevated, cortisol levels will remain high and induce a cascade of adverse effects-

including:

• Suppression of reproductive function
• Increase in insulin resistance, a precursor to diabetes
• Suppression of growth and thyroid hormone release, which impedes development, physical recovery, and thyroid function.
• Immune system hyperactivation:
  • Our central nervous system is also interconnected with our immune system through a molecule called Cytokines.
  • Cytokines are a general category of small proteins that play an essential role in cell signaling.
  • They control the growth and activity of immune blood cells enabling them to trigger inflammation and respond to pathogens.
  • Overactivation of the sympathetic nervous system can therefore result in constant activation of the immune system, leading to chronic inflammation and auto-immune disorders.

How the mechanics of breathing affect our body

In addition to the nervous-based interaction between breathing and several key sectors of our physiology, breathing also affects our health through the mechanics of respiration.

• Cardiovascular Strain: One of the most critical systems in our breathing apparatus is the diaphragm, a dome-shaped muscle that sits between the lungs and the abdominal area. The diaphragm moves down and up, and we inhale and exhale. Our abdomen contains 25-30% of our body’s total blood volume making it one of the most blood-dense areas of our body. Rapid and shallow breathing reduces the engagement of the diaphragm and can, over time, lead to diaphragmatic atrophy, the state where the diaphragm weakens and moves less during respiration. The movement of the diaphragm aids in abdominal blood circulation, which represents a significant part of the overall blood circulation in our body. This is why the diaphragm is also referred to as the second heart. As a result, diaphragmatic atrophy leads to a minor contribution of the diaphragm on blood circulation and thus increases the load our heart has to support whole-body circulation.
• Posture and skeletal muscular disorders: As described above, the diaphragm is a critical component of our breathing apparatus. Strong diaphragmatic engagement increases abdominal pressure, engages the abdominal muscles, and thus provides support to our core and lower back. On the contrary, weak diaphragmatic movement caused by shallow breathing weakens our core stability and is, therefore, a key factor for developing lower back pain and other skeletal muscle disorders. 
• Brain oxygenation: Breathing and hyperventilation is the primary regulator of the balance between oxygen and carbon dioxide in our blood. As breathing becomes faster, the amount of air exhaled increases along with the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) expelled through the body. As more CO2 leaves the body, CO2 circulating in the blood declines, causing a cascade of adverse effects as it is responsible for two critical biological functions. First, CO2 enables oxygen molecules to detach from hemoglobin (the substance in our blood responsible for transporting oxygen from our lungs across the body) and enter the cells that need them to produce energy. Second, CO2 regulates how narrow or wide our arteries are and the amount of blood delivered across the body. As a result, a reduction of CO2 levels in the blood will cause a tighter connection between oxygen molecules and hemoglobin, making it harder for oxygen to enter cells and narrowing the arteries, diminishing blood delivery to the brain and across the body.  

The following graph provides a summary of how these mechanisms interact with each other:

Conclusion

1. Breathing is a crucial regulator of several critical functions, including blood chemistry, nervous system balance, and abdominal pressure.
2. Learning how to breathe in accordance with your metabolic need can become a healing factor for many psychosomatic disorders and prevent the onset of chronic conditions.
3. As a result, breathing is the most influential physiological function that’s in your control.

Breath analysis is a test during which a person’s exhaled gases are analyzed. Its origins date back to the early 20th century when scientists looked to analyze and understand the most fundamental mechanism of all living organisms on our planet, the absorption, and utilization of oxygen.

Since its inception, breath analysis has been given many names, including metabolic testing, VO2max testing, Cardiopulmonary exercise testing, and cardio-metabolic analysis. These names are derived from their ability to analyze the three elemental mechanisms that participate in oxygen absorption, transfer, and utilization, namely, our lungs, heart, and cells.

Next, we dive into the biomarkers breath analysis analyses and how they are translated into actionable evaluators of our health and performance.

The elemental metrics 

The gold standard for analyzing human breath includes the measurement of oxygen concentration (O2), carbon dioxide concentration (CO2), and flow volume in real-time during inhalation and exhalation. The graph below shows how these three metrics evolve during inhalation and exhalation.

To better understand the sinus-like waveform of these signals, one needs to consider our body’s primary function, which is the absorption of air with high O2 content followed by exhalation of air with lower O2 content and higher CO2 generated by metabolic processes. The longer air stays within the lungs, the more O2 it transfers and the more CO2 it receives from the bloodstream. As a result, the deeper the inhaled air goes into the lungs, the more O2-CO2 exchange it experiences, leading to lower O2 and higher CO2 concentrations. This process is reflected in the signals picked up by the CO2 and O2 sensors. When the subject exhales, O2 concentration drops and CO2 concentration increases as air from the deeper parts of the lungs make it back to the mouth and nose during exhalation. When exhalation is followed by inhalation, the CO2 and O2 concentrations immediately revert back to concentrations the atmosphere around us contains, which are generally 20.9% for O2 and 0.05% for CO2.

Flow volume represents the rate at which air passes through your mouth and nose. During inhalation, air moves from the atmosphere and into your lungs. During exhalation, air moves in the exact opposite direction. This is reflected in the “flipping” of the curve above and below the x-axis.

Cardio-metabolic variables

Combining the O2 and CO2 concentration signals with flow volume breath analysis of twenty-three cardio-metabolic biomarkers that evaluate one’s health and performance.

These include:

1. VO2peak: Maximum volume of oxygen consumed
2. VCO2: Volume of carbon dioxide produced
3. Respiratory Exchange Ratio (RER): Ratio of carbon dioxide volume produced over oxygen volume consumed.
4. Tidal Volume (VT): Volume of air exhaled in one breath.
5. Breathing Frequency (BF): Number of breaths completed in one minute.
6. Minute Ventilation (VE): The volume of air exhaled in one minute.
7. VE/VCO2: Ratio of minute ventilation over carbon dioxide volume produced.
8. O2pulse: Ratio of oxygen volume consumed over heart rate.
9. VO2/BF: Ration of oxygen volume consumed over breathing frequency.
10. End-tidal CO2 (FetCO2): The highest concentration of carbon dioxide achieved during exhalation.
11. End-tidal O2 (FetO2): The highest oxygen concentration achieved during inhalation.
12. Fraction of expired CO2 (FeCO2): Average carbon dioxide concentration in one exhalation.
13. Fraction of expired O2 (FeO2): Average oxygen concentration in one exhalation.
14. Heart rate: Number of heartbeats per minute.
15. Heart Rate Variability (HRV): The time variability between heartbeats
16. Forced Expired Volume (FVC): The maximum volume of air exhaled at rest during the most prolonged exhalation possible.
17. Caloric burn: Number of calories burned per minute.
18. Fat oxidation: Grams and calories of fat burned per minute.
19. Carbohydrate oxidation: Grams and calories of carbohydrate burned per minute.
20. Mechanical Efficiency: Ratio of mechanical power over calorie burn per second.
21. Crossover point: The heart rate at which carbohydrate and fat oxidation reach the same level.
22. Aerobic Threshold or First Ventilatory Threshold (VT1): The heart rate at which fatigue accumulation begins at a sustainable rate for the body.
23. Anaerobic Threshold of Second Ventilatory Threshold (VT2): The heart rate at which fatigue accumulation begins at an unsustainable rate for the body.

The following table provides an overview of how the cardio-metabolic variables measured by PNOĒ are divided based on the area of physiology they represent and affect.

The insights 

Although the biomarkers described above provide some of the best indicators of a person’s cellular, metabolic, cardiovascular, and respiratory fitness, they are not easy-to-understand insights to the average person. This is why PNOĒ created ten metrics that describe the different elements evaluated by breath analysis. These include

1. Metabolic rate
2. Cardiovascular fitness
3. Aerobic health
4. Respiratory capacity
5. Respiratory capability
6. Respiratory coordination
7. Expiratory power
8. Recovery capacity
9. Fat burn efficiency
10. High-intensity performance
11. Movement economy
12. Breathing and cognition
13. Breathing and posture

 

 

Recovery Capacity

Definition of recovery capacity: This metric represents your ability to recover from physical exercise.

How it’s measured: Recovery Capacity is measured by assessing the rate with which your heart rate and volume of carbon dioxide exhaled (VCO2) drop during the recovery phase of your exercise test. The faster your heart rate and VCO2 drop the first few minutes of recovery, the higher your Recovery Capacity. A rapid drop in heart rate indicates that your cardiovascular and respiratory systems can recover quickly. A rapid drop in VCO2 indicates a speedy recovery of your cellular and metabolic system.

Why it’s important for your goal (P): Having a high Recovery Capacity is essential for every sport and especially for dynamic ones (e.g., basketball) where there is a continuous change between exercise bursts following recovery phases. The higher your Recovery Capacity, the greater your body’s ability to recover and the lower the fatigue it accumulates.

Why it’s important for your goal (W): Having a high Recovery Capacity is essential for any type of workout and especially for interval training (e.g., spinning) where there is a continuous change between exercise bursts following recovery phases. The higher your Recovery Capacity, the greater your body’s ability to recover, the longer you can exercise for, and the more calories you burn.

Metabolic Rate

What it means: It’s a gauge of how fast or slow your metabolism is. In other words, whether your body is burning more or fewer calories than what’s predicted based on your weight, gender, age, and height.

How it’s measured: Metabolic Rate is calculated by assessing your Resting Metabolic Rate, the rate with which you burn calories at rest, and your Mechanical Efficiency during low exercise intensities, the rate with which you burn calories in the first stage of your exercise test. It’s important to note that your Mechanical Efficiency during medium and high exercise intensities is not indicative of how fast or slow your metabolism is and is therefore not considered when calculating this metric. As your Metabolic Rate slows, Mechanical Efficiency is typically the first of the two to change by increasing, indicating that your body burns fewer calories during daily activities (e.g., moving around the house) than predicted. A decrease in Resting Metabolic Rate typically follows as the metabolic slowdown becomes more severe, indicating that you are burning fewer calories to sustain vital functions (e.g., brain, heart, liver function) than predicted.

Why it’s important for your goal (P): A high Metabolic Rate (i.e., having both a high Resting Metabolic Rate and low mechanical efficiency ) indicates low levels of training fatigue accumulations. Reduction in Resting Metabolic Rate and/or increase in Mechanical Efficiency in low exercise intensities are highly correlated with unsustainable accumulation of exercise strain.

Why it’s important for your goal (W): A high Metabolic Rate will protect you from weight gain as your body will burn more calories allowing you to eat more without gaining weight. It also facilitates weight loss as burning more calories means that even a modest restriction in food intake will result in a meaningful calorie deficit and weight loss. A high Metabolic Rate is attained through a high Resting Metabolic Rate and a low Mechanical Efficiency in low exercise intensities.

High-intensity Performance

What it means: It’s a gauge of how well your lungs and heart perform in high exercise intensities.

How it’s measured: High-intensity Performance is calculated by assessing how well your lungs oxygen and well your heart pumps it into your body during high exercise intensities (i.e., Zone 4 and Zone 5). This is reflected by two metrics namely, O2pulse, the oxygen pumped by heartbeat, and VO2/BF, the oxygen absorbed per breath cycle. The higher the volume of oxygen your heart pumps per heartbeat (i.e., O2pulse) and your lungs absorb per breathing cycle (i.e., VO2/BF), the greater your ability to perform well in high exercise intensities. A flattening or declining value in any of the two will immediately reduce your athletic performance.

Why it’s important for your goal (P): Having a high and continuously increasing O2pulse and VO2/BF throughout high exercise intensities will ensure that sufficient oxygen is delivered to your working muscles. This will in turn, ensure your body remains predominantly in an aerobic state when exercising in high intensities and therefore avoid fatigue buildup.

Why it’s important for your goal (W): Having a high and continuously increasing O2pulse and VO2/BF throughout high exercise intensities will ensure that sufficient oxygen is delivered to your working muscles. This will in turn, ensure your body remains predominantly in an aerobic state when exercising in high intensities allowing you to workout for longer in intensities where you burn the most calories.

Movement Economy

What it means: It’s a gauge of how many calories you burn during exercise, in other words, whether your body burns more or fewer calories than what’s predicted based on your age, gender, and age.

How it’s measured: Movement Economy is measured by assessing the rate with which you burn calories in different exercise intensity levels also known as Mechanical Efficiency. A higher Movement Economy means your body burns fewer calories for a given level of exercise intensity (e.g., walking at 3 mph), whereas a lower Movement Economy means it burns more calories for the same exercise intensity compared to what’s predicted based on your age, gender, height, and weight.

Why it’s important for your goal (P): Having a high Movement Economy is valuable for all sports and especially for endurance sports. It ensures your body requires less energy to operate, results in reduced food intake during athletic events, and minimizes fatigue buildup.

Why it’s important for your goal (W): Staying lean or losing weight requires a low Movement Economy in low exercise intensity (e.g., walking lightly), or in other words having a low Mechanical Efficiency. In simple words, you want your body to be uneconomical and burn a high number of calories during your daily activities. Check your Metabolic Rate score for more information on how Mechanical Efficiency can impact your metabolism and your ability to lose weight.

Fat Burning Efficiency

What it means: It’s the gauge of your cells’ ability to use fat as a fuel source during exercise. Your cells primarily “burn” fats and carbohydrates to release the energy they contain and power your body’s movement. The higher your Fat-burning Efficiency, the more your cells will rely on fats as a fuel source. Fat-burning Efficiency is also one of the most vital indicators of cellular health.

How it’s measured: Fat-burning Efficiency is calculated based on your Crossover Point, the exercise intensity where your body transitions from burning primarily fats to burning mainly carbs. The higher the exercise intensity this transition occurs, the higher your Fat-burning Efficiency.

Crossover Point: It’s the exercise intensity where your body transitions from burning primarily fats to burning mainly carbs. It’s expressed in heart rate (e.g., 132 bpm) or power (e.g., 130 watts), depending on the metric used to benchmark exercise intensity.

Why it’s important for your goal (P): Fat is a fuel source that’s abundant and sustainable for your body. It’s abundant since the average person typically carries ~30,000 kcal worth of fat (vs. ~2,000 kcal worth of carbs) and sustainable because it doesn’t produce fatigue to the working muscles when used. Therefore, the higher your Fat-burning Efficiency, the higher your ability to exercise longer and harder.

Why it’s important for your goal (W): Fat is a fuel source that requires oxygen to be “burnt.” The more oxygen your cells can absorb and use, the healthier they are and the more they can rely on fat as a fuel source. That’s why Fat-burning Efficiency is one of the most powerful indicators of cellular health, a metric that’s strongly correlated with longevity and health.

Breathing and Stability

What it means: It’s a gauge of how your breathing affects your posture, likelihood of myoskeletal injury, and lower back pain.

How it’s measured: Breathing and Stability is calculated by assessing your Breathing Rate and Tidal Volume, the volume of air you exhale concerning your FEV1, and the maximum volume you can exhale. When you breathe too fast and shallow, your abdomen loses its stability, increasing the likelihood of bad posture, injuries during sport, or the development of long-term lower back pain. This happens when your Tidal Volume is a small fraction of your FEV1 while your Breathing Frequency is also high through the exercise test.

Why it’s important for your goal (P): Abnormal breathing patterns are critical contributors to myoskeletal injuries across all sports. Moreover, they directly reduce endurance sports performance by lowering movement economy and increasing the rate at which your body accumulates fatigue. Alleviating breathing abnormalities that destabilize your core is one of the easiest and most impactful wins in your training.

Why it’s important for your goal (W): Abnormal breathing patterns are the most significant risk factor for myoskeletal problems like lower back pain which currently represent the most significant burden to health systems and one of the most important factors reducing the quality of life. Correct breathing will vastly improve posture, feelings of myoskeletal pain, and quality of life.

Breathing and Cognition

What it means: It’s a gauge of how your breathing affects your brain function and ability to think.

How it’s measured: Breathing and Cognition is calculated by assessing your Breathing Frequency at rest as well as low levels of physical activity in combination with the amount of carbon dioxide you exhale per breathing cycle (i.e., VCO2). If you are breathing too fast (i.e., breathing frequency is high) while exhaling high volumes of carbon dioxide (e.g., VCO2 values are high), you enter a state known as hyperventilation. Hyperventilation reduces the carbon dioxide levels in your blood which in turn causes two phenomena to occur. First, arteries in your neck become narrower, reducing oxygen flow to your brain. Second, oxygen becomes more tightly bound to hemoglobin and becomes harder to transfer from the bloodstream into brain cells. Less oxygen delivered to your brain cells means lower cognitive capacity and reaction time.

Why it’s important for your goal (P): Hyperventilation during training reduces oxygen delivery to the brain almost immediately, causing you to react slower and respond less effectively to situations requiring rapid reflexes. Hyperventilation doesn’t only occur during high exercise intensities. More than 30% of athletes suffer from subtle breathing abnormalities in low to medium exercise intensities impacting their cognitive capacity during most of their athletic performance.

Why it’s important for your goal (W): Hyperventilation is considered one of the most common but underdiagnosed conditions that severely impact the quality of life in our society. It’s estimated that 15% of the population chronically hyperventilates, with only a handful knowing about it. Chronic hyperventilation reduces cognitive capacity at work, increases feelings of fatigue, and is associated with higher rates of anxiety and panic attacks.

Respiratory Capacity

Definition of respiratory capacity: It’s a gauge of how big your lungs are.

How it’s measured: Respiratory Capacity is calculated by assessing your FVC, the maximum volume of air you can breathe in, and FEV1, the maximum volume you can breathe out in one second. The higher these two values are the bigger your lung volume is.

Why it’s important for your goal (P): Oxygen is the most critical element of performance as it constitutes the necessary ingredient your body needs to burn nutrients and produce the energy it needs to move and function. The bigger your lungs, the more oxygen you can absorb, the more you can exercise for longer and more intensely.

Why it’s important for your goal (W): Oxygen is the most critical element for a long and healthy life as it constitutes the fundamental ingredient cells use to operate and thrive. The bigger your lungs, the more oxygen you can absorb and deliver to your cells.

Respiratory Capability

What it means: It’s a gauge of how much of your lung volume you can use.

How it’s measured: Respiratory Capability is calculated by assessing your Tidal Volume, the volume of air you exhale in every breath cycle, and Breathing Frequency, the number of breaths you take every minute. Maintaining high Tidal Volume as Breathing Frequency increases indicates that you can use large parts of your lungs’ volume even as they expand and contract more and more rapidly. This will ensure a high Respiratory Capability score.

Why it’s important for your goal (P): Oxygen is the most critical element for athletic performance, and your lungs are one of the most vital organs in the oxygen delivery chain. When your lungs aren’t expanding and contracting enough, they operate less effectively as they absorb less oxygen-rich air and expel less carbon dioxide. This limits your overall oxygen absorption ability, limiting the amount of physical work your muscles can produce and expediting fatigue buildup.

Why it’s important for your goal (W): Oxygen is the most critical element for every cell in your body, and your lungs are one of the most vital organs in the oxygen delivery chain. When your lungs aren’t expanding and contracting enough, they operate less effectively as they absorb less oxygen-rich air and expel less carbon dioxide. This limits oxygen absorption and the oxygen available to your cells, leading to chronic fatigue, lower cognitive function, and reduced ability to workout.

Expiratory Power

What it means: It’s a gauge of whether your lungs have strength to fully contract during exhalation.

Why it’s important for your goal (W): Having lung muscles that are strong enough to effectively empty your lungs during exhalation is important for ensuring proper breathing function. Pushing enough air out during exhalation is necessary for clearing carbon dioxide effectively. When exhalation isn’t strong enough carbon dioxide may start to build up leading to feelings of fatigue, dizziness and even chronic disease such as COPD and cystic fibrosis.

Why it’s important for your goal (P)Strong exhalation is critical for athletic performance as clearing carbon dioxide is a key mechanism for removing fatigue metabolites from your body during exercise. When carbon dioxide isn’t effectively cleared fatigue buildup in the muscles starts almost immediately.

Respiratory Coordination

What it means: It’s a gauge of whether your breathing follows a normal pattern during training that’s not negatively impacting your posture, brain function, and muscle oxygenation.

Why it’s important for your goal (W): Irregular breathing patterns during training,also known as hyperventilation, will limit brain oxygenation and destabilize your core. Lower brain oxygenation causes feelings of dizziness and fatigue. A destabilized core elevates the risk of injuries such as lower back pain.

Why it’s important for your goal (P): Irregular breathing patterns during training, also known as hyperventilation, reduce carbon dioxide levels in the blood making it harder for oxygen to enter the cells of your working muscles. This in turn limits your ability to move as oxygen is the most important element for athletic performance.

Cardiovascular fitness

What it means: It’s a gauge of your cardiovascular system’s ability to pump oxygen-rich blood to your body. Your cardiovascular system includes:

• Your heart.
• Blood vessels (i.e., arteries, veins).
• Blood (i.e., what flows within your arteries and veins).

How it’s measured: Cardiovascular Fitness is calculated by your VO2peak, the maximum amount of oxygen your body can absorb, and your O2pulse, the amount of oxygen your cardiovascular system delivers in every heartbeat. A high VO2peak combined with a constant increase in O2pulse as exercise intensity increases ensures a high Cardiovascular Fitness score.

Why it’s important for your goal (P): Your body needs oxygen to break down nutrients (e.g., fats, carbs, proteins) and power the movement you are asking it to do. When oxygen supply is disrupted or becomes insufficient based on the energy demands of your activity, your body will resort to Anaerobic Metabolism, a process that is unsustainable and produces fatigue. The cardiovascular system pumps oxygen to your cells and is thus a critical system in keeping your body moving sustainably.

Why it’s important for your goal (W): Cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of death and includes several life-threatening conditions such as ischemic heart disease (AKA Coronary Artery Disease), heart failure, and valvular disease. A low VO2peak score combined with a flattening or decline in O2pulse is considered a credible risk factor for them, one that can help you act early.

Aerobic Health

What It means: It’s a gauge of your overall health and provides the strongest predictor of how long and well you will live. It’s also one of the most vital indicators of athletic performance.

How it’s measured: Aerobic Health is calculated based on your VO2peak, the maximum amount of oxygen your body can absorb. The higher your VO2peak is, the higher your Aerobic Health. Since oxygen absorption requires effective operation of all critical organs, namely lungs, heart, cells, and blood, Aerobic Health provides the most holistic picture of every system essential to a long life and athletic performance.

Why it’s important for your goal (P): Your body needs oxygen to break down nutrients (e.g., fats, carbs, proteins) and power the movement you are asking it to do. When oxygen supply is disrupted or becomes insufficient based on the energy demands of your activity, your body will resort to Anaerobic Metabolism, a process that is unsustainable and produces fatigue. Hence, the more oxygen your body can absorb, the more movement it can produce without getting tired.

Why it’s important for your goal (W): Oxygen is the molecule of life. It’s the critical ingredient in your metabolism, the process by which your cells “burn” nutrients (e.g., fats, carbs, proteins) to release their energy and keep you alive and moving. Your heart, lungs, and cells all participate in this process. Whenever any of them breaks down, your Aerobic Health is immediately reduced. That’s why The American Heart Association has recognized it as the most holistic gauge of your overall health. It’s also no surprise that every significant chronic condition (i.e., heart, lung, metabolic) is related to these systems and is manifested when their ability to move or use oxygen is reduced.