Breathwork is the secret weapon for mountain athletes, from climbers completing the Seven Summits, to ultra-runners finishing races like UTMB or Leadville 100. We’re using this blog post to summarize the highlights from our recent virtual workshop on High Altitude Breathwork Training, led by Anthony from Recal. Whether you’re a recreational hiker or an elite mountaineer, this workshop provided tools to help optimize your breathing and elevate your performance at altitude.

Below is the recording of the workshop, and beneath that is an overview of the topics discussed, key scientific concepts of breathwork training for altitude endurance, and how you can incorporate the program into your current training regimine.

Key Topics Discussed

1. Why Breathwork Matters for Altitude

• At altitude, reduced oxygen availability decreases your blood oxygen saturation and aerobic power (VO2 max). Breathwork can help you adapt to these conditions by improving breathing efficiency, strengthening respiratory muscles, and increasing carbon dioxide (CO2) tolerance (so that you can feel less breathless).

2.What Happens to Your Body at Altitude

• Increased Ventilation: Faster breathing at altitude is a natural response, but is not always optimal. For example, over-breathing can lead throw off the bichemical balance of your blood, causing respiratory alkalosis and inefficient oxygen delivery.
• Elevated Heart Rate: As a result of the increased ventilation, your heart rate increases as well. Your body also looks to produce more red blood cells (via erythropoietin, or EPO) to increase the richness of oxygen in the blood to compensate for lower oxygen levels.
• Decreased Oxygen Saturation: Lower oxygen availability negatively impacts your aerobic power, or VO2 max, and endurance.

3.Scientific Insights on Breathwork Training

• A study has shown that slow, deep breathing can improve oxygen saturation by up to 9.3% at high altitudes.
• Inspiratory muscle training (IMT) that strengthens the diaphragm and intercostal muscles, has been shown to lead to increased oxygen uptake at altitude. Evidence of this is shown by the Nepali miltary experiment in the Himalayas, where oxygen saturation at high altitudes (4,880 meters and above) was on average 6% higher in the study group that trained using IMT, versus the control group that did not.
• A study on Intermittment Hypercapnic (high carbon dioxide) and hypoxic (low oxygen) training protocols can increase hemoglobin concentration by 5.35% and VO2 max by nearly 11% in elite athletes.

Breathwork Assessments from the Workshop

1. Body Oxygen Level Test (BOLT)

• Measures how long until the first sign of stress in your body after a normal exhale. Higher scores can be an indicator of more functional beathing habits.

2. Carbon Dioxide Tolerance Test (CO2TT)

• This test is a timed, slow, extended exhale through the nose. It tests your CO2 tolerance and helps establish a benchmark for improvement.

Breathwork Exercises from the Workshop

3. Breathe Light

• Slow and light nasal breathing to invite air hunger, which over time can increase CO2 tolerance, helping you feel less breathless on the mountain and at high altitude.

4. Preparation for High Altitude Simulation

• Normal exhale, breath-hold, and walk 15 (or so) steps. This is an ideal starter exercise to to simulate hypoxic / hypercapnic conditions, or high altitude. It can help make adaptations in your body, including higher CO2 tolerance and increased hemoglobin (red blood cells) concentration.
       i. It is also considered an aid in the pre-acclimatization process.

5. Exhale Pulsations

• Sharp, forceful exhales through the nose using the abdomen to strengthen exhalation muscles and improve respiratory muscle endurance.

Steps to Begin Your Training

Free Resources:

• Attend monthly breathwork training sessions (on the first Monday after a workshop, which are on the first Thursday of each month).
• Download Recal’s breathwork guides for hikers and climbers.
• And take our Free Recal Breath Assessment here.