Grab your Pulse Oximeter and lets test how your body responds to the Breath-Retentions. Taking note of this before the onset of exercise is very similar to the SpO2 clamps that are used in traditional altitude training research. Having an idea as to how your body responds to the workouts is a good starting place. If you drop below 70 with just a short breath-hold, then you should begin in Level 1 with no Breath-Retentions, so that you can build up your CO2 tolerance gradually. I suggest measuring on the first workout each time you move up a level of Breathography to see how your body responds!

1. First, keep the pulse oximeter on your finger and observe for 3 minutes your SpO2 while breathing normally. It should remain in the normal range of 95-100. When breathing normally, if your SpO2 is consistently below 95, you should consult with your doctor to assess further (although make sure to take more than 1 measurement as some oximeters can be inaccurate and overly sensitive!)

2. At the conclusion of your pulse oximeter test, if you see a result that goes below upper 70% without an immediate recovery back to normal SpO2 (95-99), then you should choose WEEK 1 and WEEK 2 workouts for the first 4 weeks. On the third week, add a WEEK 3 workout, testing your blood oxygen on the first workout you do. If you see a more normalized response, then you may continue progressing up a level every 1-2 weeks, making sure to test yourself at the top of the week to check in with your response. Most will adapt and not have as severe a drop over the course of the training, so it is important to go slow and let your body adapt. The 8 week structure of the workouts is intended to gradually build up your CO2 tolerance level to endure within the workout. If you are new, I suggest doing an 8 week round of beginner/intermediate and then moving to an 8 week round of intermediate and FINALLY, you could try an 8 week round of advanced, making sure to test yourself at the top of each round.