Buteyko Practitioner Forum

Hello!

Have you heard of the exhale breath hold test to measure CO2 sensitivity?

HOW TO IMPLEMENT THE CO2 TOLERANCE TEST

Take 4 full breaths, 1 breath every 5-10 seconds: a 3-5 second inhale, followed by a 5-10 second relaxed exhale, 1 second pause before beginning to inhale again.
At the top of the 4th inhale (totally full), start a timer and exhale as slowly as possible. Stretch out the exhale for as long as possible. It’s helpful to close your eyes so that you can more effectively stay relaxed.
Stop the timer when your air runs out, or you need to inhale.



HOW TO INTERPRET YOUR RESULTS

>80 seconds: Elite
Advanced pulmonary adaptation, excellent breathing control, excellent stress control
60-80 seconds: Advanced
Healthy pulmonary system, good breathing control, relatively good stress control
40-60 seconds: Intermediate
Generally improves quickly with focus on CO2 tolerance training
20-40 seconds: Average
Moderate to high stress/anxiety state, breathing mechanics need improvement
<20 seconds: Poor
Very high anxiety and stress sensitivity, mechanical restriction possible, poor pulmonary capacity


If so, what are your opinions about it? How does it compare to the CP test?

Regards,
Cristóbal

Hello, Cristobal,
This time duration (the length of the long sow exhale) normally appears during practice with the Frolov device or Amazing DIY breathing device when students try to make the total cycle longer.
Many of such students will experiment and play with this factor (total duration of the cycle, which also includes inhalations, which are usually short or 2-3 s and possible pauses during exhalations). As a result, it is possible to train yourself and notice what makes it longer.
For example, the speed of exhalations can be trained, as well as the level of air hunger one can tolerate.
Another similar practice relates to making pranayama cycles longer. The relationship between the CP and pranayama cycles is discussed in my yoga books "Yoga benefits are in breathing less".
In both cases (with devices and for pranayama), the durations could be about 2-5 times longer than the CP depending on other factors including the training effect or adaptation to so called "willful pause", as Dr. Buteyko called it.

Hello Artour! Thanks for your reply. So, evidently exhale time has a correlation with CP and therefore with C02 tolerance.

Do you know why it would be a preferred method for some to evaluate cp tolerance instead of the breath hold test (cp)?
It seems to me a worse method unless there`s something I´m missing.