Higher O2, Fire Fat...Breathe...

"Comeón man, breathe in, breathe out!" Before the feminists brand me as a chauvinist male for mentioning the word, "Man" alone, let me clarify. That line is a quintessential one, which you might hear being mouthed by a trainer to his/her client during a workout session in an even more quintessential gym. The passionate instruction from the trainer to make the client breathe makes you believe that the whole cosmos depends on that One Breath, well almost! This piece sheds light on why there is a fat chance (pun intended) of losing fat when you breathe properly. An example of a candle is the best way to lay down fat facts to a layman. Tatasthu (so, be it)...

Wax up with you?

So, why is it absolutely necessary to breathe properly to lose body fat? A simple analogy is comparing the wax in a candle to your body fat except that it just takes a few hours for the candle to lose it all, whereas you have been trying perennially to get into your teen jeans without much luck. What a waist!

Both the candle wax and the FFA (free fatty acids) (broken down fat from the adipose tissue inside our bodies) are essentially Hydrocarbons, i.e., they are mainly composed of Hydrogen and Carbon particles. Paraffin wax's chemical formula is CnH2n+2 and a typical FFA is a Carboxylic acid group. Both candles and we release CO2 (carbon dioxide), H20 (water), and some heat (yeah, even those after you watch Megan Fox or Hugh Jackman on screen) into the surrounding atmosphere. The candle inches further from us by providing light too. So much for not caring about cleansing our auras! But, if we cut off air supply to the burning candle, it extinguishes (see image above). It's because the candle wax doesn't receive enough oxygen to continue the chemical reaction and sustain the combustion. In a similar manner, during fasting or on restricted calorie diets, when glucose levels in the blood are low, the FFAs in the human body jump into action and are transported into the mitochondria of the cells to generate ATP (adenosine triphosphate), the energy factor in us. However, there is a catch here. The mitochondria can only produce the required energy when oxygen is present along with the FFAs inside the cell. In the absence of O2 a.k.a oxygen, the cells can't metabolize the FFAs into ATPs. Instead, the cells might leech amino acids from the muscles to fuel the body's energy requirements. Now, you know why some gym guns lose body weight, but never the troublesome inches around their waist. Of course, the muscle tissue is far more dense than the fat tissue of an equal size or proportion. They lost muscle throughout and very little fat! You wish you had read this article much before, right?

Takeaways

Much unlike the takeaway of a KFC or MacDonald, this one should benefit you in all counters. And here they are:

• Inhale and exhale deeply while exercising to maximize the metabolism of your FFAs by having more oxygen available in your blood. This practice doesn't benefit one who is into a heavy resistance training (80 - 90% of their one rep max. weight) set and is primarily dependent on the glycogen stores to fuel the workout.

• Inhale and exhale deeply post the workout set to replenish oxygen levels, remove carbon dioxide, and reduce cortisol (stress hormone) in the blood. Reducing the cortisol is imperative to prevent muscle breakdown for fuel during extensive workouts.

• Keep your workout intensity to max. 70% of your highest intensity to breathe efficiently and burn fat in the process. Anything more might tap into the muscles or the glycogen stores to meet body's fuel requirements depending upon your current stress level and muscle conditioning.

• Inhale deeply, retain the breath for 3 sec. (depends on an individual's capacity) and exhale for 6 sec. This method ensures that the inhaled oxygen is well absorbed into the body's cells for energy production.

So, the next time you hear BIBO (breathe in, breathe out) in your gym, remember the candle and the air around it. Take a bow and when you get up make sure that you don't hit your head into a gym bar or a weight rack. Now, you have got the knowledge; spread the light and get lighter!