The Oxygen Advantage: The simple, scientifically proven breathing technique that will revolutionise your health and fitness Paperback – 15 Sept. 2015

Excellent book and a must read for those who take running and fitness as well as their overall health seriously. The message is clear, If we want optimal health and well being we need to be breathing through our nose at all times and not our mouth. Do this and you will sleep better, feel better and have more energy. A deep breath is taken through your nose not your mouth - very few realised this. It's hard to believe that such a vital process as breathing has been misunderstood for so many years and is the root cause of so many modern health ailments.Some ten years ago I suffered a punctured lung in a football training accident. While I eventually recovered my fitness I suffered from afternoon fatigue and tiredness for years after.Reading the book it dawned on me that my lung capacity may not have fully been restored.I have worked on the nose breathing and BOLT exercises outlined in the book and it is already making a difference to my BOLT scoreI now also do training runs with my mouth shut meaning I am training aerobically and breathing into the deepest part of the lungs.This is the way endurance athletes are supposed to train if they want to achieve PB's etc. I also find myself breathing through my nose without conscious effort - the way it should be done.I ran an 88 minute half marathon last week - it was 98 mins last February and there is more to come.Patrick McKeown is a genius and the book overall is hugely informative and interesting. Excellent work and a must for any aspiring athlete.

Fantastic book.Who knew? I never knew.Wow!I'm not someone who believes in yoga or meditation or anything new age.Anyone who has ever had stents or a bypass or even just put on statins always googles how to get rid of heart disease And the answer is -always no exceptions - you can't get rid of plaque.Ask any cardiologist and they say the same - you're basically buggered.Hang on, turns out that may not be correct.I had a heart bypass over a year ago because of blocked arteries.On a tread mill I always huffed and puffed like a steam train, and I thought that was a good thing .Turns out it wasn't.I've been breathing too much my whole lifeThis has made such a difference to me.My max control pause has gone from 15 sec to 50.I can run nasally.I don't know if my plaque has gone or my arteries have just dilated, but it feels like its gone- and that apparently is impossible.The thing is that this is just so hard to believe, that how we breathe matters, or that it can make any difference.An earlier reviewer mentioned trying to convince relatives but getting nowhere.Would a younger me who always fancied himself as pretty fit have bought into it? I don't think so.I would not have jogged nasally for one thing because it would slow me down.(or so I thought)I think this book- and the one by Nestor which I also have- is the harbinger of a revolution.A lot of fitness and longevity experts have no idea about this.And by that I mean yes exercise is big, as are supplements, amino acids, losing weight etc, but this is bigger.This os biggest thing that you can do to effect the rest of your life

Really loved this book and now nose breathing quite well despite years of mouth breathing.Now hoping for health benefits as I carry on breathing better.

I purchased this book as an interesting side angle to an ongoing recovery from autoimmune illness. I already had diet and exercise nailed, was way down on my medication, in remission and felt amazing... and then I got injured. The secondary impacts of the injury of course, were an inability to exercise efficiently and also an increase in stress. Together these led to a slight relapse in illness and a disappointing upping of the meds.After seeing some online videos, what sold the Oxygen Advantage to me was therefore threefold. Firstly, it makes so much sense! Breath really is the forgotten nutrient! And, despite all my intentions to breathe well and keep myself calm, I realised here that I was doing it all wrong! In the OA however, Patrick McKeown gives a full and easy to follow programme regarding how to make the breath efficient and so reduce stress levels! Already it is having a huge effect on me and i am already sleeping better and waking more alert.Secondly, the breathing techniques in this book enable you to stay fit whilst injured! This is a lifeline for me as it means that I have something positive now to work on whilst laid up. Thirdly, the OA has given me a clue as to why I injured myself so severely. Even though whilst training(hard! Possibly too hard!), I was probably breathing quite well, during rest I was often very tense. McKeown very neatly and clearly explains exactly how this can lead to oxidative stress which can cause over training injury.This I think is a ground breaking book that explores health through a whole new lens. I most certainly won't be going back my old bad habits now! And I feel positive that it's another weapon in my arsenal against chronic illness.