How Your Breath Affects The Way You Burn Fat, The Importance Of A Daily 45 Minute Walk (With Your Mouth Shut!), The Pros And Cons Of Nasal Breathing & The Five Gear Breathing System That Will Transform The Way You Handle Stress with Brian Mackenzie #547
This episode features human performance specialist Brian Mackenzie, who discusses how breath is the remote control to the nervous system, influencing stress, metabolism, and performance. He shares practical techniques for breathwork, managing stress, setting boundaries, and leveraging movement for well-being.
Deep Dive Analysis
18 Topic Outline
Introduction to Breath and Nervous System Connection
Confronting Pain and Dysfunctional Breathing Patterns
The Three-Stage Stress Response Cycle
Distinguishing Stress Response from Chosen Behavior
Reframing Trauma: Mind-Body Connection and Personal Experience
Authenticity, Chronic Stress, and Nervous System Activation
Defining Human Performance and Growth Through Process
Finding Joy and Presence in Mundane Tasks
The Power of Breathwork for Emotional Regulation
Practical Breath Awareness Exercises for Daily Life
The Importance of Boundaries and Downregulating the Nervous System
Brian Mackenzie's Personal Boundaries and Movement Practices
The Five Gear Breathing System for Movement Intensity
Metabolic Benefits of Nasal Breathing (Gears 1 & 2)
The Importance of Mouth Breathing (Gears 4 & 5) and Oxygen Utilization
Developing Higher Breathing Gears for VO2 Max and Stress Resilience
The Role of Movement, Light Exposure, and Groundedness
Final Advice: Learning to Say No and Embracing Process
5 Key Concepts
Stress Response Cycle
A universal three-stage process starting with a stimulus, followed by the nervous system's immediate reaction (sensory system on high alert), and then physiological processes (neurotransmitter/hormone release) that drive behavior. This cycle, if not recovered from, can lead to chronic stress.
Breathing Gear System
A five-gear framework developed to match breathing techniques to different activity intensities, from relaxed nasal breathing (Gear 1) for low intensity to power mouth breathing (Gear 5) for high intensity. It helps individuals optimize oxygen utilization and performance during exercise.
Respiratory Exchange Ratio (RER)
A metabolic indicator that shows what fuel source the body is primarily using. An RER of 1.0 indicates the body is burning carbohydrates, while lower values (e.g., 0.95) suggest a mix of fat and carbohydrates, with more fat being burned at lower RER.
VO2 Max
The maximum amount of oxygen an individual can utilize per kilogram of body weight per minute. It serves as a key indicator of cardiorespiratory fitness and overall health, with higher values generally correlating with better health outcomes and increased capacity.
Oxygen Utilization at Tissues
Beyond just delivering oxygen to the muscles, this concept refers to how efficiently the body's tissues, particularly mitochondria, can actually use the oxygen supplied. Inefficient utilization can limit performance and indicate underlying metabolic issues, often linked to insufficient oxygen intake at higher intensities.
8 Questions Answered
Breathing is described as 'the remote control to the nervous system,' allowing individuals to regulate their stress responses by becoming aware of and manipulating their breath patterns.
The cycle involves a stimulus, followed by the nervous system's immediate, high-alert response, and then physiological processes (like adrenaline release) that drive behavior.
While breathwork can help regulate the nervous system to allow for introspection, it's emphasized that no amount of breathing will change pain one is unwilling to confront; reality and personal choice are crucial for adaptation.
It's a system that matches breathing techniques to different activity levels, from relaxed nasal breathing (Gear 1) for low intensity to power mouth breathing (Gear 5) for high intensity, optimizing oxygen use.
Nasal breathing keeps the body more aerobic, meaning it primarily utilizes fatty acids for fuel, which is akin to drawing from a 'checking account' of energy, promoting metabolic efficiency.
While nasal breathing is crucial for lower intensities, mouth breathing (Gears 4 and 5) is essential during higher-intensity efforts to bring in sufficient oxygen for tissue utilization and to develop the 'top end' of the respiratory system, improving VO2 max and overall capacity.
This can be improved by allowing the system to breathe appropriately for the intensity, not artificially limiting oxygen intake (e.g., by over-nasal breathing at high intensities), and through strength training which aids mitochondrial development.
Establishing clear boundaries, such as specific work cut-off times, allows for down-regulation of the nervous system, fosters presence in other life areas, and ultimately leads to more authentic and desired activities.
39 Actionable Insights
1. Confront Underlying Emotional Pain
Confront underlying emotional pain or past trauma, as simply controlling breathing without addressing these root causes will not lead to lasting change.
2. Choose Your Stress Response
Recognize that while physiological stress responses are automatic, you have a choice in how you behave and recover from that stress, allowing for adaptive responses.
3. Practice Cognitive Reframing
Look inwards at your triggers and identify internal insecurities or inadequacies being activated by external stimuli, rather than blaming external factors.
4. Invest in the Process
Invest fully in the process of daily activities and personal development, rather than being solely focused on future goals, to find unlimited possibility and presence.
5. Find Joy in Daily Activities
Cultivate joy and presence in mundane daily activities like washing dishes or doing laundry by reframing your perspective and investing in the process.
6. Say “No” for Freedom
Practice saying “no” to things you genuinely don’t want to do, even exciting opportunities, as this creates freedom and allows you to focus on what truly aligns with your desires.
7. Cultivate Breath Awareness
Become aware of your breathing patterns to regulate your stress response and overall health, as breath is the remote control to the nervous system.
8. Use Breathwork for Trauma
Use breathwork to change your nervous system state, enabling you to confront deep-seated pain or trauma that keeps you in a wired state.
9. Establish Clear Boundaries
Establish clear boundaries between work and personal life (e.g., stopping work emails at a set time) to signal to your nervous system that it’s time to switch off and relax.
10. Daily Nasal Breathing Walk
Engage in a daily 45-minute (or longer) walk, breathing exclusively through your nose and without screens, to build a metabolic foundation, improve stress response, and foster self-awareness.
11. Simple Calming Breathwork
Practice simple calming breathwork by inhaling and exhaling slowly through your nose, making the exhale slightly longer than the inhale, to comfortably bring down your nervous system.
12. Mindful Breathing Practice
Engage in a mindful breathing practice by closing your eyes and sequentially focusing on your belly movement (30s), chest movement (30s), and the air moving through your nostrils, allowing breathing to happen naturally without control.
13. Morning Breathwork Routine
Incorporate a 5-minute calming, grounding breathwork practice into your morning routine to intentionally start your day, regulate your nervous system, and improve metabolic function.
14. Mid-Day Breathwork Breaks
Take short (3-5 minute) breathwork breaks immediately after calls or meetings to regulate your nervous system and prevent accumulating stress throughout the day.
15. Downregulate After Arousal
After high-arousal activities (e.g., performing, intense work), find a quiet space to take 5-10 minutes for breathwork to downregulate your nervous system instead of resorting to unhealthy coping mechanisms.
16. Adopt Adult Bedtime Routine
Adopt a bedtime routine similar to children’s (dimming lights, relaxing activities) to signal to your nervous system that it’s time to wind down and prepare for sleep.
17. Prioritize Outdoor Movement
Prioritize outdoor movement and exposure to morning light, as these practices are critical for aligning with evolutionary biology and improving overall well-being.
18. Use Red Light at Night
Use red light in the evenings and at night (e.g., red filters on screens, red lights in home) to reduce stimulating blue light exposure, which positively impacts the metabolic system and sleep.
19. Engage in Hobbies
Engage in hobbies like creative cooking or outdoor activities to intentionally shift your nervous system state from work mode to a more playful and creative state.
20. Develop All Breathing Gears
Develop proficiency across all five breathing gears by incorporating moderate to high-intensity mouth breathing (Gear 4) during cardio intervals and power mouth breathing (Gear 5) during strength training. This ensures balanced respiratory system development and optimal oxygen utilization.
21. Match Breathing to Intensity
Match your breathing patterns to the appropriate level of movement and intensity, allowing your system to adapt and efficiently utilize oxygen, rather than artificially limiting it.
22. Include Strength Training
Include strength training at least twice a week to promote mitochondrial development, which is crucial for efficient oxygen utilization and overall metabolic health.
23. Vary Your Training
Incorporate variety into your training regimen, as diverse stimuli are more effective for adaptation and growth than repetitive routines.
24. Daily Walk for Self-Assessment
Use your daily walk as a self-assessment tool to gauge your body’s state and nervous system health, informing decisions about subsequent training intensity or rest.
25. Reframe ‘Have To’ to ‘Get To’
Reframe your language from “I have to” to “I get to” for daily tasks and situations, fostering a more positive and appreciative mindset.
26. Short-Lived Emotional Responses
Aim for emotions to be short-lived responses without carrying baggage from past experiences, allowing you to live in total joy.
27. Slow Down Excitement
Intentionally slow down and examine things that bring excitement to ensure they align with your true desires, preventing engagement in activities you didn’t actually want.
28. Core Values as Anchor
Establish and anchor yourself to core values like authenticity, as they provide a stable foundation for navigating interactions and decisions.
29. Avoid Chronic Stress
Actively let go of stress responses to avoid chronic stress, which prevents the parasympathetic nervous system from activating and leads to various health issues.
30. Performance for Growth
View performance as a path to personal growth, focusing on unlocking mental constructs to identify and overcome limitations.
31. Prioritize Playful Activities
Prioritize playful and nourishing activities by setting hard boundaries, recognizing their importance for well-being and presence, rather than relegating them to occasional leisure.
32. Physical Activity for Groundedness
Engage in regular physical activity to foster groundedness and presence, as movement is a fundamental component of well-being across various philosophies.
33. Breathing for Mitochondria
Actively work on your breath as a powerful “hack” to enhance mitochondrial function, which is central to energy production and overall health.
34. Understand Breathing Gears
Understand and apply the five-gear breathing system to match your breathing patterns to activity levels (Gear 1-5) for optimal performance.
35. Nasal Breathing for Fat Loss
Prioritize nasal breathing during low-to-moderate intensity activities to enhance fat burning, as nasal breathing promotes aerobic metabolism, which efficiently utilizes fatty acids.
36. Ability to Nap Indicator
Assess the health of your nervous system by your ability to take a nap after a stress response, as a healthy system can switch off and recover.
37. Life’s Narrative Determines Quality
Recognize that the quality of your life is determined by the narrative you choose to place on your experiences, not the experiences themselves.
38. Find Purpose in Everything
Shift your focus from finding a singular life purpose to actively finding purpose and mindfulness in every activity you undertake.
39. Behavioral Change is Key
Focus on changing behavioral patterns, as simply wanting to feel differently without altering behavior (like breathing patterns) is often ineffective.
6 Key Quotes
There is no amount of breathing that will change the pain you are not willing to confront.
Brian Mackenzie
Breathing is the remote control to the nervous system.
Casper van der Meulen (quoted by Brian Mackenzie)
All goals apart from the means are an illusion. Becoming is a denial of being.
Bruce Lee (quoted by Brian Mackenzie)
In a healthy organism, an emotion is a short-lived response.
Eckhart Tolle (quoted by Brian Mackenzie)
Oxygen is a useless destructive molecule without CO2 and CO2 is what knocks that, helps knocks that oxygen molecule out of the red blood cell to go to the cell to be used.
Brian Mackenzie
I think no is the path to freedom because you'll only be doing the things that you truly want to be doing if you learn to say no to the things you don't.
Brian Mackenzie
4 Protocols
Daily Breath Awareness Practice
Brian Mackenzie- Sit down and shut your eyes.
- Pay attention to your belly moving with every inhale and exhale for about 30 seconds, without forcing anything.
- Switch your attention to how your chest moves through every breath for 30 seconds, allowing it to happen naturally.
- Pay attention to the air moving through your nostrils for 30 seconds, without having to control your breathing.
Downregulating After Stimulating Events (e.g., performance, intense work)
Brian Mackenzie- Go to a green room or wherever you have an opportunity to separate yourself from people.
- Take five or 10 minutes to do some breathing exercises.
- Optionally, incorporate breath hold work if desired, to further bring the nervous system down.
Daily Foundational Walk for Metabolic Health and Stress Resilience
Brian Mackenzie- Walk for at least 45 minutes a day.
- Keep your mouth shut, breathing exclusively through your nose (Gear 1).
- Avoid screens and distractions; get lost in the exploration of your surroundings.
- If you struggle to maintain nasal breathing, take a few mouth breaths and then return to nose breathing.
Developing Higher Breathing Gears (for those over-nasal breathing)
Brian Mackenzie- Work at intensities just above Gear 2 (e.g., heart rate zone 2 to 4) using mouth breathing (Gear 4) for intervals during structured cardio, at least twice a week.
- Incorporate strength and conditioning at least twice a week to reach intensities where you naturally move more air (Gear 5), such as after heavy squats or during powerlifting sets.
- Ensure continued practice of Gear 1 breathing during easier parts of workouts or daily low-intensity activities to maintain the lower-end capacity.