Scientists have demonstrated that breath hold time can be used to measure sensitivity to carbon dioxide (CO2). Holding your breath prevents oxygen from entering the lungs while preventing excess carbon dioxide from being expelled into the atmosphere. As you prolong your breath hold, carbon dioxide accumulates in your lungs and blood and oxygen levels slightly decrease.

The main stimulus to breathe in is CO2. As CO2 increases in your lungs and blood, your brain reacts, prompting your breathing muscles to begin breathing. The length of your comfortable breath hold is influenced by your CO2 tolerance — your “ventilatory response” to CO2.

When you have a strong ventilatory response to CO2, you’ll reach your threshold sooner, meaning a shorter breath hold time. When you have a higher tolerance and reduced ventilatory response to CO2, your breath hold will be longer. A low BOLT score indicates that your breathing receptors are sensitive to CO2. Your breathing volume will be larger, as your lungs work to remove carbon dioxide. It’s a vicious cycle in which you’re habitually breathing more air than your body needs, leaving you constantly breathless.

The good news is that breath training normalizes your tolerance to CO2 which increases your BOLT score. That’s good! You will be able to maintain calm breathing during rest, and lighter breathing during physical exercise!

Many people begin with a low BOLT score. (I began with an 11 and improved my score to 21 in a matter of six weeks!) If you have asthma, anxiety, or panic disorder, your BOLT score may be 10 to 15 seconds. Don’t worry if you have a low score. Even elite athletes begin with a low BOLT score. That’s why breath training is so critical. It will help you improve your score quickly and you will feel the overall life-changing difference.

The BOLT score is influenced by several factors:

• Chemosensitivity to carbon dioxide (CO2)

• Constriction in the airways of lungs (narrow airways impact breath-hold time)

• How uncomfortable the diaphragm feels during the breath hold

• Anxiety and other psycho-emotional influences like fear of suffocation

If you have a breathing pattern disorder, you won’t be able to hold your breath for long, but breath training will help normalize your breath so it’s light, slow, and deep.

It’s best to rest for 5 minutes before measuring your BOLT score. Read the instructions below and have a timer handy. (You can also follow along with the video.) Give it a go now and send me your results!

Instructions:

Take a normal breath in through your nose and allow a normal breath out through your nose.

Hold your nose with your fingers to prevent air from entering your lungs.

Start your timer.

Time the number of seconds until you feel the first definite desire to breathe, or the first stresses of your body urging you to breathe. These sensations may include the need to swallow, or a constriction of the airways. You may also feel the first involuntary contractions of your breathing muscles in your abdomen or throat, as your body gives the message to resume breathing. The BOLT is not a measurement of how long you can hold your breath, but simply the time it takes for your body to react to a lack of air.

Release your nose, stop the timer, and breathe in through your nose. Your inhalation at the end of the breath hold should be calm.

Resume normal breathing.

The ideal score for a healthy adult is 40 seconds which means you will take about 8 to 10 breaths per minute. A lower BOLT score likely indicates a greater breathing volume. The greater your breathing volume, the more breathlessness you will experience during exercise.

BOLT is below 10: Your everyday breathing is noisy, irregular, and labored. You sigh or yawn a lot and sleep is disrupted, leaving you fatigued. Breathing exercises for breathlessness will dramatically improve your health and performance.

BOLT is between 10-20: Your breathing may be compromised by a blocked nose, wheezing, or coughing. Your sleep is disrupted. Your energy and concentration are poor. Breathing exercises to increase the BOLT score will improve sleep quality, reduce breathlessness, and enhance health and fitness.

BOLT is between 20-30: Your normal breathing is quiet, calm, and effortless. A BOLT score of around 20 seconds is good. But there are benefits for health and fitness if you can improve it even more.