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Old 10-28-2012, 10:46 PM   #22
Michael Hackett
Dojo: Kenshinkan Dojo (Aikido of North County) Vista, CA
Location: Oceanside, California
Join Date: Oct 2000
Posts: 1,253
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Re: resp to Kokyu Rokyu thread

Phi,

Due to a number of factors I was only able to do a small study today. I took my BP and pulse three times each with about a minute between tests for normal breathing, belly breathing and reverse breathing. My BP and pulse were at my normal rates that I've experienced for years. Each reading went down for belly breathing slightly, with systolic and dystolic readings dropping 2 points and pulse dropping almost 5 beats. With reverse breathing, both BP readings raised 2 points over my norm and my pulse raised almost 10 beats per minute. Obviously these "tests" weren't very scientific or statistically valid, but I found the results interesting and much what I expected. I will try to carve out a better window of time and repeat the experiment several more times and then repeat over a few days time. Again, this ain't gonna be terribly valid or scientific, but it should give me a hint as to how my own body will react. At this point I think it would be more dangerous for me to hold my breath while lifting heavy weights or something similar. Such a slight elevation in BP and pulse rate doesn't seem to be much of a concern at this point.

In any event, the whole idea is intriguing to me.

Michael
"Leave the gun. Bring the cannoli."
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