One of the side benefits Gym For The Brain clients have noticed is weight loss. After each session of hypoxic interval training, the rider closes out with approximately 5 minutes of breathing 86% oxygen. This elevated oxygen (4x what we normally breathe) feeds the body long after the workout has finished.
This article, titled “Resistance training: here’s why it’s so effective on weight loss” states:
- When we exercise, our muscles need more energy than they do when resting. This energy comes from our muscles’ ability to break down fat and carbohydrate (stored within the muscle, liver and fat tissue) with the help of oxygen. So during exercise, we breathe faster and our heart works harder to pump more oxygen, fat, and carbohydrate to our exercising muscles.
- What is less obvious, however, is that after we’ve finished exercising, oxygen uptake actually remains elevated in order to restore muscles to their resting state by breaking down stored fat and carbohydrates. This phenomenon is called excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC) – though more commonly known as the “after-burn effect”. It describes how long oxygen uptake remains elevated after exercise in order to help the muscles recover.
At Gym For The Brain, given the 4x oxygen intake after exercising, the body has more fuel to burn. Weight loss is an unexpected, but welcomed, additional benefit to the main reasons, listed below, that people come to Gym For The Brain:
Benefits for the Brain
- Brain fog
- More energy, less fatigue
- Improved mood, worry, and anxiety
- Better sleep
- Enhanced memory and concentration
- Slowing cognitive decline
- Reducing inflammation
Benefits for the Body
- Drives down inflammation
- Clears toxins and flushes metabolic waste
- Increases blood flow, red/white cell growth
- Reduces pain
- Stimulates the immune system
- Helps your body repair itself
- Promotes anti-aging
Why would you want more oxygen?
Research shows that many health issues and chronic conditions can be related to not enough oxygen getting to the tissues, including:
- ADHD
- Alzheimer’s disease/dementia
- Concussions/TBI
- Depression
- Insomnia
- Heart disease
- Inflammation
- Poor circulation
- Weight
- Stress
- Viruses