April 15, 2025

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

1 hour 49 minutes

Your breath is intimately linked with every aspect of your health – from how you respond to stress to how efficiently your body burns fat. While most of us breathe over 20,000 times a day, few of us pay attention to this automatic process. But it may hold the key to transforming our physical and mental wellbeing.

Today’s returning guest is the wonderful Brian Mackenzie, Founder & Creative Director of SHIFT, President of The Health and Human Performance Foundation and a world renowned human performance specialist who combines breathing techniques, movement practices, and stress adaptation training to enhance physical and mental performance.

His methods have been used by Olympic athletes, professional sports teams and military special forces and Brian's work has undergone rigorous scientific testing at institutions including Stanford University School of Medicine and San Francisco State University. He is also the author of several books including, Unbreakable Runner, Power Speed Endurance and Unplugged.

In this fascinating conversation, we explore:

Why breathing is "the remote control to the nervous system" and how becoming aware of our breath patterns can help us instantly regulate our stress responses

The relationship between the way that we breathe and our ability to burn fat

The "Five Gear Breathing System" that matches our breathing technique to different activity levels, from relaxed walking to high-intensity exercise

Why nasal breathing (while beneficial at rest and low intensities) might limit our performance and oxygen use during higher-intensity activities

How a simple daily 45-minute walk with nasal breathing can transform our metabolism, stress resilience and mental clarity

The three-stage stress response cycle and how breathwork provides a practical tool to interrupt our automatic reactions to daily triggers

Why Brian believes finding joy in mundane tasks like washing dishes is possible when we focus on the process rather than constantly chasing outcomes

Practical techniques to establish healthier boundaries with work, technology and stress – including Brian's approach to shutting off work by 4-5 pm and using red light in the evenings to improve sleep

Brian is a remarkable individual, with an enviable track record of transforming the wellbeing and performance of a wide range of individuals, and this conversation is full of practical insights that you can utilise immediately to improve your health, performance and the overall quality of your life. I hope you enjoy listening.

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Show notes https://drchatterjee.com/547

DISCLAIMER: The content in the podcast and on this webpage is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your doctor or qualified healthcare provider. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have heard on the podcast or on my website.

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By Dr Rangan Chatterjee: GP & Author

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