cover image The Oxygen Advantage: The Simple, Scientifically Proven Breathing Techniques for a Healthier, Slimmer, Faster, and Fitter You

The Oxygen Advantage: The Simple, Scientifically Proven Breathing Techniques for a Healthier, Slimmer, Faster, and Fitter You

Patrick McKeown. Morrow, $26.99 (288p) ISBN 978-0-06-234945-3

McKeown introduces readers to the “Oxygen Advantage,” an innovative but complex breathing technique that purportedly improves overall health, increases athletic performance, promotes rapid weight loss, and alleviates asthma. McKeown developed the program after training with a renowned Russian physician with experience in the Soviet space program; over the past 13 years he has successfully trained over 5000 people to stop “chronic overbreathing.” McKeown explains how to use the body oxygen level test to assess breathing levels, then covers exercises and programs that include high-altitude training simulations. Some of the practices may strike readers as potentially unsafe, since they promote oxygen-deprived states, but McKeown is adamant that his life “was transformed completely by three simple (meditative) techniques.” Success stories feature Olympic athletes, the formerly obese, and a patient who, like McKeown, alleviated chronic asthma. The book features a helpful “Quick Reference Summary,” custom breathing exercises, and simple fill-in-the-blank progress charts. McKeown’s confident attitude should help his book appeal to a wide audience. [em]Agent: Doug Abrams, Idea Architects. (Sept.) [/em]