Welcome to the Get Fit Guys quick and dirty tips to slim down and shape up.

My name is Ben Greenfield and I'm the Get Fit Guy.

Now today we're going to talk about a fairly interesting topic that you might not think at first glance is relevant to you,

but that is actually important for

anyone who's ever struggled for breath during a workout or wants to increase their oxygen

capacity, get better lungs, avoid altitude sickness, or just figure out how to get a better

workout and increase performance, even at high altitudes.

Now, the Sherpa population in Tibet is world-renowned for their extreme levels of high-altitude fitness, often easily conquering Mount Everest climbs alongside seasoned and extremely fit climbers.

You may have actually seen Nepalese Sherpas parodied in a popular Simpsons cartoon.

A link to the cartoon in the show notes, it's actually pretty funny. Homer Simpson attempts to

climb a difficult peak and the quote-unquote lazy Sherpas drag him up the mountainside at night

in his sleeping bag as he snores away. However, Sherpa altitude performance capabilities aren't just the stuff of cartoons.

A recent study actually found a mutation in the Sherpa population that allows them to have

increased levels of an enzyme that's responsible for helping your cells powerhouse, what's

called your mitochondria, to use

oxygen to produce energy. But what if you're not a genetically superior human being with

increased oxygen utilization capacity? Are there other ways that you could get the lungs of a

mountaintop Sherpa? Well, you bet. And in this episode, you're not only

going to discover how to stop struggling for breath during your workouts, whether they're at

altitude or at sea level, but you'll also learn how to increase your oxygen capacity, increase the

size of your lungs, avoid altitude sickness, get a better workout, and increase your performance,

whether you're at high or low altitudes.

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