Introduction  
The machinery of cells is very sensitive to hydrogen (H+) concentration, that is, pH or acid-base equilibrium. If fluids inside or outside the cells stray even a small degree from an alkaline pH of 7.4 and 7.2 respectively, the function of protein, the metabolism of cells, and the electrical activity of the body is altered. As the ratio of intra- and extra-cellular positive and negative electrolytes changes with pH, the electric action potential within cells diminishes (fatigue from pH acidity limits performance even in working muscle which pulls most of the blood out of the body). 

If acidic conditions disrupt the ratio of ion distribution in neural mechanisms responsible for stimulating the endocrine systems, it impacts deep organs responsible for general health. A weakened immune system with reduced capacity to eliminate the waste by-products of metabolism, is one of the primary causes of aging. And a metabolic pH that is too acidic (or too alkalotic) also affects the distribution of hydrogen bonds, and the shape of protein changes. This can affect many metabolic processes, including cellular regeneration.

In the attempt to recover acid base equilibrium at all cost; the body will take electrolytes from whereever it can, even rob the bones of minerals, if necessary. Even slight acidity in tissues, blood, and cellular fluid makes us prone to an association of health risks. In addition, our mood tends toward hyperactive stress when the body is too alkaline, depression and inactivity when it's too acid, both detrimental to athletic performance. Hence the need for a way to recover pH balance; a new exercise paradigm that can restore acid base equilibrium at Peak Metabolic Potential (PMP), fast... within 5-15 minutes. Time is of the essence when normalizing acid base equilibrium due to speed of chemical changes in the body. Long term, chronic hypoxia typical of acidic workouts can cause a decrease in overall brain protein, and in the receptors that play a critical role in pH regulation - which can affect a reduction in energy consumption.

V02max
Factors that disrupt acid-base equilibrium include hyperventilation, hypoxia, high temperatures, disproportionate systemic circulation, potassium (K+) and lactic acid build up over the V02max threshold of 50-80 percent maximal oxygen consumption (or the point at which lactic acid appearance becomes greater than rate of disappearance during anaerobic activities such as the 400 meter dash, 100 meter swim, tennis, or soccer). With the most economical movement of the entire musculature (for speed of acid base restoration), Body'Fit pH Fitness™ exercise (short form... pHx™) is specifically designed to balance pH by improving circulation, absorption and utilization of oxygen, electrolytes, and the VO2max threshold at which lactic acid appears. When the Body'Fit™ exercise sequence is performed with percision, participants observe no hyperventilation is necessary, no recovery time is needed, and that they experience no immune stress, pain or fatique regardless of pHx performance speed, duration or intensity. The usual drop in pH does not occur as heart and metabolic rates reach training levels.

Although the exact mechanisms that trigger hyperventilation are not well understood (nor could they be without a comparative paradigm that doesn't require hyperventilation), scientific research shows that biochemical changes related to ventilation and circulation do occur. Lactic acid which is not used as fuel by the mitichondria, will disassociate into CO2 and hydrogen. Although the CO2 content of blood is lowered as a result of hyperventilation, much of it actually disassociates resulting in more acid.

During endurance training and exercise that triggers reflex hyperventilation, the shift to anaerobic metabolism produces lactic acid in greater quantities than can be utilized by the cells. Body'Fit pH Fitness exercise is designed to oxygenate each anatomical cavity and muscle group sequentially in an order which prevents competition for oxygen and electrolytes with tissues of greater blood volume. Although the major stimulus for post-exercise oxygen debt is deemed to be the build up of lactic acid, factors such as the dramatic shut down of circulation in the deep organs must also be accounted for. By heightening aerobic metabolism through total body vascular conditioning, and preventing lactic acid production beyond the VO2max threshold, athletes can train longer and harder without overreaching and can recover from overtraining much faster.


Electrolyte Distribution
To understand how to get More Out of Exercise™ fast, it's necessary to consider the physiological mechanisms that attempt to recover acid-base equilibrium. For each unit of H+ above normal, pH increases tenfold; for each unit below normal, pH decreases tenfold. Under conditions of pH imbalance during exercise the body will pull electrolytes from anywhere it can, including the bones. Metabolic pH is stabilized by the buffering capacity of hemoglobin (Hb-) and anions (prot-) in blood and cellular fluids, bicarbonate (HCO3-) regulated by the kidneys, and by excretion of CO2 in the lungs. A buffer has the capacity to bind or release H+ in solution, keeping the pH relatively constant. Most bicarbonate that forms within cells moves into the extra cellular space in exchange for (Cl-) cloride ion. The ability of the muscles to contract in the presence of lactic acid despite the increased extracellular K+ depression of action potential, may be facilitated when the drop in pH stimulates the exchange of extracellular Cl- and intracellular HC03-.

 
Body'Fit pH Fitness exercise functions to balance the supply of electrolytes and bolster the body's buffering capacity through engineering blood and lymphatic circulation, as well as designing ventilation for fast C02 removal beyond what's possible with hyperventilation. By improving electrolyte absorption (the air we breathe contains a mixture of gases in addition to oxygen), ions such as Cl- can exchange with more acid-neutralizing bicarbonate to increase excitability of action potential, and total body circulation can then be engineered to move ions where they're needed, fast. Body'Fit pHx capitalizes on electrolyte balance as function of gas exchange in the lungs, circulation of lymph and blood, removal of metabolites like excess potassium and lactic acid, and reabsorption of ions from the plasma by the kidneys. In addition, it's weight bearing exercises are specially designed to stimulate neuro-lymphatic meridians to send a flash of electrolytes throughout the body in preparation for endurance training and for post exercise recovery.

The kidneys will adjust the ratio of anions and cations (positve and negative ions), placing more or less buffering bicarbonate into the blood. The ratio of intracellular and extracellular anions and cations determines the speed of electrical activity, which in turn determines rate of cellular regeneration. As long as the anion/cation ratio stays intact, the total number of electrolytes can go up or down and the acid-base equilibrium required for cell regeneration is maintained. Fortunately the respiratory system has the ability to restore acid-base equilibrium in minutes, which is more powerful if circulation is engineered to prevent disproportionate distribution of electrolytes. Otherwise the kidneys can take up to several days to restore acid-base equilibrium.

Body'Fit capability to evenly distribute ions and improve oxygen absorption with uniform acceleration of lymphatic and blood circulation in a pre-determined sequence throughout the body helps restore acid-base equilibrium at PMP which is otherwise hampered by the shunting of blood away from deep organs. Metabolic rate is significantly increased in all tissues, not just in muscle, for fast regeneration, adaptation, and muscle recovery mitigating the usual disruption of acid-base equilibrium.

Ventilation Design vs Hyperventilation
Hyperventilation is caused by rising H+ and decreasing carbonic acid in the blood. Although CO2 and CO3 concentrations levels during hyperventilation are considered relatively stable, nevertheless an oxygen debt has to be compensated for after exercise until the bicarbonate/ carbonic acid ratio increases towards the homeostatic value of 20 and pH is normalized at 7.4. Innovative exercise design stratagies are needed to sustain aerobic conditions at all levels of Body'Fit performance intensity and prevent acidic conditions that cause hyperventilation. These include but are not limited to: optimizing the ventilation/perfusion (V/Q) ratio through specialized movement and breathing techniques, and fast oxygenation of body in order of greatest blood volume to stabilize the C02/02 (R) ratio even at PMP. At all levels of performance of Body'Fit exercise, carbon dioxide and oxygen increase proportionately in all tissues to maintain the normal R ratio - consequent to the observation of no oxygen debt. Therefore warming-up and cooling-down with Body'Fit pH Fitness can offset the usual rise in the CO2/O2 ratio, from .8 during rest to 1.5 and 2.0 during strenuous exercise. Otherwise after exertion while the oxygen debt is being repaid, the R ratio drops to .5 or less.

As exemplified by breathing 100% oxygen, hyperventilation is not completely efficient in oxygenating the body during exercise - despite the apparent lack of a decrease in arterial O2 during hyperventilation, breathing pure oxygen gas reduces the need for ventilation by 10 - 20%. This tells us that ventilation isn't optimized by hyperventilation; that the body has a greater capacity to absorb oxygen than hyperventilation demonstrates. It also points to the fact that ventilation and oxygenation have been more efficient if hyperventilation never occurs during a fast pased cardio workout routine like Body'Fit.

Usually in exercise taken to the point of exhaustion, compensatory mechanisms fail to meet the demands of metabolism. Stroke volume reaches a plateau and often decreases resulting in a fall in blood pressure. Dehydration occures. Sympathetic vasoconstrictor activity supersedes the vasodilator influence on skin vessels. Cutaneous vasoconstriction also decreases rate of heat loss and high temperatures result with acute distress. When H+ concentrations are high, potassium (K+) moves from cells to extracellular fluid affecting polarity and electrical response slows. Add high temperatures and slow excretion of excess H+ by the kidneys and generalized metabolic acidosis ensues. Respiratory rate dependent on cardiac output for stimulation of the carotid bodies, slows down since compensatory mechanisms fail the heart rate slows shutting off the hyperventilation necessary to rectify acidosis. The most common cause of combined metabolic and respiratory acidosis is cardiopulmonary failure or arrest, a heart attack. Of course pH imbalance occurs long before then, as soon as breathing gets heavier.

This is where Body'Fit pH Fitness exercise is a useful adjunct to athletic training. Respiration is specially designed to meet the needs of the body for each movement, at the same time that movement equilibriates oxygen distribution and absorption in all tissues. Accelerating lymphatic and blood circulation in the total body (not just in muscle) under these conditions achieves Peak Metabolic Potential in all the cells of the body. This allows more mitichondria to use up more lactic acid as fuel, waylays the premature switch to anerobic metabolism that produces excess lactic acid, and increases the total amount of oxygen and electrolytes distributed and absorbed raising the VO2max threshold. Inclusion of the Body'Fit pHx warm-up cool-down in a training regime (which produces chronic hypoxia like running or aerobics) ultimately potentates immune health, as well as optimizing performance.

Summary  
Typically about 40% of hyperventilation is due to CO2 disassociation, and 60% due to H+ entering the cerebral spinal fluid (CSF). Although gas exchange in the lungs quickly adjusts to gas exchange in the tissues (usually just the muscles in most exercise), the new steady state is insufficient to meet metabolic needs and an oxygen debt does occur. Ventilation and perfusion are usually only closely matched when the body is at rest; no amount of huffing and puffing can make up for the widening gap in the V/Q ratio that promotes imbalances in blood, tissue and CSF pH. Although blood leaving the lungs is considered to be fully oxygenated, blood flow generally does not keep up with air flow into the lungs, less total O2 is extracted and less CO2 is excreted. Oxygen pressure drops and the carbon dioxide pressure rises in the blood, amounting to reduced gas exchange in the tissues.

In addition, intracellular and extracellular pH is sensitive to changes in cerbral spinal fluid H+ concentration, further accentuating the stress of acid pH imbalance (beyond what the R ratio may indicate). Elevated CO2 concentration stimulates hyperventilation as soon as the blood that contains more CO2 reaches the medulla. Even with hyperventilation CO2 concentration in the lungs does not drop to normal; a new equilibrium is reached at which the carbon dioxide concentration in the alveoli is slightly elevated (therefore the rise of CO2 in the lungs is often not accounted because it appears to be in balance.) With increasing H+ there is a corresponding increase in sensitivity to the slight increase in lung CO2 with the new equilibrium. Body'Fit pH Fitness exercise is based on the premise that if oxygen levels in deep organs as well as muscles can match exertion levels, the oxygen pressure doesn't drop. If a homeostatic V/Q ratio is maintained with rising metabolism, and gas exchange in the tissues optimizes the R ratio of C02 to 02, and heightened aerobic metabolism limits H+ production which is neutralized by producing a flash of electrolytes throughout the body, cerebral spinal fluid pH doesn't drop. And since the threshold at which excess lactic acid appears is raised, and Body'Fit design never exceed sthat threshold regardless of performance intensity, hyperventilation isn't required.

That the possibility of acid-base equilibrium is achievable at Peak Metabolic Potential during exercise has been demonstrated by Body'Fit pH Fitness. There's no observable oxygen debt catch up when performing Body'Fit exercises in the proper sequence, ever... it simply isn't necessary because of how they're designed. Metabolites are removed from tissues and resources (oxygen, nutrients and electrolytes) are re-distributed equally to both organs and muscles fast on a no more and no less than needed basis. Moving the entire body as completely and economically as possible, Body'Fit pHx gets heart rate up to training level fast, while illiciting neither hypoventilation nor hyperventilation, culminating in a much stronger preparation of our physiology for the demands of training. An anti-aging exercise warm-up cool-down which informs the root of health fitness, fast acid-base equilibrium at PMP, provides a valid basis for getting More Out of Exercise...more.

Recommended background reading on pH changes during conventional exercise: pH Buffers Washington University website