The XPT app guides you through 3 curriculums all curated by top coaches and much more. Included in your membership are: https://www.xptlife.com/about
1. BREATHE
XPT Performance Breathing™ combines ancient practices with new-age science to create a unique breathing program that can enhance performance across a wide spectrum of activities. From professional athletes, elite military units and high-powered executives, to young children, the elderly and those suffering from chronic disease. XPT Performance Breathing™ can set the foundation for massive progress in all aspects of one’s life.
Breathing influences every system and function within the body. On one end of the spectrum, suboptimal breathing can lead to chronic health disorders, sleep disturbance, and poor exercise performance. On the other end, when breathing is optimized, we can drastically improve our cognitive function, fitness, health and longevity.
Breathing can act as the doorway to a calm, relaxed mental state and can be used to control fear, anxiety, anger and stress while promoting restful sleep. Through correct breathing habits, new levels of health, performance, fitness and wellness can be realized, for any application or activity.
Our five breathing collections under the breathe tab in ‘Train’ are:
Activate
Focus the mind while bringing energy to the body to prepare for a major meeting, competition, or training session, or to simply set the foundation for a productive day. These protocols can also be used as a warmup to prepare the respiratory system for an upcoming workout.
Control
Develop technical proficiency in breathing mechanics and create breathing variability to enhance lung capacity, function, power and breath control. Mastery of these skills will unlock new possibilities in health and performance.
Explore
Journey through a variety of breathing techniques while exploring the full spectrum of breathwork practices. These guided sessions will stimulate energy, emotional regulation and spiritual connection through high-intensity patterns and use low-intensity protocols to promote calm, relaxation and deep meditative states.
Perform
Get the most out of whatever situation you find yourself in, whether it's training, performing, or engaging in intense recovery. These methods can be used as standalone workouts to strengthen the respiratory muscles, train the focus of the mind and improve CO2 tolerance for enhanced habitual breathing.
Reset
Create feelings of calm relaxation and promote recovery in the body. These methods can be used to down-regulate after an intense workout, to calm down during times of stress, anger or anxiety, or before bed to foster deep, restful sleep.
The Science
The research on using breathwork to enhance health and performance goes back decades and has been evaluated by XPT Breathing Advisors and human performance experts to find the most effective methods for every situation. Research has shown breathing to produce all of the major benefits below:
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- Enhance sport and fitness performance
- Develop respiratory muscle strength & function
- Lower risk of chronic disease
- Learn to control and mitigate stress
- Reduce anxiety
- Improve sleep quality
- Increase energy, mental focus and clarity
- Improve posture and forward head position
- Protect the spine and decrease injury risk
- Increase mobility and flexibility
- Control emotional states
- Improve breathing & functional movement mechanics
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2. MOVE
What if we told you that everywhere you go, you’ll find a gym right nearby? Well, it’s true. Wherever you go, you never have a reason to skip a workout—because you’re there.
No, we’re not trying to be cryptic. We just know that your body is the handiest gym there is, and that the benefits of bodyweight training are well-proven. Your bodyweight workouts can take you much farther in your fitness than you might imagine—and the research backs that up.
Bodyweight workouts have been repeatedly shown to be effective and efficient when it comes to building strength, endurance, flexibility and balance. Bodyweight workouts can also help injury-proof your body and give you a break from the wear and tear of weightlifting.
Every form of exercise has its place, depending on your goals and situation. But we think bodyweight workouts are a fantastic method of training for athletes of all levels. Here’s why.
Bodyweight Training Builds Strength
Think you can’t get strong and stay strong with bodyweight workouts? Then you’ve probably never seen a picture of Hershel Walker. Walker was a very successful football player in college and the NFL, and after he retired from football, he went on to become a professional MMA fighter. Somewhere in there, Walker even competed in the Olympics as part of a bobsled team.
Throughout his career, Walker looked every inch the athlete. But contrary to what many assumed, he didn’t lift weights. According to a 1982 Sports Illustrated article, My Body’s Like an Army, Walker used only bodyweight exercises like push-ups, pull-ups, and sprints. Is bodyweight training effective? Just ask Walker!
Now, there’s no denying Walker is a genetically gifted person, but if you use progressions of the various bodyweight exercises, you can continue scaling up the “weight” of your exercises for a long time. Instead of putting plates on a bar, you’re putting your feet up on a box when you do push-ups, for example.
Bodyweight Training Builds Endurance
Because bodyweight workouts tend to include higher repetitions than traditional weight-based resistance training, you receive the additional benefit of building muscular endurance. We all know there’s a big difference between your ability to do a one-rep-max squat and your ability to do a hundred bodyweight squats. But they are both important qualities for all-around fitness and performance.
Bodyweight workouts offer you the opportunity to train muscular endurance, as well as cardiovascular endurance. And because there is so much potential variability in bodyweight workouts—from long, slow sessions to high-intensity intervals—you can choose which aspect of your metabolic pathways you’d like to train. It’s one of the chief benefits of calisthenics.
Don’t forget that climbing, hiking, walking, and running are all bodyweight workouts, too. “Cardio” doesn’t have to mean endless miles in the gym under the fluorescent lights. It can mean scheduling your favorite outdoor activity a couple times each week, and even spicing them up with sprints and obstacles.
Bodyweight Training Builds Balance and Mobility
Think about it—yoga is bodyweight exercise. Of course, yoga is most often thought of as a method for building balance and flexibility, but what makes it so powerful is that’s not all it builds. Yoga is an incredibly well-rounded form of bodyweight exercise, with many different options that can emphasize strength, endurance, mobility and more.
In a study published in 2011, researchers wrote that the “sun salutation has the potential to improve the muscle strength, general body endurance and body composition to the optimum level in healthy individuals.”
Bodyweight Training Builds Consistency and Results
With bodyweight workouts you don’t need equipment, space, or a lot of time. You can do bodyweight exercise at home, in the park, or anywhere you travel. If you can set up a couple pieces of equipment, then a jump rope and suspension trainer will give you endless options when combined with truly equipment-free bodyweight movements.
What are the best body weight exercises? Simply put: The one’s you’ll stick to. We all know that when we enjoy doing something and it’s simple to get ourselves going, we’re far more likely to do it regularly. And, when you’re consistent in your workouts, a lot of good things happen. A study from the University of Georgia says that regular exercise will increase your energy level and reduce your fatigue. And that’s on top of all the other benefits.
The Real Benefits of Bodyweight Training
When you look at all these factors together, the benefits of bodyweight workouts add up to a broad spectrum of fitness. When you are strong, stable, flexible, mobile, fit and consistent in your efforts, you’re also injury-proofing your body because you have achieved a balanced program.
In addition, bodyweight exercise can often be done outdoors. A research review published in 2013 demonstrated that, along with supplying your body with much needed fresh air and vitamin D, outdoor exercise has also been shown to increase levels of exertion, reduce stress and boost mood.
But the best thing about bodyweight workouts, aside from the convenience, may be the endless variability. No matter if you need to go hard or go light, you can easily adjust. From high-intensity intervals to a recovery walk, bodyweight workouts can provide what you need, wherever you need it. This level of customization and flexibility tops the list of benefits of bodyweight exercises vs. weights.
3. RECOVER
Often overlooked, recovery is essential to peak performance. At XPT, we divide recovery into four elements: sleep, nutrition and hydration, active recovery, and passive recovery or rest.
XPT active recovery programs will equip you with the movement and breathwork tools to make the most of your time away from training by preparing your body for peak adaptation. Hop over to the Recover section within the Train tab to choose from our library of recovery collections.
Mobility Flow
Movement flow exercises to get in sync with your body and stretch out the muscles. Create a mind-body connection and control your breath as you relax through these movements.
Breathing Throughout the Day
Calming breathwork for everyday situations to help you maintain your focus and balance no matter what life throws at you.
Post-Workout/Activity
Movement and breathwork sessions to activate and maximize the recovery process after a difficult workout.
Breathe to De-Stress
Calm your mind and body to return to a peaceful, controlled state.