Magnetic Intake Breathing Strips helped me PR by 17 minutes!
- Jacqueline Becerra-Lising
- Jun 17
- 4 min read
As a myofunctional therapist, I teach families about breathing every day. Nasal breathing, airway health, tongue posture, sleep and repeat. That is my typical day. But sometimes life has a funny way of making you practice what you preach.
Back in February, my husband Adriane and I completed our first HYROX race in Las Vegas.
We crossed the finish line in 1 hour and 44 minutes, and I remember feeling proud of what we accomplished. Physically, I felt strong. My lungs weren’t my limitation. In fact, I kept telling Adriane that I felt fit enough for more. But there was something I couldn’t explain.
Throughout the race, I worked incredibly hard to keep my mouth closed and breathe exclusively through my nose. I also kept my tongue up inside the roof of my mouth. Yet by the end of the race, my mouth was completely dry. How could my mouth be dry when I was actively working on maintaining my lips closed?
Something wasn’t adding up.
As someone who teaches functional breathing together with myofunctional therapy for a living, that bothered me. So shortly after Vegas, I searched for advice from a breathing coach. That’s when I heard something I wasn’t expecting. She explained that I wasn’t struggling because I lacked fitness. I was struggling because my body was inefficient with accessing airflow. She believed it was the result of having some dehydration as well as the physical limitation of my nasal valves (aka nostrils). You see, I noticed my nostrils collapse during vigorous inhalation (like during high intensity exercise) so that is when she recommended I try some breath work training. Shortly after that, our amazing referral team at Synergi Orthodontics confirmed something else: I also had a deviated septum. And suddenly, years of little things started making sense. Not because I was broken. Not because I was unhealthy. But because breathing mechanics matter more than you think.
Around that same time, Adriane and I became distributors for Intake Breathing and started training with their nasal strips.
Honestly?
The first few workouts almost felt strange. The strips opened my nostrils so much that it actually felt uncomfortable at first. And for any of you that know me, I do not have a small nose. LOL. I had become so accustomed to restricted airflow that normal airflow almost felt overwhelming. But week after week, something changed. Workouts didn’t become easier. I became calmer. I no longer felt like I was fighting my own body. I wasn’t constantly thinking about breathing. I could simply focus on performing.
Three months later, we stood at the HYROX start line in New York City. This…was…it.
Let's see what what these nasal strips can do when I put them to the test. Will I still feel a dry mouth even if I keep my mouth closed? How much more efficient will my race be with the use of these magnetic nasal strips that claim to improve breathing? These were all questions I had before the start.
Ninety minutes later, we crossed the finish line in 1 hour, 27 minutes, and 8 seconds. Nearly seventeen minutes faster than Las Vegas. No dry mouth, no elevated heart rate this time. But the number that fascinated me most wasn’t our finish time.
It was the data. Check this out:
In Las Vegas:
• Zone 5: 1 hour, 14 minutes, 55 seconds
• Zone 4: 27 minutes, 17 seconds
• Zone 3: 1 minute, 26 seconds
My body spent almost the entire race operating at its redline (Zone 5). Side note: Insert quick bathroom break for the Las Vegas race which was most likely during Zone 3 or 4.
In New York:
• Zone 5: 2 minutes, 26 seconds
• Zone 4: 1 hour, 8 minutes, 57 seconds
• Zone 3: 12 minutes, 7 seconds
Despite racing dramatically faster, my average heart rate actually dropped.
As a clinician, I know one product didn’t create those results.
Training mattered. Experience mattered. Strategy mattered. But I also know what I felt. In Las Vegas, I felt like I was trying to survive the race. In New York, I felt like I finally got to race it.
And that’s why we chose to bring Intake Breathing to the families and athletes we serve. Because better breathing isn’t about shortcuts. We understand that there were many factors which contributed to our successful finish for our NY Hyrox race. I can confirm that Intake breathing strips was one device that made it easier to nasal breathe while pairing it with the right training.
Sometimes it’s simply about removing obstacles that shouldn’t have been there in the first place. In may case, it was helping me nasal breathe better despite having nasal valve collapse and a deviated septum. Intake breathing strips helped me breathe.
Lastly, avoid making this mistake. Make sure you do not apply the adhesives and then try reapplying the same one to adjust the placement of your Intake Breathing Strip. My intake breathing strip only lasted half of my race and my husband's lasted his entire race. I have never had problems with the sticky tabs before, but I realize that because I reapplied one side twice to fix the position it lost the tackiness to stick properly. Use a fresh set to avoid this problem.
Interested to try these amazing Magnetic Nasal strips for yourself? You can easily use these to improve your sleep and athletic performance.
If you are local to our Chino Hills office we can sell these directly to you.
Call (909) 702-6745 to find out what we have in stock.
For those a little further away, no worries! Just click on the link to take advantage of our affiliate discount and get 15% off your first online order.
Breathe easy,
-Jackie, RDH, BS, Myofunctional Therapist, On track for QOM
Upside Down Frown Care/ Myofunctional Therapy and TMJ Services
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