Man In Your Corner

Breathing performance for fighters. Why you gas out in round two, why the nerves take your legs, and how to get your heart rate down between rounds. Shaun Tucker is a health scientist and breathing performance trainer in Melbourne. His first MMA fight lasted sixteen seconds. The video of it has been watched more than 2.8 million times. He knows what it costs to walk in under pressure, and what it takes to walk back in after losing in front of everyone. Short daily episodes on nasal breathing, CO2 tolerance, the adrenaline dump, recovery between sessions, and the work he does with young fighters who lose themselves under the lights. You're not switched on too much. You're switched on too hard. If it can be measured, it can be changed. For coaches and gyms: private breathing performance workshops inside Australian fight gyms. Ninety minutes with your squad, measured at the start and measured again at the end. shauntucker.com.au

Man In Your Corner is a sports podcast hosted by Unknown Host, with 236 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80.

Unknown Host hosts Man In Your Corner, a sports show with 236 episodes published.

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  Man In Your Corner

  You Can Run 5 km. Six Minutes Of Rolling Wrecks You | Ep. 233

  Sep 28, 20267 min

  You can run five kilometres without much trouble. Then you roll for six minutes and you're destroyed. Everyone reads that as a cardio gap. It isn't one. A run is rhythmic. Same tempo, same stride, same breathing, and you are in charge of all of it. Rolling is the opposite: you're holding isometric tension, somebody is crushing you, and you have no idea where the force is going or where it goes next. That unpredictability is not a detail — it's the thing that changes the physiology. Because unpredictability brings adrenaline, and adrenaline costs energy before you have done any work. Fear, nerves, and the survival response all run in the background, and the body starts pulling at whatever it can reach to fund them. There's an honest bit in here too. You can tell yourself you've trained your mental toughness, but until you've actually been in those conditions it's hearsay. What Shaun argues is that you can still condition yourself for it without having to live it every week — and the lever is your breathing. The counterintuitive part is what most people get backwards. Under pressure the instinct is to take a big breath **in**, on the assumption that more air means more control. It does the opposite: it raises the heart rate and raises blood pressure. It's the **exhale**, extended and controlled, that brings the heart rate down. And the deeper point: the problem was never how much oxygen you took in. It's whether your body can deliver what it already has to the cells that are screaming for it. What you'll take away: - Why gassing on the mats is not the same problem as gassing on a run - Isometric tension and unpredictability, and what they do to your physiology - Why adrenaline costs you energy before the round has really started - Why mindset work alone doesn't transfer to the mats - Why a big breath in makes it worse, and the extended exhale makes it better - Delivery over intake — the real limiter Message the word SCORE for the breath hold test — send your number back and Shaun will give you pointers. Chapters 00:00 Cold open + intro 00:25 You run 5 km fine — six minutes of rolling wrecks you 00:50 That is not a fitness gap 01:14 A run is rhythmic and you control the tempo 01:25 Rolling is isometric — holding tension 01:31 And you never know where the force goes next 01:50 Number one: it's the adrenaline 01:56 Adrenaline costs energy before you've done any work 02:33 "But I've trained my mental toughness" 02:53 You can condition it without living it 03:29 Slow the breathing down 03:44 Holding your breath is the no-no 04:11 Keep exhaling — with control 04:30 Everyone thinks a big breath IN is the fix 04:39 It does the opposite: heart rate up 05:05 The job is delivering oxygen, not inhaling more 05:39 Stuck in the survival switch and you gas fast 06:11 The breath hold test · message SCORE

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  Man In Your Corner

  "Just Relax" — Nobody Ever Tells You How | Ep. 231

  Sep 26, 20265 min

  Your coach says it every session. You're flattened under side control, you can't get air, and somebody tells you to relax. Nobody ever tells you how. They assume you already know, and you don't, because it was never taught. So here it is, in the order you'd actually use it. The first thing is what *not* to do: don't hold your breath. That's the instinct, and it's the thing that starts the spiral. Instead, extend your exhale — long, slow, out through the nose if you can get it, out through the mouth if that's all that's available. The exhale is the part that matters. That's not a relaxation cliché, it's mechanical. Extending the exhale opens the blood vessels and signals the heart and brain that they can stand down. You drop into a parasympathetic state, your heart rate comes down, and the openings you couldn't see thirty seconds ago come back into view. The second thing is to slow down. Panic runs the other way: cortisol climbs, heart rate variability drops, and you sink further into survival, which makes it harder to climb back out. Most people freeze at that point — and if you freeze, the match is already gone. It doesn't take much to turn it around. One leverage point, one frame, and jiu-jitsu can change very quickly. What you'll take away: - Why "relax" is useless advice on its own - The one thing not to do: holding your breath - Extending the exhale, and why the exhale is the half that counts - What it actually does — blood vessels, parasympathetic state, heart rate - Why panic compounds instead of passing - Why freezing gives the match away, and what to do instead Message the word SCORE for the breath hold test — it shows how well you currently tolerate this. Chapters 00:00 Cold open + intro 00:24 Everyone tells you to relax in side control 00:52 But nobody ever tells you how 01:20 First rule: do not stop breathing 01:36 Extend the exhale — nose if you can get it 01:58 Relaxation IS the long exhale 02:07 Why it works: blood vessels open 02:13 You drop into a parasympathetic state 02:17 And the openings come back into view 02:20 Second: slow down 02:25 Panic drives cortisol up and HRV down 02:53 Long exhales — as long as you can 03:21 Most people freeze, and the match is gone 03:31 Learn to defend instead of giving it away 03:40 One leverage point, one frame, and it turns 04:23 The breath hold test · message SCORE

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  Man In Your Corner

  You're Not Unfit — You're Holding Your Breath | Ep. 230

  Sep 25, 20266 min

  You're three minutes into a roll, someone starts passing your guard, and you're cooked. The obvious conclusion is that your cardio isn't there. It usually isn't your cardio. It's that you stopped breathing. Watch yourself next time the pressure comes on. The moment someone starts to pass, most people hold their breath — and once the breathing goes, the rest follows: adrenaline climbs, the survival response takes over, and now you're gasping and looking for the fastest way out of the position rather than the best way out. That's the moment people explode, and exploding usually puts you somewhere worse than where you started. Shaun is upfront that he's a white belt and no authority on the techniques. What he does know is the physiology, and the physiology says the difference between someone who's good and someone who's great is rarely fitness or flexibility — it's how calm they can stay while it's happening. Extend the exhale, get the composure back, and the openings you couldn't see a moment ago are visible again. It's harder in competition, and that's measurable: cortisol climbs and heart rate variability drops the moment it counts, even in the same athletes doing the same thing. And there's a cost people miss. Nobody learns anything in survival mode. If you spend your rolls there, you're not just performing worse — you're absorbing less of what you're being taught. What you'll take away: - Why gassing under pressure is usually a breathing problem, not a fitness one - What happens to your body between "they're passing" and "I've exploded" - Why composure, not conditioning, separates good from great - Extending the exhale as the way back to control - Why competition is physiologically harder than rolling - Why you can't learn technique while you're in survival mode Message the word SCORE for the breath hold test — send your number back and Shaun will give you pointers on improving it. Chapters 00:00 Cold open + intro 00:23 You're not unfit — you're holding your breath 00:48 BJJ is high pressure and it gasses you fast 01:01 The difference between good and great is composure 01:17 Extend the exhale, take back control 02:08 Not how fit or flexible — how calm 02:26 Under pressure the breathing goes first 02:51 This is where people get emotional and explode 03:01 "I'm no expert, I'm a white belt" 03:16 The drills and mat time still matter 03:41 Competing is harder than rolling 03:44 Cortisol up, heart rate variability down 04:02 The skills are trainable — so is the breathing 04:29 Nobody learns anything in survival mode 04:56 It's not a mindset problem 05:13 Train the breathing and the game improves 05:35 The breath hold test · message SCORE

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  Man In Your Corner

  Why You're Calm In Training And Hijacked On Fight Night | Ep. 229

  Sep 24, 20266 min

  In the gym you're fine. Drills, sparring, hard sparring — you're calm, you're composed, and when something starts to rise you know how to bring it back down. Then it's fight night, and the version of you that turns up is a stranger. Legs heavy. Body not doing what it's done a thousand times in training. The usual explanation is that you need more fights. More time in the cage. More experience with the nerves. This episode is about why that explanation is wrong, and what's actually happening. Researchers measured it. Souza and colleagues took 54 athletes — including 18 jiu-jitsu competitors — and measured salivary cortisol and heart rate variability at two moments: before an ordinary training session, and before an actual competition. Same athletes, same bodies. In the jiu-jitsu group, cortisol went from 3.65 before training to 9.91 before competing — **roughly 2.7 times higher**. Their heart rate variability balance shifted almost four-fold. Nothing about them had changed except that it counted. So the stress response on the night is real, it's measurable, and it isn't a character flaw. But here's the part that matters: how far it takes you, and whether you can bring it back to somewhere you can actually fight from, is a trainable skill. And it isn't mindset work. Physiology doesn't take instructions from your self-image — it's the other way round. Your mind takes its script from your body. The tool is your breath. What you'll take away: - Why the gym version of you doesn't turn up on the night - What actually changes between training and competition, measured - Why "you just need more fights" is the wrong diagnosis - Why mental toughness isn't the lever — hell week washes out tough people - Your mind takes its script from your body, not the reverse - That regulating it back down is a trainable skill, not a personality trait **Message the word SCORE** for the breath hold test — it shows how well you currently tolerate this kind of stress, and you can repeat it any time in camp. Chapters: 00:00 Cold open + intro 00:26 Calm in training, heavy legs on the night 00:37 Your body runs a different system when it counts 00:55 Drills, sparring, hard sparring — all fine 01:27 Fight night: you get hijacked 01:39 You're not to blame for it 01:43 "You just need more fights" — the common myth 02:19 Nobody ever trained you in how to do this 02:26 The research: Souza et al. 2019, jiu-jitsu competitors 03:19 Cortisol nearly triples from training to competition 03:25 And the HRV shifts with it 03:47 Regulating it back is on you — and it's trainable 04:00 The tool is your breath 04:06 It's not a mindset problem 04:18 Hell week: the toughest still quit 05:00 Your physiology does not lie 05:04 The mind takes its script from the body 05:35 The breath hold test - message SCORE

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  Man In Your Corner

  He Won Three Olympic Golds By Holding His Breath | Ep. 228

  Sep 23, 202610 min

  In 1952 a Czech runner did something nobody has managed before or since: he won the 10,000 metres, the 5,000 metres and the marathon at the same Olympic Games. The marathon was the first one he had ever run. His name was Emil Zátopek — the Czech Locomotive — and he trained by holding his breath. He would pick a marker in the distance, a tree or a road sign, and hold until he reached it. This episode is about why that worked, and the one thing he got backwards. Zátopek held his breath on a **full inhale**. The mechanism that makes breath-hold training work runs the other way. There are four parts to a breath — the inhale, the hold at the top, the exhale, and the hold at the bottom — and it's the hold at the **bottom**, on the exhale, that does the work. With less air in the lungs, carbon dioxide rises faster, and rising CO2 is what makes haemoglobin let go of its oxygen and release it into the tissues that need it. That's the **Bohr effect**, and it is why the counterintuitive thing is true: you don't need more oxygen, you need to get better at using the oxygen you already have. Which means the training is uncomfortable by design. Sitting with rising CO2 *is* the stimulus. Modern research backs the exhale version specifically. Woorons and colleagues (*Frontiers in Physiology*, 2024) trained elite **judo** athletes for four weeks using repeated sprints with maximal end-expiratory breath holds — holds on the exhale — and improved their ability to repeat high-intensity efforts. Same principle Zátopek stumbled into, run the right way round, in a combat sport. What you'll take away: - The Zátopek story, and the record that has never been matched - Why he held on the inhale, and why the exhale would have served him better - The four parts of a breath, and which one is the training - The Bohr effect in plain words: CO2 is what delivers the oxygen - Why less oxygen can mean better performance - Why discomfort is the point, not a side effect - How Shaun uses breath holds under the bar in his own lifting ⚠️ Do not train breath holds to the point of blacking out, and never do breath work in or near water. Zátopek reportedly trained to near-collapse; Shaun explicitly says not to copy that part. The breath hold test: message Shaun the word **SCORE** on whatever platform you're listening on, or on Instagram [@theshauntucker](https://instagram.com/theshauntucker). Chapters: 00:00 Cold open + intro 00:43 Emil Zátopek — the Czech Locomotive 00:54 Three golds in one Olympics — still the only one 01:43 Guess what he actually did in training 01:53 His method: holding his breath02:13 Pick a marker, hold until you reach it 02:35 The science says he had it backwards 02:42 Four parts to the breath 02:49 Hold on the exhale, not the inhale 03:17 The Bohr effect: CO2 pushes oxygen into the tissues 03:33 You need less oxygen, not more 04:07 It is radically uncomfortable — that's the point 05:06 CO2 tolerance is the skill 06:17 Why it won him races 06:49 The rumour: he trained until he blacked out 07:32 A method to the madness 07:54 Try it — but don't train to blackout 08:35 Breath holds under the bar 09:09 The breath hold test · message SCORE

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