Dr. Dena Garner, the brain behind AIRWAAV, sits down to discuss how a mouthpiece can impact your training!

Dr. Dena Garner sits down and talks AIRWAAV, and how it helps athletes train more effectively/intensely!

Podcast Episode 121: Holiday Gift ideas fro John & Niki plus special guest Dr. Dena Garner with AIRWAAV

Summary

Dr. Dena Garner, the creator of AIRWAAV, sits down with Kettlebells & Cocktails and talks about the performance mouthpiece that improves endurance, strength, and recovery.

Dr. Garner talks about the science behind the mouthpiece, and how it can help athletes recover faster. She also discusses how the AIRWAAV mouthpiece allows athletes to increase muscle mass and decrease stress at the same time. The mouthpiece has very positive impacts on both cortisol levels and lactate. It also lowers your respiratory rate and your perceived rate of exertion. 

Kettlebells & Cocktails take a deep dive into the mouthpiece that was 16 years in the making. Dr. Garner explains how AIRWAAV wasn’t an overnight story

Show Notes

35:44 -- How did you discover the mouthpiece? It wasn’t an overnight story. It actually was 16 years in the making. “Honestly, when someone first approached me to do the research, I thought they were crazy.” From being a skeptic to 16 years of research, the mouthpiece was created. 

39:45 -- Dr. Garner explains why AIRWAAV is so versatile. “They shouldn't have to pay 500 dollars to go to the dentist. So it's a mouthpiece you can use with braces, without braces, you can read mold it. I like that aspect of it, that just anybody can use it and benefit their performance and whatever sport it is.” 

42:00 -- Impact on cortisol and lactate Dr. Garner explains how the AIRWAAV mouthpiece can impact cortisol and lactate, which affects your stress levels. “Research shows that when you bite down, and a lot of people do. You clench while you're working out or lifting weights. When you bite down that facilitates a response that shows that cerebral blood flow increases in the brain. Then that has been shown to affect things like cortisol and lactate. We've had people do very intensive CrossFit-like workouts. Their cortisol levels are 50% below, what they would be after a workout without the mouthpiece versus with the mouthpiece.”

43:37 -- Respiratory rate Dr. Garner discusses how the AIRWAAV mouthpiece affects your respiratory rate, which allows athletes to increase muscle mass. “Respiratory rate is the better indicator of fatigue, and they're beginning to turn out ways to measure that because they see it really correlates well with your work effort. If you feel like you are really working hard then your respiratory rate is going to align with that and go up up up. So what this mouthpiece would do is lower your perceived rate of exertion and that allows you to work out harder and for longer and therefore increase muscle mass.”

46:30 -- When to wear the mouthpiece Dr. Garner explains when athletes usually wear the mouthpiece. “I wear it all the time and you’re supposed to wear it when you are working out. I use it for yoga and I use it for weight lifting.” It is beneficial to wear the mouthpiece whenever you can.