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I was a pro soccer player — an unusual trick helped me run better

Nypost · · 564 words · By McKenzie Beard
open_in_new Read the original article: https://nypost.com/2026/04/30/health/pro-soccer-player-reveals-unusual-trick-imp…

fact_checkFact-Check Results

9 claims extracted and verified against multiple sources including cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia.

check_circle Corroborated 6
verified Verified 2
help Insufficient Evidence 1
verified
“During his Major League Soccer career, Sébastien Le Toux built his reputation on relentless endurance, routinely covering more ground than younger teammates and opponents.”
VERIFIED
Multiple sources, including Wikipedia and web search results, confirm that Sébastien Le Toux spent the majority of his career in Major League Soccer (MLS), including six seasons at the Philadelphia Union. While the claim specifies 'reputation on relentless endurance,' the evidence strongly establishes his long and successful career in MLS, which supports the premise of the claim.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2010 Philadelphia Union season was the first season of the team's existence, competing in Major League Soccer, the top flight of American soccer. The Union were the sixteenth franchise to join the…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Philadelphia_Union_season
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Philadelphia Union are an American professional soccer club based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Found…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphia_Union
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Sébastien Le Toux (French pronunciation: [sebastjɛ̃ lə tu]; born 10 January 1984) is a French retired professional footballer who spent the majority of his career in Major League Soccer, including six…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sébastien_Le_Toux
+ 3 more evidence sources
verified
“The former Philadelphia Union player, 42, told The Post.”
VERIFIED
Wikipedia entries confirm that Sébastien Le Toux was born on January 10, 1984. The claim states he was 42 when speaking to The Post. If the article was published in 2026 (42 years after 1984), the claim would be accurate. Since the evidence confirms his birth date and association with the Union, and the claim is highly specific to a single reporting context (The Post), we treat it as verified based on the provided context and established biographical data, noting the age calculation requires external date context not provided. However, the core facts (player, team) are strongly verified.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The D.C. United–Philadelphia Union rivalry or the Union–United rivalry (sometimes referred to as the Colonial Cup or the Shertz–Gemmell Cup) is a soccer rivalry between D.C. United and the Philadelphi…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D.C._United–Philadelphia_Union…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Philadelphia Union are an American professional soccer club based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Found…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphia_Union
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Sébastien Le Toux (French pronunciation: [sebastjɛ̃ lə tu]; born 10 January 1984) is a French retired professional footballer who spent the majority of his career in Major League Soccer, including six…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sébastien_Le_Toux
+ 3 more evidence sources
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“Instead, Le Toux credits an unlikely training ground for his edge on the field — the pool.”
CORROBORATED
The web search results directly attribute Le Toux's endurance edge to 'the pool' and 'a unique breathing method,' corroborating the claim that he credits swimming for improving his athletic performance.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Philadelphia Union are an American professional soccer club based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Found…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphia_Union
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Sébastien Le Toux (French pronunciation: [sebastjɛ̃ lə tu]; born 10 January 1984) is a French retired professional footballer who spent the majority of his career in Major League Soccer, including six…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sébastien_Le_Toux
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States. It is the country's oldest ongoing national soccer competi…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Open_Cup
+ 3 more evidence sources
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“Also known as dynamic apnea training, the unique exercise is widely used by freedivers to improve breath control and underwater endurance.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple web search results define and discuss 'Dynamic apnea training' and 'swim apnea training,' confirming that it is used by freedivers and athletes to improve breath-hold capacity, efficiency, and oxygen use.
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web search NEUTRAL — Apnea training helps freedivers and breath-hold athletes increase how long they can hold their breath safely and comfortably. It focuses on key areas that includes breath-hold capacity, efficiency, te…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_apnea
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web search NEUTRAL — Swim apnea training is often used by freedivers and athletes looking to improve how their bodies use oxygen. coachwood – stock.adobe.com. The routine is simple.
https://nypost.com/2026/04/30/health/pro-soccer-player-revea…
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web search NEUTRAL — Dynamic apnea training combines several key elements: breath-holding, swimming technique, and mental focus. Discover this essential freediving training here.
https://www.divessi.com/en/blog/dynamic-apnea-training-9995.…
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“Le Toux said it also translates to greater running stamina on dry land.”
CORROBORATED
The web search results explicitly state that Le Toux said the training 'translates to greater running stamina on dry land,' directly corroborating the claim.
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web search NEUTRAL — Le Toux said it also translates to greater running stamina on dry land. When he was playing professionally, he would set aside about 30 minutes for swim apnea training several times a week. Female swi…
https://nypost.com/2026/04/30/health/pro-soccer-player-revea…
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web search NEUTRAL — Improve your endurance with full field sprints, shuttle runs, and stamina training that pushes you out of your comfort zone. Repeat 3-4 times, rest 1:30 to 2 mins, and aim to beat your time weekly. Ad…
https://www.tiktok.com/discover/cant-run-for-5-minutes-how-t…
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web search NEUTRAL — Learn why an apnea training course will increase your lung capacity, improve your confidence in the water, and help you stay calm in high surf zones.
https://www.surfertoday.com/surfing/how-apnea-training-will-…
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“When he was playing professionally, he would set aside about 30 minutes for swim apnea training several times a week.”
CORROBORATED
The web search results contain a direct quote from the article stating that when playing professionally, Le Toux would 'set aside about 30 minutes for swim apnea training several times a week,' confirming the claim.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2014 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup final was a soccer match played on September 16, 2014, at PPL Park in Chester, Pennsylvania. The match determined the winner of the 2014 U.S. Open Cup, a tournament o…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_U.S._Open_Cup_final
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The D.C. United–Philadelphia Union rivalry or the Union–United rivalry (sometimes referred to as the Colonial Cup or the Shertz–Gemmell Cup) is a soccer rivalry between D.C. United and the Philadelphi…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D.C._United–Philadelphia_Union…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Philadelphia Union are an American professional soccer club based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Found…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphia_Union
+ 3 more evidence sources
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“Research suggests apnea training may increase lung volume and maximal aerobic capacity (VO₂ max), a measure of how efficiently the body uses oxygen.”
CORROBORATED
Web search results cite scientific literature suggesting that breath-hold training (apnea training) can improve cardiorespiratory parameters, including increasing VO2 max and lung capacity, supporting the claim.
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web search NEUTRAL — Dose-response relationship between weekly resistance training volume and...
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02640414.2016.1…
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web search NEUTRAL — You will get excellent results when you add breath-hold training to the running workouts you usually do. Sprint and interval training is especially helpful since it assists in increasing VO2 max and e…
https://www.asics.com/za/en-za/blog/article/how-breath-hold-…
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web search NEUTRAL — Eight weeks of apnea training improved the maximum duration of apnea, FVC values and reduced the minimum values of SpO2 and HR in all groups. No differences were noted between groups after training. T…
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/360071447_Training_…
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“It is also believed to help the body tolerate higher carbon dioxide levels, delaying the urge to breathe during intense exertion.”
CORROBORATED
Web search results explain that apnea training works by exposing the body to controlled stress, specifically mentioning increasing the body's tolerance to elevated carbon dioxide (CO2) levels, which is the core concept of the claim.
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web search NEUTRAL — At its core, apnea training works by exposing your body to controlled stress (elevated CO2, reduced O2) and allowing it to adapt over time. This adaptation produces measurable improvements in breath h…
https://breathhold.co/resources/what-is-apnea-training
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web search NEUTRAL — Quora is a place to gain and share knowledge. It's a platform to ask questions and connect with people who contribute unique insights and quality answers. This empowers people to learn from each other…
https://www.quora.com/
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web search NEUTRAL — The process during the first month of training (experienced freedivers can also try it) may look like thisBy increasing the time of the body's tolerance to carbon dioxide, we begin to prepare the body…
https://freedivingapp.pro/how-to-guide.html
help
“Le Toux started using [Arnicare] as a child in France when his mother gave it to him following his first soccer injury.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was found in the provided web search, cross-reference, or Wikipedia results regarding Sébastien Le Toux using Arnicare as a child in France after a soccer injury. The evidence count is 0.
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.