Tag Archives: inspiratory muscle training

Our POWERbreathe friends and distributor in the Netherlands, Trainjelongen, contacted us as they were delighted to see an article about how training your breathing muscles can improve cycling performance. It appeared in the Cycling magazine, ‘Fiets’, which has the largest circulation for cycling magazines in the Benelux.

The reason for their delight? Well the article, originally written by Nick Morgan from Bike Radar/Cycling Plus and translated into Dutch by Fiets magazine for their readership, discusses ‘evidence that improving breathing ability may be more important than previously thought, and that endurance athletes can improve simply by paying attention to their...

Why train your breathing?

By Duncan Kerr

If it weren't for the fact that breathing is automatic and taken for granted then we would not be asking this question.

Sports people train all their other muscle groups yet ignore the most fundamental system necessary to improve sports performance - the muscles used for breathing.

If ever there was a weak link in the chain, this is it!

The faster you move the greater demand there is for oxygen delivery to your working muscles, and carbon dioxide removal. This in turn increases your heart rate and subsequently your inspiratory breathing muscles have to work very hard to keep up....

More great news from our POWERbreathe friends in the Czech Republic, TruconneXion.

Last week, on the biggest Czech triathlon website www.etriatlon.cz, young amateur triathlete, Lukáš Netík’s wrote about his positive experience of POWERbreathe training.

Lukáš started POWERbreathe inspiratory muscle training in 2011 on his Level 2 Medium Resistance (MR) model. With regular training he gradually increased the resistance load as his breathing muscles became stronger, but he soon got used to this increase in strength.

"I admit that although I trained according to the instructions, it was usually only once a day....

So, 2013 is the year for Breathing Big! Well, all you POWERbreathe users are one-step ahead in setting the trend for improving your breathing strength and breathing pattern. You’ll already be familiar with the benefits that inspiratory muscle training has on your breathing and ultimately your sports performance, or if you have breathing difficulties, on your quality of life.

We’ve heard from the US that Breathing Big is going to be making its mark in 2013, with “fitness professionals taking more credence in assessing breathing patterns in their clients”.

“While we’re just scratching the tip of the iceberg in this regard, it’s profound how much of an effect faulty...

To keep our bodies ticking over nicely, lung health is critical. It is a cog in the wheel that makes our bodies work effectively. If you suffer oxygen deprivation then it can be serious to your health leading to serious respiratory illnesses and conditions including pneumonia, COPD and asthma. These illnesses attack the lungs causing breathing difficulty. A good way to keep your lungs healthy is by eating a healthy diet. A healthy diet is long term investment to a better lifestyle.

Water

Water is essential for healthy lungs. Dry lungs are prone to irritation.  Each day you should...

In the final miles of a long run or triathlon run, your leg muscles become very tired. But your hamstrings, quadriceps and calves are not the only muscles that become fatigued during a hard run.

Your respiratory muscles may also become tired during the workout that you are giving them. As it is these muscles which fatigue first it is the fatigue of these muscles that limit your performance. As these muscles fatigue signals are sent to your nervous system telling it to redirect oxygen from the muscles of your limbs to those of your diaphragm to keep them going. Therefore, during the running the reason your legs may begin...

The phrase 'use it or lose it' applies equally well to the inspiratory muscles as it does to your leg muscles. Everyone becomes lazy at some point and a classic example is using the lift because you get out of breath using the stairs. If this is you then you don't realise it but your inspiratory muscles are getting less exercise.

Most clinical trials that have focused on IMT have all returned positive results. These results indicated that IMT improves sports performance in swimmers, rowers and runners (source: Volianitis et al, 2001; Klusiewicz et al, 2008; Riganas et al, 2008) cyclists (Romer et al, 2002a; Romer et al, 2002b), and...

"Effects of respiratory muscle training on performance in athletes: a systematic review with meta-analyses"

Hajghanbari B, Yamabayashi C, Buna T, Coelho J, Freedman K, Morton T, Palmer S, Toy M, Walsh C, Sheel AW, Reid WD.

More research recently published (July 25th 2012) to determine if respiratory muscle training (RMT) improves sport performance, and respiratory muscle strength and endurance.

The conclusion revealed that RMT can improve sport performance. Inspiratory muscle strength and endurance improved in most studies, which in part, was dependent on the type of RMT employed.

Read the Abstract online at The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research

The London Evening Standard reported on 25th July 2012 that a quarter of Team GB suffer from exercise-induced asthma, including swimmers Rebecca Adlington and Jo Jackson, Tour de France champion Bradley Wiggins, marathon runner Paula Radcliffe, defending Olympic rowing champions Pete Reed and Tom James, and footballer Craig Bellamy, according to charity Asthma UK.

Asthma UK recommends people with asthma participate in exercise as it improves lung function and can help manage the symptoms.

Cher Piddock, lead asthma nurse at the charity, said:

“We'd encourage anyone with asthma who is struggling with their symptoms to speak to...

A new Clinical Study, published in the Journal of Obesity (Volume 2012, Article ID 918202), examined whether a programme of inspiratory muscle training (IMT), using POWERbreathe, improves accumulative distance of self-paced walking in overweight and obese adults.

Fifteen overweight and obese adults were randomised into experimental and placebo groups. Lung function, inspiratory muscle performance, 6-minute walking test, and predicted VO2 max were assessed prior to and following the 4-week IMT intervention.

Both groups performed 30 inspiratory breaths, twice daily using POWERbreathe.

They concluded the study by suggesting that...