Neck problems are very rare when using POWERbreathe but have been known to occur when breathing against very heavy loads and in people with a history of neck injury e.g. whiplash. Our advice is as follows: 

  • In order to warm-up before training with POWERbreathe, perform a warm-up session mode; alternatively perform 10 breaths set the load to 80% of you normal resistance (e.g. if you normally train at level 5, set the POWERbreathe to level 4). Perform a set of 30 breaths at this level prior to training at your normal intensity. This should help warm-up the muscles in the neck and chest 
  • Now perform your normal set of 30 breaths – try to breathe from the chest and diaphragm, keeping your neck as relaxed as possible. If you are still experiencing discomfort, reduce the load slightly – it is important to take controlled breath as well as pushing yourself. Remember that the same principles apply to POWERbreathe as with any other resistance training 
  • If you perform uncontrolled movements at high intensities then you may be increasing the risk of muscle strain. If the pain continues, we would advise that you consult your doctor or chiropractor as the problem is likely to be due a slight displacement of a vertebrae (of the kind experienced when one gets a ‘crick’ in the neck’) rather than to a muscle strain The load results on the POWERbreathe unit and pressure value on the Breathe-Link IMT suite do not correlate.