Research has shown that a standard pre-exercise warm-up routine fails to prepare the inspiratory muscles or the rigours of exercise1. However, results from trials on competitive rowers using POWERbreathe Inspiratory Muscle Training (IMT) before exercise, show rowers significantly improved their rowing performance and reduced breathlessness.2Furthermore, a 2022 study investigated the effects of inspiratory muscle pre-activation on high-intensity running and passive recovery in active subjects. For inspiratory muscle pre-activation, subjects used the POWERbreathe K5 to perform two sets of 15 breaths, with a 40% maximal inspiratory mouth pressure load (40% of the MIP), with a 60-second rest between sets. Results show that an inspiratory muscle warm-up could increase performance and improve recovery. POWERbreathe IMT Before Exercise Neglecting to warm up your breathing muscles before exercise will lead to excessive breathlessness from the start. Using POWERbreathe IMT before exercise, on a lower load setting, is ideal for warming up your breathing muscles.Settings For An Inspiratory Warm-UpResearch shows a setting of approximately 40% of your normal training resistance is beneficial for warming up the respiratory muscles. More recent research shows that performing inspiratory muscle warm-up exercises with POWERbreathe IMT with 45%, 50% and 60% of MIP however, resulted in higher improvement in respiratory parameters. This research uses the POWERbreathe K5 for measuring MIP and the POWERbreathe Plus Medium Resistance for inspiratory warm-up.Performing An Inspiratory Warm-Up On The POWERbreathe K-Series IMT DevicesThe POWERbreathe K1 will display your training load on the handset. Your POWERbreathe K3, K4 and K5 feature a Warm-up Mode within the Options setting. This will automatically set a proportion of your normal training level. Continue to follow the instructions to perform your inspiratory warm up.K-Series IMT Shop now A Breathing Warm-Up On The Manual POWERbreathe Classic And Plus IMT DevicesPlus IMT Shop now You will first need to determine your current training setting to calculate the % that you should use for your inspiratory muscle warm-up. Your current training setting can be found by simply checking the position of the training level indicator on the numbered scale of your device.Then, for guidance, use the following table to calculate your ideal warm-up load, 80% of your current training load. Then perform two sets of 30 breaths, with one minute rest between each set. When to Perform An Inspiratory Muscle Warm-UpComplete your POWERbreathe warm-up no more than 10 minutes before your workout, training session, match or competition. If you are entering a competition, only perform the inspiratory warm-up and do not perform any inspiratory muscle training sessions that day. If you want to prepare your breathing muscles before daily training, such as running, consider your warm-up session one of your two breathing training sessions.Research1 Specific respiratory warm-up improves rowing performance and exertional dyspnoea. 2 Inspiratory muscle training improves rowing performance. Influence of acute inspiratory loading upon diaphragm motor-evoked potentials in healthy humans. Effect of specific inspiratory muscle warm-up on intense intermittent run to exhaustion. Specific inspiratory muscle warm-up enhances badminton footwork performance.
Is it best to do IMT before cardio and EMT afterward to strengthen breathe support, or vice versa? Also, for breathing control (singing) with EMT, is it best to use phonation during exhale as I would with other SOVT exercises, like straw or lip trills? Reply
Hi Greg and thank you for your enquiry. Regarding how to incorporate IMT and EMT, you can perform IMT and EMT on the same day, but we recommend spacing the training sessions out rather than doing them one after the other. And with regard to breathing control with EMT, I’ll need to get some advise and come back to you, so please bear with me. Reply
Hi Sandro and thank you for your enquiry. The most important training protocol you can perform is that proven by scientific trials i.e. performing the 30 breaths twice a day. IMT is meant to be performed as a standalone exercise, but in the instance of cycling, you can also combine it with sport-specific exercises which mimic the position you will be in while cycling. It is also beneficial when combined with core stabilising exercises (essential for cyclists) such as plank, raised bicycle, aerobars or standing single-leg cycle for instance. Hope that helps. Please let us know how you get on. Reply
Hey team couple of questions- how much time would be optimal between the ‘warm up’ breathing and the race? Do you have a weekly training routine for a competition swimmer? For swimming does the breathing training only involves inspirority breathing? Thanks!!! Reply
Hi Luke and thank you for your enquiry. After establishing the correct warm-up load for you (refer to the table in your user manual if using a Classic or Plus), it is recommended that you perform 2 x sets of 30 breaths with one minute of rest in between. It’s also best if you do this no more than 10 minutes before your race. You could look at this from Dan Bullock, SwimForTri coach regarding a training routine. Also, there’s a lot of useful and interesting information on SwimmingScience.net, including inspiratory muscle training and inspiratory muscle fatigue in swimmers. Finally, you may find that this area of the website has some insight for you. Hope that helps Luke. Reply
Hi. I’ve been using a power breathe for years. I suffer from breathlessness as a swimmer. I was given this device and I worked my way up to level 9. No change. I was told to step it up to 40 breaths twice a day. No change. I was told to warm up with it before training. Still breathless. I do not know how to conquer my breathlessness in the pool! So frustrating. Any suggestions? Reply
Hello Sandy, and thank you for your enquiry. I feel the most comprehensive answer would be gleaned from my colleagues who will contact you directly via your email address provided, as there is too much to answer here, and we may need to ask a few more questions. Please leave it with me and I will contact my colleagues who will be in touch as soon as they can. Thank you again and best wishes to you. Reply
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