Research on Breathing muscle resistance training

I just read an intersesting training article. I know some people here are into the science and training.

in brief the article states that by using resistance, 50cm/h2o, you can improve your respiratory muscle strength and improve Snorkel swimming by 33%.

Here are links to an abstract and the Journal it came from.

http://www.coreperformance.com/article

European Journal of Applied Physiology, Volume 99, Number 4, March 2007, pp. 393-404(12)

HAS anyone heard of this training?
I have seen the breathing resisitance device in scuba magazines but never gave them a second thought.

Lets here it
Brian

Here is the article summary.

TRAINING BREATHING MUSCLES IMPROVES SWIMMING MUSCLES' PERFORMANCE
By Jim Brown, PhD, Executive Editor, Sports Performance Journal
www.coreperformance.com
Swimmers and scuba divers can improve their swimming endurance and breathing capacity through targeted training of the respiratory muscles, according to researchers at the University at Buffalo.

Subjects who followed a resistance-breathing training protocol (breathing load) improved their respiratory muscle strength and their snorkel swimming time by 33 percent and underwater scuba swimming time by 66 percent, compared to their baseline values. Participants assigned to similar protocol requiring high respiratory flow rates (endurance) improved their respiratory endurance and surface and underwater swimming times by 38 percent and 26 percent, respectively. Those who participated in a placebo training program, conducted with the same equipment and protocol, showed no significant improvement in respiratory or swimming performance. Results of the study appeared in the European Journal of Applied Physiology.

"Specific respiratory muscle training could allow divers in the military, civilian rescue services, commercial enterprises, and sport to perform better underwater," said Claes E.G. Lundgren, M.D., Ph.D., professor of physiology and biophysics in the UB School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences and the study's senior author.

Lundgren said that training the breathing muscles to improve the performance of swimming muscles seems counter-intuitive, but is logical physiologically.

"Typically, we think it's the muscles that move the body that are fatigued when we tire," he noted. "However, the increased work load of the breathing muscles is very important, particularly underwater during prolonged or high intensity exercise such as swimming.

When breathing muscles become fatigued, the body switches to survival mode and "steals" blood flow and oxygen away from the locomotor muscles and redirects it to the respiratory muscles to enable the diver to continue breathing. Deprived of oxygen and fuel, the locomotor muscles become fatigued.

"Increasing the strength and endurance of the respiratory muscles prevents their fatigue during sustained exercise, enabling divers and swimmers to sustain their effort longer without tiring," Lundgren said.

The study involved 30 experienced male swimmers in their 20s. Participants underwent baseline tests to determine pulmonary strength, pulmonary endurance, VO2max, and length of time they could swim at a moderately high speed. The men then were randomized to one of three training protocols: RRMT-resistance respiratory muscle training; ERMT-endurance respiratory muscle training; or PRMT-placebo respiratory muscle training. The protocols were followed for 30 minutes per day, five days a week, for four weeks.

Swimmers in the ERMT protocol, using the same equipment, increased their breathing rate and tidal volume (total ventilation) progressively each week, while a re-breathing bag insured that the amount of carbon dioxide in the blood was held constant, in spite of the hyperventilation during the training.

All subjects participated in a twice-a-week, identical fin-swimming maintenance program during the four weeks of RMT training to ensure that they maintained, but didn't increase, their fitness levels during the study's training protocol.

At the end of the four weeks, study participants repeated the baseline tests. "Results showed that the RRMT and ERMT protocols used in this study significantly extended swimming endurance through an improvement in respiratory muscle performance," said Lundgren.

"These data are in agreement with previous studies in cyclists, rowers, and runners. They suggest that athletes in most sports could improve their performance by undergoing respiratory muscle training. It is also clear that the greater the stress on the respiratory system, the larger the improvement in performance."

I've also wondered about these devices and wondered how much they would help someone who is already at an elite fitness level. I could understand how they might improve someone with a lower level of fitness. Might have to get one and give it a go. Has anyone else used one??

www.powerlung.com

www.powerbreathe.com

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Breathing is overrated!

im sure that matt hart uses/used one of those powerlung things. you'd have to ask him if it worked tho

yeah matt has used one. he has never really said whether he thought it helped him a lot.

i wouldnt be surprised if what we do for normal training and games puts enough stress on the respiratory muscles already and the use of such a device wouldn't make much difference, but research is always good, and i have also wondered about it... but considering the results i had with simulated altitude training, ie, bollocks-all, i havent taken the time to try it yet.

Between Gav and Atapene I think you two nailed this one. Elite athletes and the general UWH community already are training these muscles so the improvement would be nowhere near the 33% the article claims. It says 30 experienced swimmers without putting a level qualifier on them. These could be folks who get in and swim a mile in 40 minutes every day. Never stressing their lungs or even getting heartrates to raise. I know hockey players that have 10-plus years experience but you wouldn't know it by seeing them play. But put them in a one-month training program and their game would jump a level or two. Just look at improvement of players after their first big tourney whether it's a weekend or a week long.

I wouldn't waste my time with it, but then again, Trolls don't need to breathe much.

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Oh yeah, and now they're broke.

I think Tan has looked at these before too. I remember reading the info for her. Can't remember if she went with it or not.

Interesting idea that relates to changing the type of stress that you would normally place on this muscle group.

*disclaimer; this device could seriously hurt you if not used properly*

So it places a different stress on the body that the body then adapts to.
Simple resistance training theory.

The normal stress that you under go in a game or training is 'normal' to the body - hence there is no hyper adaption response.
Meaning no improvement - those muscles will remain as they are.
Thats good if they're were you want them to be. So if you're happy - don't focus on them.

If you want improvement, as with anything - work on it.

BTW - if you work sitting down, there's certainly breathing improvements to be had by improving your posture, core strenght & regular breathing. Take a look at the way you're sitting now.
Think about how deply your breathing is right now. I bet the air isn't getting anywhere near filling up you lungs to the max

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yeah my lazy figertips are mising out on valuable oxygen! hahaha!

Do the resistors work on the way in and the way out (inhalation and exhalation)? In that case I would disagree with Duck.

I can't get the whole article but from what I can understand it's a randomised controled trial where the time of training per day is controlled. So the argument that just working at it is just as good does not hold. The other groups were also working at it for the same period of time per day and also gained substantial benefit. But the resistance group gained more. So 33% might be out of the question but one might expect additional improvements to what we already accrue given that the experiemntal samples are different people.

As an aside...

Swimming around or standing vertical in the water column like we do only has resistance on the inhale from the water pressure. The exhalation is actually easier for the same reason that external pressure is being placed on the thorax and abdomen. If you want it easier on both the inhale and exhale then you need an iron lung.

50cm H2O is actually a pretty large amount of pressure if you're talking about respiratory resistance (depending on whether this is measured at the mouth or in the lung). We use a device to treat sleep apnea that applies (for standard severe cases) around 15cmh2O at the mouth. That pressure makes it easier to breath in and harder to breath out.

The importance here is t he difference between resistance training and just breathing hard. All Cardiovascular activities make you breath harder and challenge the body to use O2 more effciently.

The Breathing resistance idea is that you are doing strength training for the breathing muscles. resistance training effects the muscles on a celluar level in many different ways. One effect is that the muscles get stronger, but the cellular metabolism and energy use changes also. If your respiratory muscles are stronger you will be able to move more air more efficeintly. In the abstract form the original study it indicated a change in tidal volume or the amount of total air moved in a breath. If you can move more air easier you will be able to work harder with less effort. a 33% increase is very significant. A 10% increase would be noticeable. Athletes at the top of their gain usually are looking for 3-4% advantge over an opponent.

I understand the Apnea thing completely. I used to use a CPAP machine at 12mm/hg. nothing like sleeping with a constant wind in your face. I think the practice i got at night from not breathing helped with my long breatholds however.