Huff & Puff and blow you away.

Respiratory muscle development probably hasn't been part of your training program in the past. That may change as you read on. There is evidence that respiratory muscle fitness may limit exercise performance. Cardiovascular fitness and muscle strength are components of overall performance that we are familiar with--but respiratory muscles have probably been taken for granted. We assume that as our overall fitness progresses, the respiratory muscles compensate with necessary improvements--the respiratory system was built for exercise. Although true, research shows that respiratory muscle fatigue reduces performance and that increasing the capacity of the respiratory muscles can in turn increase exercise performance.

Respiratory muscles are the muscles responsible for filling and emptying your lungs. When exercising vigorously they are called upon to work very hard. Traditionally, exercise physiologists have thought the limiting factor in respiration was at the cellular level where oxygen is transferred to the blood. It was not considered likely that respiratory muscle fatigue might limit performance or that respiratory muscle training might improve performance.

Research from the University of Zurich found that intensive respiratory training does, in fact, significantly improve the endurance of respiratory muscles and increases the volume of ventilation possible. In this study, respiratory training (forced increases in respiratory movements) consisted of four weeks of 30-minute sessions, five days per week. Both sedentary and physically active subjects increased the endurance of respiratory muscles, increased endurance time of constant load bicycle test, felt less breathless after exercise, and had lower lactate levels after exercise. (VO2 max is not affected by respiratory training.)

AR&FA Editorial Board Member Michael Yessis, Ph.D., conducted research on a device (called The Breather and manufactured by PN Medical, Inc.) designed to increase resistance to the respiratory muscles for training purposes--weight lifting for the breathing muscles. Data from that study support conclusions that respiratory training increases breathing efficiency and exercise performance. You may want to think about adding this new dimension to your training regimen and blow your competition away.

(Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 1998, Vol. 30, No. 7, pp. 1169- 1172)

For information on The Breather and how respiratory therapy can improve your performance, contact Dr. Yessis at Sports Training, Inc., P.O. Box 460429, Escondido, CA 92046 or call 760-480-0558.