The Proof,
Is In The Science: Respiratory Muscle Training
Definition: Isocapnic Respiratory Training
i·so·cap·ni·c
(ī’sō-kap’ni-k)
To execute conditioning stimulus focused on the respiratory system while controlling systemic carbon dioxide levels.
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Isocapnic respiratory training is a specialized form of exercise that focuses on enhancing your breathing muscles. This training aims to boost both the strength and endurance of your respiratory muscles, offering significant benefits for athletic performance or if you’re dealing with respiratory conditions. By engaging in respiratory strength training, you can improve your respiratory muscle strength and function, leading to better overall health outcomes for you. This method is widely used in rehabilitation settings and clinical studies, especially if you’re managing conditions like stroke, COPD, or respiratory disfunctions or injuries. Specific training devices and methodologies are employed to maximize the effectiveness of your exercises.
What is Respiratory Muscle Training?
Respiratory muscle training (RMT) is a specialized exercise regimen designed to target the muscles you use when you breathe, such as your diaphragm, external intercostal muscles, and abdominal muscles. The primary aim of RMT is to enhance the strength and endurance of these essential muscles for you. By engaging in RMT, you can improve your overall breathing efficiency, boost oxygenation throughout your body, and reduce your risk of respiratory complications.
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Whether you’re an athlete aiming to enhance your performance or someone managing a respiratory condition, RMT can be a transformative practice for your respiratory health..
Isocapnic BWB Scientifically Verified Inspiratory Muscle Training
Supported by decades of scientific research, isocapnic respiratory training, including the Breathe Way Better (BWB) respiratory trainer, has been verified for its effectiveness in enhancing your respiratory muscles. The BWB device excels in inspiratory muscle strength training (IMST) and expiratory muscle strength training (EMS), offering you more effective respiratory muscle training compared to non CO2 controlling (isocapnic) devices. By using this device, you can experience significant improvements in your respiratory muscle strength and overall respiratory health.
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Types of Respiratory Muscle Training
There are two main types of respiratory muscle training that you can engage in: inspiratory muscle training (IMT) and expiratory muscle training (EMT). Each type focuses on different aspects of your breathing process, providing you with comprehensive benefits for your respiratory health.
Inspiratory Muscle Training
Inspiratory muscle training (IMT) specifically targets the muscles you use for inhalation, such as your diaphragm and external intercostal muscles. This type of training typically involves using a device that provides resistance during inhalation, helping you to strengthen these inspiratory muscles. IMT is particularly beneficial for you if you have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma, or other respiratory conditions, as it can significantly improve your lung function and ease your breathing difficulties.
Expiratory Muscle Training
Expiratory muscle training (EMT) focuses on strengthening the muscles you use for exhalation, including your abdominal muscles. Much like inspiratory muscle training, EMT involves using a device that provides resistance as you exhale, which helps you build stronger expiratory muscles. This type of training is particularly beneficial if you have respiratory conditions such as COPD, asthma, or cystic fibrosis. By enhancing the strength of your expiratory muscles, EMT can improve your cough effectiveness and overall respiratory function, making it easier for you to breathe and manage your respiratory health.
Respiratory Fitness Effects on Performance
Your energy levels and fatigue resistance are greatly influenced by the fitness of your breathing muscles and the overall the fitness of your respiratory system. Measuring peak inspiratory flow can be an effective way to gauge improvements in your respiratory function. If your respiratory system is susceptible to early fatigue or you preemptively tire your respiratory system before entering the field of play, your performance will suffer, especially if your respiratory system is not well conditioned.
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An improvement was found in diaphragm, rib cage mobility and improvement in the resistance of fatigue during maximal exercises increasing the performance in youth soccer players (1).
Stave Off Fatigue
When the gauntlet has been thrown, and you are in the final sprint to the line or buzzer beating play, don’t be limited by your ability to breathe. Focused training with Breathe Way Better (BWB) can condition your respiratory system, by training you to be able to breathe harder and faster, pushing your performance to the next level. A study by Italian researchers, from the Institute of Sports Medicine in Turin (Ganzit et al., 2019), investigated effects of isocapnic respiratory training with youth elite soccer players.
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Imagine getting the same respiratory workout as maximal effort repeats, without stressing other systems. A study published in the Journal of Military Medicine (Uemura et al., 2012), looked at the effects of respiratory muscle training on exercise performance. They found that isocapnic respiratory training increased subjects ability to control high output breathing patterns by over 200% compared to traditional types of training (2).
Carbon dioxide desensitization is beneficial in athletic performance because it pushes the athletic breaking point higher, as well as brings on the added benefit of increased cardiac output and improved peripheral oxygenation. With BWB Training, you get all the benefits of carbon dioxide desensitization along with the benefits of training the respiratory muscles at high rates, improved lung expansion, and increased breath pressure. Dr. Schaer et al. (2019) out of Zürich published a study in the Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise that found that “time saving respiratory muscle sprint-interval training” was a better use of time for achieving the desired training effect compared to traditional methods (3). Another study published in the Slovak physical therapy journal Rehabilitacia ( Buchtelová et al., 2018), found that isocapnic respiratory training not only improved the muscular development within the reparatory system, but also had a positive effect on overall physical performance (4).
Train More: Without Sacrificing Recovery Time
At a certain point, training more becomes counterproductive because you can only train so hard before recovery becomes inadequate. Adding Breathe Way Better sessions into your training program allows you to focus effective training on your respiratory system while resting your muscular-skeletal, neuro-muscular, cardiac, and metabolic.As you engage in respiratory muscle training, you’ll find that it can enhance the health of your blood vessels and improve your circulation. By regularly practicing inspiratory muscle strength training, you can experience significant reductions in your blood pressure levels and see improvements in your cardiovascular health.
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This will increase the level of oxygenated blood in your body, helping heal trauma your system has experienced. Scoggin et al. (1978) published a study in the Journal of Applied Physiology, that states endurance athletes that have used a respiratory trainer did have a higher tolerance to carbon dioxide levels (5). And we know that as carbon dioxide rises in our blood stream, so to does our ability to deliver oxygenated blood.
Faster Recovery
When you engage in lung volume-focused isocapnic respiratory training sessions with the Isocapnic-BWB (Breathe Way Better), either before or after a strenuous workout, you’ll enhance the range of motion of your rib cage and diaphragm. This improvement allows you to move a greater volume of air through your lungs, positively impacting your breathing throughout the day. As a result, you can breathe deeper and slower, optimizing the benefits of your respiratory muscle training. By addressing respiratory complications through such training, you’ll improve your overall respiratory outcomes and facilitate more effective rehabilitation. Respiratory muscle training is particularly beneficial for you if you have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), as your respiratory muscle strength and endurance play a crucial role in your rehabilitation.
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Dr. Martin et al. (1979) published a study in the Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise that found outstanding athletic performance was linked to the athletes ability to control their breathing to allow carbon dioxide to rise and resulted in elevated levels of oxygen in the blood. (6)
Increase VO₂ Max
By doing respiratory muscle training with the ISO-BWB Breathe Way Better, you gain a greater functional range of motion, strength of respiration and CO2 tolerance. Respiratory muscles, similar to other skeletal muscles, demonstrate adaptability through endurance training. Because of these factors, you can move more air through your respiratory system with less effort. With lower need to breathe fast, CO2 can rise in your system and with it the expanded ability to deliver oxygenated blood to the periphery due to the combined effects of increased cardiac output, peripheral vasodilation and increased unloading of oxygen at the muscular level.
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Dr. Martin et al. (1979) published a study in the Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise that found outstanding athletic performance was linked to the athletes ability to control their breathing to allow carbon dioxide to rise and resulted in elevated levels of oxygen in the blood. (6)
Clinical Benefits of Respiratory Muscle Training
Respiratory muscle training offers you a multitude of clinical benefits, making it a valuable tool for improving your respiratory health and managing your respiratory conditions. Some of the key benefits you can experience include:
Improved Breathing
RMT enhances lung function and increases the oxygenation of the body, making breathing more efficient.
Increased Strength
By strengthening the muscles involved in breathing, RMT improves overall respiratory function.
Reduced Respiratory Complications
Regular RMT can lower the risk of respiratory complications such as pneumonia and respiratory failure.
Lower Blood Pressure
Studies have shown that RMT can lower systolic blood pressure in individuals with hypertension, contributing to better cardiovascular health.
Improved Exercise Tolerance
RMT helps improve exercise tolerance and reduces shortness of breath, particularly in individuals with respiratory conditions.
Enhanced Quality of Life
By reducing symptoms of respiratory disease and improving breathing, RMT can significantly enhance overall quality of life.
Overall, respiratory muscle training is an effective and versatile approach for you to improve your respiratory function and reduce your risk of respiratory complications. You can use it alongside other treatments, such as medication and pulmonary rehabilitation, to provide comprehensive management of your respiratory diseases.
Journals
Scientific Papers and Studies
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1. Ganzit, G. P., Scarzella, F., Cravero, M., Tarozzo, C., & Beratto, L. (2019). Evaluation of the effects of respiratory training on functional aerobic capacity in young soccer players. Medicina Dello Sport, 72(4).
2. Uemura, H., Lundgren, C. E. G., Ray, A. D., & Pendergast, D. R. (2012). Effects of different types of respiratory muscle training on exercise performance in runners. Military Medicine, 177(5).
3. Schaer, C. E., Wüthrich, T. U., Beltrami, F. G., & Spengler, C. M. (2019). Effects of sprint-interval and endurance respiratory muscle training regimens. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 51(2).
4. Buchtelová, E., Tichá, K., & Lhotská, Z. (2018). Effectiveness of respiration muscle training in sportsmen aged 14 and 15 years old. Rehabilitacia, 55(3).
5. Scoggin, C.H., Doekel, R.D., Kryger, M.H., Zwillich, C.W., & Weil, J.V. (1978). Familial aspects of decreased hypoxic drive in endurance athletes. Journal of Applied Physiology: Respiratory, Environmental Exercise Physiology, 44(3):464-8. doi: 10.1152/jappl.1978.44.3.464. PMID: 632187.
6. Martin, B.J., Sparks, K.E., Zwillich, C.W., & Weil J.V. (1979). Low exercise ventilation in endurance athletes. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 11(2):181-5. PMID: 491878.
7. Aaron EA, Seow KC, Johnson BD, Dempsey JA. (1992) Oxygen cost of exercise hyperpnea: implications for performance. J Appl Physiol 72:1818–1825.
8. T. Kowalski, P. S. Kasiak, K. Rebis, A. Klusiewicz, D. Granda & S. Wiecha (2023) Respiratory muscle training induces additional stress and training load in well-trained triathletes—randomized controlled trial. Frontiers in Physiology, https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphys.2023.1264265
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