Better Breathing Blog by PowerLung

The 2014 World Cup has made history as the 136 goals scored during the Group Stage has been the most goals scored since 1958. Despite being some of the most mentally and physically prepared athletes in the world, this record setting World Cup has had a huge impact on the athletes. From official water breaks to athletes subbing out for cramps and exhaustion, we’ve seen these elite athletes breaking down in front of our eyes. Is it possible that these athletes aren’t training all of their muscles as effectively as possible?

Sprinting. People either hate it or they love it. When coaches require their players to sprint, they hate it. When runners, cyclists or swimmers sprint to the finish line, they love it. Sprinting really depends on when you do it and why you do it. Many joggers use a sprint to finish their run, while sprinting for some athletes, like soccer players or swimmers, is just part of the game or competition. The goal behind sprinting, however, should be to push your body to new exercise or athletic levels, not to overextend it.

As a cyclist, have you ever been in the middle of a hike, race or a simple ride around the neighborhood, when you realize that respiratory fatigue has hit your body?  While your mind is on cycling, your breathing becomes shallow, you have trouble getting deep breaths, and your muscles feel on fire.  This will result in a decrease in bike speed, which could lead you to lose the race, delay your hike or make you just want to walk back home.  In a race scenario, after spending months and even years training your endurance, you shouldn’t let respiratory fatigue take you out of the race.  During training, cyclists often overlook the importance of breath training and respiratory fitness. What could respiratory muscle training do for your cycling endurance and performance? 

The PowerLung makes for an excellent choice for your Christmas shopping! You can rest assured that you are literally giving the gift of good health. The PowerLung is rather unique in that instead of using flow restriction – similar to breathing through various sized straws – we utilize a pressure threshold approach. Pressure threshold is akin to strength training. Just as your arms or legs have vital muscle groups, so do your lungs – and that’s what PowerLung aims to strengthen.

As a mountain biker, you spend hours training and racing at high altitudes and through difficult terrain. Your journey to the top of a peak is physically and mentally demanding, but well worth it once you reach the top. The tremendous energy and endurance level you need to cycle up climbs, attempt blasts, change speeds, and race in the mountains is unparallel to many other sports. Biking through mountain terrain is challenging, and you need to train properly. Training for mountain biking goes beyond aerobic and cardio workouts. Learning how to breath right is the factor that takes you from being subpar to superior as a mountain biker.

“The key to success in anything is to rehearse success rather than rehearse failure.” -Bill Pearl, Getting Stronger: Weight Training for Sports

One of the most realistic examples of an athlete doing just that was a scene from Rush, this year’s film on Formula 1 racing, showing James Hunt sitting on the floor of the garage before the race literally driving the course in his mind. The scene in the movie shows it like a movie in his mind which is how many athletes actually see it.

I was recently asked for some technical information related to PowerLung and I thought, good question! Unfortunately, it’s a bit more difficult to answer. Because PowerLung is not a therapeutic medical device, PowerLung is not permitted to publish any measurement information. But I don’t want to leave you empty-handed. PowerLung users or those considering using PowerLung as part of an exercise or training regimen might be particularly interested in measurements for breathing devices like PowerLung.

As fall athletic competitions heat up, most coaches have laid out the season’s training program to include a taper period, especially in endurance sports.  Even taper before a 5K running race is recommended. The pre-tapering training and training during the period may vary by athlete and sport. Length of taper may vary from a period of a week or more.  

A recent tweet, included below, by one of our followers brought up the issue of posture and breathing for runners.