Better Breathing Blog by PowerLung

There has been an increased interest in running in the past few years, with new athletes of all shapes and sizes taking to the road. And why not? Running is a wonderful way to get outside, exercise, meet new people, and enjoy the great outdoors (not to mention some gorgeous sunrises and sunsets). No matter when or where you decide to take up running, here are some tips to make your experience rewarding.

Wind instrument and vocal musicians perform respiratory exercises repetitively during practice and at an elevated level during performances. Therefore, one of the most crucial aspects of their abilities is the management of air. These types of musicians have historically spent countless hours training with their instruments (considering a vocalist’s voice as their instrument). As is true of any athlete training for their specific event (running, swimming, bicycling, etc.), musicians need to focus on improving their abilities for the event they are competing in (lungs for creating music). Wind instrumentalists generally have much greater lung function than non-instrumentalists, proving that the constant training of lungs does make a difference. Further, they tend to have a high degree of voluntary control over breathing due to the regulation of air flow and pressure to optimize their sound production abilities.

 A San Francisco Opera Symphony trumpet player first introduced PowerLung to music. When Barry Jarvis and I first put together the marketing plan for PowerLung, our focus was on sports in large part because that was our background and personal focus. Music was the farthest thing from our minds. Then, one day we received an email from a trumpet player from San Francisco Opera Symphony praising PowerLung for helping his breathing for running and trumpet.

For those in the healthcare profession, and especially those working with patients who may benefit from respiratory training, a respiratory training device can be a useful tool.

Free diving is one of the most intense and dangerous sports.  Not knowing what you are doing can be fatal.  Even trained competitors get hurt in controlled situations.  The danger that inherently comes with diving to great depths without an oxygen supply only highlights the need for proper training.

As elite athletes, you are considered the best in your sport, and the public assumes you train every part of the body required for your sport. When you walk up to the starting line, put on that helmet, even step into those skis, do you have the biggest engine under your proverbial hood?  Do you know that the strength of your respiratory system can make or break your performance? A trained respiratory system is likened to having a big engine under the hood; with the ability draw in more fuel (oxygen), your output (performance) increases. It is crucial to train and strengthen it so you can perform at your best.

Yoga and respiratory muscle function go together, and it may be hard to decipher which benefits the other. Yogic breathing increases oxygen in your blood and nourishes and repairs your body’s cells, maintaining, and even improving, your health. There is much discussion surrounding “yogic breathing,” and many Yogis assert that the idea of full, deep breathing is unique to their culture. There is even a name given to the deep breathing yogis practice: Pranayama. The practice of Pranayama is the focus and control of breathing to attain a relaxed state, and is translated as “regulated breathing.” However, one cannot ignore how deep breathing is encouraged in any type of exercise, not to mention for relaxation, meditation, and anxiety relief.

When considering adding respiratory muscle training to an athlete’s training regimen, one may ask if any true benefit has been found. Although it has been proven beneficial to COPD patients, there have been mixed reports in the past regarding hyperpnea (technique for improving endurance respiratory muscle function) training. Variations in study types, methods and protocol could be factors in the mixed results. Athletes and their trainers are looking for tools which can truly improve performance, and studies specific to their gender, sport and level of competition are in demand.

When you consider ways in which you can train your body for better health, you might think of weight lifting, running, swimming, bicycling or a variety of aerobic workouts. However, have you considered training your respiratory system?

The respiratory muscles are a unique system because they are constantly working, without any real voluntary thinking. Because of this fact, many people—including premier athletes—believe that they need no formal training, nor can there be any benefit to doing so. However, the fact that athletes can perform for longer periods of time without fatigue is proof that cardiovascular training is beneficial to health.

Age is just a number to me. It doesn’t determine what I can do. In 1993, at age 46, I ran my first Houston Marathon after being trained for three months with my late husband and PowerLung co-inventor, Barry Jarvis. Fast forward to 2014, age 67; I started training for the 2015 Houston Marathon.