breathing trainer

I've wondered about these devices too, there's a couple on the market and i've seen comercials for one other one aimed at cyclist's on cycling.tv

I'm not really sure if it's much different then plugging your nose and breathing thru a small straw for a minute though, both make your lungs work harder.

Krazyderek said:

I've wondered about these devices too, there's a couple on the market and i've seen comercials for one other one aimed at cyclist's on cycling.tv

I'm not really sure if it's much different then plugging your nose and breathing thru a small straw for a minute though, both make your lungs work harder.

Using a straw would be a lot less expensive - have you any idea how many times a day would be reccommended?

I have asthma, and have been using a Powerbreathe. I hate to admit it, but it works. I do like they say, two 30-breath sets a day, gradually increasing resistance, and I have seen improvement with my asthma and breathing while riding. I don't know if it generally helps, so anybody would get a benefit, or if it just helps me to overcome asthma. Probably some of both, but I am happy with it. I use the red sport model. See link for more info. I have no affiliation with them at all, just a happy user. powerbreathe-usa.compowerbreathe-usa.comOpen ↗

The experimental results have shown improvement in people with breathing problems but have generally shown respiratory muscle fatigue is not a performance limiting factor for the typical athlete. However I don't think most of those studies were very well designed to produce situations where I would expect performance to be limited either. It takes a lot of fitness in the subjects and a lot of time and neither are favored by most researchers.

Back when I could do 10 reps of 10 minutes over threshold my diaphragm always fatigued/cramped before my legs did and other than slowing down there was no way to get over it. So at least in my [anecdotal] experience it's possible to produce a situation where it's a limiting factor.

Even so I doubt you could ever gain more than 1% and more likely a fraction thereof. But my philosophy with medicine and training is if it can't hurt and might help it's worth a shot if you can afford it both in time and money, and a powerbreathe is a lot less expensive than ceramic bearings.

mloywhite said:

I have asthma, and have been using a Powerbreathe. I hate to admit it, but it works. I do like they say, two 30-breath sets a day, gradually increasing resistance, and I have seen improvement with my asthma and breathing while riding. I don't know if it generally helps, so anybody would get a benefit, or if it just helps me to overcome asthma. Probably some of both, but I am happy with it. I use the red sport model. See link for more info. I have no affiliation with them at all, just a happy user. powerbreathe-usa.compowerbreathe-usa.comOpen ↗

Thanks for the URL and you input; I have decided to try the Powerbreathe as I have asthma as well. I hope to improve my cycling endurance. I will post my results after I have given it a fair test.