Just to come back to a few comments posted above...
"Why can't they just train properly instead of looking for ineffective shortcuts?"
This attitude is why the average club cyclist remains that... average. There seems to be an obsession in the UK that the only way to be a better cyclist is to ride further, for longer... Now whilst I'll happily agree that riding more is an effective way to improve when done as part of a structured training rpogramme, the reality is, most of us do not have unlimited time to ride their bikes, and more importantly do not have unlimited recovery time to benefit from massive mileage.
The majority of us will benefit more from a more reserved mileage that is coupled with a more rounded approach to performance as a whole, than simply adding another 10 hours to the weekly load. My 2011 season is a case in point. my second child arrived last December, so I did no riding for six weeks between then and the end of January. Following that, my trainign was limited to between 5 and 6 hours a week. I finished the season ranked in the top 30 Elites in the Uk, off the back of 23 days racing. I won 7 races, and finished in the top 5 another 7 times.
How? OK, one part was targeting races where I know could perform, but mainly it was entering into a training programme that maximised my time, and addressed as many factors affecting performance as possible. This included flexibility (allowing me to hold a more aerodynamic position for longer at lower mechanicl cost), core strength (for the same reasons as flexibnility), psychology (fine tuning race craft and mental approach made a real difference), position, equipment (changing shoes/pedals saved me ~200grams rotational weight but more importantly the better fit gained me about 10 watts 20min power), diet etc etc etc.
each on there own probably gained me a couple of percent, but together, they more than negated for the halving of actual training time.
With that in mind I am open to the potential benefits Powerbreathe can bring to the table. I don't know many people (well I'm yet to meet one) that would say it didn't benefit performance, so I'm willing to give it a try and test myself over the results. I'm open minded and happy to try it, if it doesn't work, then I'll be happy to shout about that as well.
As for science references, I was more referring to the studies undertaken to allow powerbreathe to be recognised by the NHS and made available on prescription. I'll accept that for an athlete the differences are going to be marginal, but thats the point... as BC say, the aggregation of marginal gains.
with regards to Powerbreather benefits... I envisage it to be similar to core and flexibility work. Core/flexibility development allows me to stay aero for longer in more comfort with less mechanical loss of efficiency. When on the drops, or more appropriately on aero tri-bars, breathing is going to be restricted. If by strengthening your respiratory muscles you can help negate some of that positional restriction on breathing, then I would anticipate a beneift in performance. Thats performance, not VO2 max.
Finally, comparing wristbands with powerbreathe is not fair. Powerbreathe has been proven to develop respiratory muscles, thats undisputed, what is disputable is whether stronger respiratory muscles benefit cycling performance. Those wristbands work purely on a placebo basis only.
