Does anyone have any experience with using these devices? I have been using a Powerlung(r) for a few weeks, and have been able to increase the resistance level 2 or 3 times so far. But, I haven’t been keeping sufficient records to analyze any improvements in my swim/bike/run times. What do you think? Am I wasting my time and money?
Since everyone on this site seems to be pretty opinionated, am I safe to assume I am the only one using one of these things?
We have studied these where I work.
We’ve found that resisted breathing makes you more comfortable and effective at resisted breathing.
We haven’t found any gains in performance in from training with them. Real honest to goodness papers, but not available to the public.
It is the opinion of the physiologist here that the diaphragm isn’t a limiter in athletic performance.
I suspect that the powerling folks disagree with the opinion.
I’ve not tried these devices, but my 2 cents is that using aerobic training (speed work) to increase hemocrit levels would be a lot more beneficial.
The blood can only absorb a limited amount of oxygen. Most of the oxygen that you breathe in is not used and is breathed out. This is why you can give someone mouth–to-mouth resuscitation. For the same reason, giving athletes pure oxygen at a football game is mostly a nice gesture. They can breathe easier, but significantly more oxygen is not being absorbed. Most of the benefit is psychological, not physiological.
Lung training devices are a sham, pure and simple. The diaphragm (and the smaller muscles that can assist when you are REALLY breathing hard, i.e. in the middle of an asthma attack) are in no way, shape or form a limiter to respiration in a normal human being. Stop by the library and pick up a phys book…it will explain that when your circulatory system is maxed out, as is the transport of O2 across the lungs and into the blood, there is still plenty more 02 hanging around in your lungs that is going unused.
Frank Day, who is an anesthesiologist as well as PC guy, could probably give you an in depth explanation off the top of his head, which I can’t at the moment. I’d return the damn thing and ask for your money back, because those clowns are preying on people’s poor understanding of respiratory physiology.
For what it is worth, in rehabilitation medicine we often do “pulmonary rehab” for people with extensive lung disease. These people constantly feel that they cannot breathe due to lifelong smoking, etc ad nauseum. While treatment reduces their subjective FEELING of being out of breath, rehab has NEVER been shown to improve anyone’s actual function (i.e. the measurable numbers).
Sorry if I rained on anyones parade,
Philbert.
these devices go to peoples observations that upon close scruitiny make absolutely no sense. A person gets out of breath and it makes sense that improving the breathing muscles will make a difference. Nice thought but it will NEVER happen. We get out of breath when we start developing lactate at the exercising muscles. Lactate is buffered by the bicaarbonate system in the blood, the biy product of this buffering is CO2, lots of it per ATP produced. This huge amount of CO2 “production” overwhelms the lungs ability to expel it and a little bit of breathing muscle improvement will not change anything. Further, even if one were able to do this to these muscles, improvement would be limited by the development of turbulent flow in the upper respiratory tract.
So, while it makes sense on the surface to the uninformed, it is unlikely to have ANY effect in practice.
Frank
Thanks for the replies. Now I feel pretty stupid. Don’t think they’ll take it back full of my spit though. Since the cost was nominal, and I use it in addition to, not in place of, my regular training (I can do it sitting at my desk or watching TV) I think I’ll use it a little longer. What the hell–can’t kill me can it?
Don’t feel stupid. None of us can have knowledge of everything. Even “experts” can differ in recommendations derived from the same data.
At least it wasn’t a big purchase mistake and it gives you something to do when bored at work. And, it can kill you if you inhale it and it gets lodged in your wind pipe. Be Careful!
I have written this before on these pages but I think there may be at least a theoretical risk of pnuemothorax as a result of increasing the pressure gradient between the pleural cavity and the lungs. Angular folks such as many triathletes may be especially susceptible to this. So I’m not sure “it can’t hurt” is necessarily true.