Train Your Breathing Muscles To Run Faster?

Picture from Power Lung

I first learnt to train my inspiratory muscles back in 2004 when my former colleagues at Sport Singapore (previously known as Singapore Sports Council) told me about the "Power Lung". It's a simple hand held device that is really easy to use to increase lung capacity so one can improve your breathing efficiency to race faster. 

After I returned the "Power Lung" (pictured above), I tried to replicate that by breathing in and out only through a straw while watching movies with my wife hoping to get the same training effect. That's what I tried to do by just breathing in and out through a straw since it is a much smaller channel. Or recently trying to exercise with a mask on to some extent. 

My wife said I sounded like Darth Vader breathing. She threatened not to watch movies with me if I persisted. 

There are respiratory muscles that help us breathe in and out. Just like your leg muscles or any other muscles, your respiratory muscles can get tired. When they do get tired, they work less efficiently and draw oxygenated rich blood away from where they are needed like your legs. Especially when you are cycling or running. The best way to get them stronger and work more efficiently is to strength train them. 

While strength training, you work against a resistance (or weights) by lifting and lowering the weight. When you get stronger, you can increase the resistance. Similarly, to train your inspiratory muscles you can make it harder to breathe in and out. 

That is the rationale for training your breathing muscles by doing exercises with a "Power Lung" device that makes it harder to inhale and exhale. Numerous studies have investigated whether inspiratory muscle training can make one faster in sports like running, cycling and swimming. Especially swimming since you have limited time with your head above water which makes breathing even more difficult. 

Illidi and colleagues (2023) concluded that respiratory muscle training can improve the strength and endurance of respiratory muscles and that it can improve performance in athletes.

Picture from RJ McNichols from Twitter

Not so for nasal dilators made popular by Galen Rupp (pictured above) who used to train with Alberto Salazar. This looks like a small plaster or band-aid across the nose. Remember them? I've definitely raced in them before after getting some to try in a race goodie bag, but felt no difference.

The goal is to keep your nasal passages open and make breathing easier. They are even advertised to help snoring and sleep apnea. Plenty of research concludes that they do help you breathe better but find no benefits in heart rate, lactate, oxygen consumption and recovery.

How about nasal breathing (or just breathing in and out through your nose)? Evidence suggest breathing through your nose only generates higher levels of nitric oxide. Nitric oxide helps dilate bood vessels and potentially helps keep your airways relaxed and open. Easier said than done since it is extremely difficult to breathe through your nose during intense exercise. 

During a hard interval session or ride when my friends are trying to drop me on a climb especially, you will experience the unacceptable sensation of air hunger if you can't use both you nose and mouth to breathe. To help conditions like asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is one thing, for endurance athletes while racing and pushing their breathing systems to its limits - nah, I personally don't think so.

Canned oxygen? Maybe if you plan on climbing Everest or K2. All these and more discussed by Illidi et al (2023) referenced below. There's plenty of pseudoscience to help you breathe better in the flourishing wellness and fitness industry currently and I hope that this post helps to clear things. 

As for me, I'll stick to practicing diaphramatic breathing with a straw to strengthen my inspiratory muscles since I do not have access to a Power Lung now. Start with a bubble tea straw if you find a normal straw too difficult.

Reference

Illidi CR, Romer LM, Johnson MA et al (2023). Distinguishing Science From Pseudoscience In Commercial Respiratory Interventions: An Evidenced Basd Guide For Health And Science Professionals. Eur J Appl Physiol. 123: 1599-1625. DOI: 10.1007/s00421-023-05166-8