POWERbreathe benefits:

An overview of benefits and results from laboratory trials are listed below. For specific benefits, research references and clinical and laboratory trials that support our findings, please select your specific area of interest when you 'Select Model' from the main menu above.

Sports & Exercise

• Improved inspiratory muscle strength by 31.2%
• Improved inspiratory muscle endurance by 27.8%
• Accelerated recovery during repeated sprints by up to 7%
• Improved cycling time trial performance by 4.6% - equivalent to slashing 3-minutes off a 40k time trial
• Enabled participants to cycle for 33% longer and with lower sense of effort
• Improved rowing time trial performance by up to 2.2% - equivalent to slashing 60m in a 2km race
• Increased swimming performance by up to 3.5%
• Reduced whole body effort during exercise
• Warmed-up the breathing muscles & significantly improved rowing performance and reduced breathlessness in competitive rowers
• Warmed-up the breathing muscles which normal warm-up routines fail to do

• Speeded-up lactate clearance more effectively than traditional active recovery strategies

Performers

• Enhanced the ability to inflate the lungs (take deeper breaths)
• Enhanced the ability to control the breath
• Enhanced the ability to sustain forceful breathing (breathing does not become fatigued)
• Training may affect the intrinsic laryngeal muscles which control the action of the larynx

• Warms-up the breathing muscles prior to rehearsal or performance

Health & Medical

• Reduced breathlessness & restored breathing power
• Increased inspiratory muscle strength by up to 45%
• Improved quality of life in people with major debilitating conditions
• Enhanced exercise tolerance in people with major debilitating conditions
• Reduced consumption of medication of up to 79% in asthma patients
• Reduced ß2-agonists consumption by up to 79% in patients with asthma
• Showed an improvement in asthma symptoms by up to 75% in 3 weeks
• Improvements in inspiratory muscle strength of 55% in patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
• Improvements in endurance of 86% in patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
• Improvements in quality of life by 21% in patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)

• Improvements in dyspnoea by 36% in patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)

Uniformed Services

• Improved breathing conditions in people with physically demanding occupational situations where breathing demand is raised or where breathing apparatus is used, such as the Armed Forces, Police Force and Fire Service
• Improved inspiratory muscle strength by 31.2%
• Improved inspiratory muscle endurance by 27.8%
• Reduced breathlessness
• Reduced heart rate
• Reduced the rate of air use from the breathing cylinder used by firefighters (increasing wear time by around 1.5 min from a 15 min cylinder)
• Increased time to exhaustion during a standard laboratory treadmill test

Who's it for?

POWERbreathe is a multifunctional training tool that has a wide use of applications for a wide range of people. Randomised controlled trials have shown the efficacy of POWERbreathe in populations as diverse as highly trained endurance athletes, as well as patients with COPD and asthma.

POWERbreathe training is particularly helpful in the following contexts:

• All sports, including sprint sports and high altitude sports and training
• Treatment of breathlessness and exercise limitation due to illness, including respiratory, cardiovascular and neuromuscular, or simply due to advancing age
• Core stability training for injury prevention and the management of low back pain, postural instability and neuromuscular rehabilitation
• Physically demanding occupational situations where breathing demand is raised
• Settings in which the rib cage is restricted by clothing or equipment, such as protective clothing ensembles worn by the uniformed services
• Settings where loads are carried on the thorax, such as military rucksacks and army Bergens
• Settings demanding manual handling and load carriage, whether in an office, factory, warehouse or retail environment
• Settings where breathing apparatus is used (self-contained and filtration), such as woodworking and fire fighting
• Performing artists, including singers / vocalists, actors and dancers as well as teachers and public speakers where deep breathing, breathing control and voice projection are required
• Wind musicians who are required to take deeper breaths, control the breath and have the ability to sustain forceful breathing

POWERbreathe is suitable for almost anyone and will cause no harmful side effects when used properly. Please read the following precautions to ensure that you use POWERbreathe safely and appropriately

• Inspiratory muscle training (IMT), such as training with POWERbreathe, is not recommended for patients with a history of spontaneous pneumothorax (a collapsed lung that was not due to traumatic injury e.g. broken rib), as it may lead to a recurrence of the condition. Following a traumatic pneumothorax and/or broken rib, IMT, such as POWERbreathe, should not be used prior to full recovery.
• If you are suffering from a cold, sinusitis or respiratory tract infection, we advise that you do not use POWERbreathe until symptoms have disappeared.
• Some users may experience slight ear discomfort when training with POWERbreathe, especially if they are recovering from a cold. This is caused by inadequate equalisation of pressure between the mouth and ears. If symptoms persist, please consult your doctor.
• Whilst training with POWERbreathe you should feel resistance to inhaling but it should not be painful. If you should feel pain whilst using POWERbreathe, stop immediately and consult your doctor.
• If you have any doubts about the suitability of POWERbreathe, or you have a medical condition, please consult your doctor.
• Anyone who is under the age of 16 should only use POWERbreathe with supervision from an adult. POWERbreathe contains small parts and is not suitable for children under 3 years.