Breathe Better to Improve Performance

By Exercise Physiologist & Champion Surf Ironwoman, Harriet Brown

Do you get puffed more easily than you should?

Is your breathing limiting your ability to train harder?

Or do you want to have a performance edge over your competitors?

Athletes get puffed

Athletes train at an intensity where they push themselves to a point where they get short of breath. Often breathing is what athletes describe as their ‘limiting factor’…. the thing that holds them back from pushing harder or going for longer. As exercise intensity increases muscles require more oxygen so the athlete will start breathing more to keep up with the oxygen demand. Usually athletes just train for longer, harder or more often in an attempt to conquer shortness of breath and improve performance. However, there is another way to help reduce breathlessness which targets the muscles that help us breathe. It’s the easiest 5% improvement in performance you will get.

Make your lungs stronger

The muscles that help you inhale air are called your inspiratory muscles. When exercising at a high intensity these muscles start to fatigue and we begin to feel breathless. Our body shunts blood away from our working muscles towards our lungs to keep us alive. However, by strengthening these inspiratory muscles, you can delay their onset of fatigue. This has been shown to improve performance and reduce recovery time.

How can I strengthen my lungs?

You can do this quite simply by booking in to see an Exercise Physiologist and having an inspiratory muscle strength assessment. The assessment will evaluate your breathing muscle strength, endurance and technique. You will then be prescribed a simple training program to do at home using a Powerbreathe device. A Powerbreathe is a small handheld, drug free, adjustable device that creates resistance when you inhale. By breathing against a resistance, your inspiratory muscles have to work harder to overcome the tension… It’s just like dumbbells, but for your diaphragm. By training on a Powerbreathe for just a couple of minutes twice daily you can increase your inspiratory muscles strength, power and endurance which will then improve performance.

Breathing to improve swimming

Inspiratory muscle training has been shown to improve performance in all aerobic sports. However, swimming is one sport we at Gold Coast Physio & Sports Health have seen some of the best results in. Swimming competitively is one of the most challenging sports for breathing. Compared to most land based sports, swimmers can’t just breathe whenever they like. In competition, swimmers try to minimize the number of breaths they take when swimming freestyle as turning the head to take a breath slows the athlete down.

When breathing, swimmers try to take in as much air as possible in a short amount of time so they can return quickly to optimal body and head positioning. If swimmers can improve their inspiratory muscle strength they are able to delay the onset of breathing fatigue and hence improve performance.

Powerbreathe Assessment Appointments cost only around $60* for the Initial Appointment and Health Fund Rebates may be available in clinic if you have Extra’s Cover. The cost of the training Device for you to take-home & keep is only around $70* (*prices valid 2017), so there should be nothing stopping you now from gaining an easy 5% improvement in performance!!