Does Powerlung Work??

You'll get about the same benefits from that as you would from breathing through a straw.

I have Power Breathe (supposedly not as good as Power Lung), and it definitely works. It sounds a little gimmicky, but I was willing to try it. It doesn't make a huge difference, but the difference is noticeable, so I think it's worth it.

Interval workouts will do the same thing.

Ventilation--moving air--is not the limiting factor in performance for a healthy person except in the rarest of cases.

While these types of devices show some improvement in resting lung function, there is scant evidence that it improves actual performance.

The idea is that you increase resistance so muscles involved in ventilation are strengthened. The claim is often made that such training makes the breathing muscles more efficient (economical really) and thus takes less energy to do their job so you are not diverting energy from ambulatory muscles.

Not that I necessarily believe these things work, but...

The respiratory muscles do take up a fairly significant amount of O2 during max intensity running. Respiratory muscle fatigue has been shown to occur during max running too.

While they are not a limiter, they do play a role. There is no one limiting factor. Fatigue is a very dynamic, very complex thing.

One thing to think about is that increased respiratory muscle usage is common after coming down from altitude and it is one of the reason for decreases in performance upon coming down that many people see.

Snot is running down his nose.

I have had a go at it.

Don Veggie Burrito wrote:

Snot is running down his nose.

Sitting on a park bench....

Eying little girls with bad intent.

Don Veggie Burrito wrote:

Snot is running down his nose.

Sitting on a park bench....

Eying little girls with bad intent.

Pranayama (yoga) breathing exercises will definitely work .

Not sure about that gadget , exercises are free .

Dr. Ian Malcom wrote:

Don Veggie Burrito wrote:

Snot is running down his nose.

Sitting on a park bench....

Eying little girls with bad intent.

greasy fingers smearing shabby clothes.

Drying in the cold sun

Watching as the frilly panties run.

Feeling like a dead duck

spitting out pieces of his broken luck.

Do you still remember December's foggy freeze?

I tried it, its bogus. If it really worked there would some science behind it. There is no science to support it and it doesnt work.

Is this an inspiratory muscle trainer? If so, here's the scoop:

The problem with these devices is that increasing inspiratory capacity doesn't always translate into improved endurance performance. If you look at the literature, the results appear to be specific to the mode of exercise.

Also, people need to realize that lungs are not typically the limiting factor in oxygen uptake for most people. Elite endurance athletes CAN be an exception to this, but aren't always.

Voliantis et al., Med Sci Sports Exerc. 33(5): pg. 803, 2001

In this study Inspiratory muscle training improved rowing performance. They don't really elaborate on why this might be specific to rowing performance, but I'd wager that it might have something to do with the posture of rowing causing an increased mechanical limitation.

Williams et al., Med Sci Sports Exerc. 34(7): pg. 1194, 2002.

IMT failed to elicit improvements in collegiate distance runners.

Romer et al., Med Sci Sports Exerc. 34(5): pg. 785, 2002.

IMT increased 20 and 40 KM time trial performance in cyclists. Again, interesting that these effects observed for cycling but not for running. Again, this could be due to different posture assumed during cycling. Obviously, a cross-modal study should be done.

Cheers.

Like I said, I've gone on and off them several times, and each time I noticed a difference. One of my teammates had one and he said he noticed a difference when using one too. They aren't going to turn a 4:00 miler into a 3:50 miler, but they might help you take off 0.5-1.0 seconds. When you're at the top of your game and doing everything else you can, that is a significant difference.