expand-a-lung?

[tiburon72157]

coach, what do you think of this?

http://cgi.ebay.com/EXPAND-A-LUNG-C...206083907QQcategoryZ16057QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

seems like some tape or finger partially covering the end of a mouthpiece would work just as well.

 

[liberato]

It is telling that they don't go into details about the research. You would have to exclude for normal aerobic conditioning when testing for improvement. It is probably a good therapy for someone with deficient breathing capacity due to disease but I don't see a great benefit for someone with normal lung capacity since diving is not normally a sport where increased lung capacity plays a major role. It would be very unpleasant to suck on that thing for a half hour a day. The inhale may even be a little dicey for someone who might have a tendency toward fluid in the lungs. It is also incredibly overpriced for what you get. It is a potential DYI project from an old snorkle mouthpiece.

I finally found this regarding a similar product:

Research from the University of Zurich found that intensive respiratory training does, in fact, significantly improve the endurance of respiratory muscles and increases the volume of ventilation possible. In this study, respiratory training (forced increases in respiratory movements) consisted of four weeks of 30 minute sessions, five days per week. Both sedentary and physically active subjects increased the endurance of respiratory muscles, increased endurance time of constant load bicycle test, felt less breathless after exercise.

Source: Running & FitNews Feb 1999 Vol 17 No 2.​

 

[DiverBuoy]

Amazing they really do have a product for everything. I just wonder if you want this "extra" work in a diving situation. I may have to buy one just to offer a first person opinion.

 

[coach_izzy]

coach, what do you think of this?

http://cgi.ebay.com/EXPAND-A-LUNG-C...206083907QQcategoryZ16057QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

seems like some tape or finger partially covering the end of a mouthpiece would work just as well.

Without going into too many details, you can get similar results with Yoga breathing exercises. The device claims to increase lung capacity, funny thing is Lung Capacity is determined by your genetics and cannot be increased. That's the equivalent of something promising to make your bones longer. Forceful inhalations and exhalations as those found in Yoga, along other breathing exercises, can deliver similar results.

 

[tiburon72157]

yeah it is pretty hokey...i wasn't going to buy one i was curious whether or not the claims were total b.s. seems like they were. i didn't see how this would improve on typical cardio and breathing exercises. and damn...is the thing expensive or what? i asked the guy for a promo for evaluation, but he never responded.

 

[tiburon72157]

forgot...no way in he** you would catch me using that before a dive in public. last thing i want is another nickname. i'm not real fond of "binky".

 

[Supernal]

I wonder if this would be good for my sister, who has emphysema.

 

[CameronMartz]

To emphasize what has already been said, you do not need this product to perform the exercises. Pursed lips will to the same thing. This product is similar to the Powerlung that has been marketed to triathletes for about a decade.

First of all, all cardiovascular exercise conditions the muscles used in breathing and improves gas exchange efficiency. Respiratory resistance training seems to play a part to supplement a good cardiovascular exercise program, however. A recent review of the current literature can be accessed at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/...ve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=15162248. Note that increased lung volume is not even discussed in the abstract- only increased respiratory efficiency.

More information on this type of training can be found (albeit embedded in marketing) at http://us.powerlung.com/en/. Note that all of the techniques described on the Powerlung website can be performed with nothing more than pursed lips. You do not need any type of contraption to provide the resistance, and I think this has been the general consensus from Powerlung owners who have commented to me.

As an aside, swim training in and of itself conditions the breathing muscles in a similar fashion. This is because the lungs are submerged while the mouth is at the surface. This difference in hydrostatic pressure is enough to trigger a conditioning response that increases respiratory efficiency moreso than other forms of exercise.
While swimmers do have average lung volumes greater than participants in other sports, no study has definitively determined if this is a training effect or a selection bias, meaning that people born with larger lung volumes gravitate towards swimming.

Cameron

 

[liberato]

The Powerlung folks claim their product doesn't do simple flow restriction but rather threshold resistance. I imagine an incredibly out-of-tune regulator (actually, a two-way regulator since it works in both directions). I don't know how that would effect the conditioning effect but it would definitely be more pleasant to use than simpe flow restriction.

 

[robbcayman]

Just hold your breath it's free. I know a guy who goes to the local YMCA started out only being able to hold is breath for 40 seconds he's now up to 3 minutes. I asked how he could do that he said just ractice.