Lung Training Devices

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RockPile

RockPile

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I was originally certified at a military academy while teaching. More than a few of my mentors and instructors had combat diving backgrounds. They don’t approach the water the same as, well, anyone really. Suffice it to say, I picked up some odd diving habits.

One of the interesting ones with regard to training that I’ve never really heard discussed knowledgeably elsewhere is the use of lung training devices. A couple of the divers swore by them.

Anyone know if these devices are helpful/harmful/useless beyond just getting used to breathing hard?

JB
 
You mean something like
http://www.expand-a-lung.com/

You can't increase your lung volume. It grows to the maximum volume before you even become a teenager. A gimmick like that works on respiratory muscles but it wouldn't help anything because they have nothing to do with the gas exchange occurring in your alveoli. Only physical exercise helps boost the gas exchange efficiency.

Editted:
Maybe it might help if you have a rebreather with poor WOB or poorly tuned (or cheap) regs in open circuit. You should look at your equipment in that case before working on your respiratory muscles.
 
Yeah, exactly. That's the device.

Interesting take. I don't necessarily disagree but do you think it could be equivalent to resistance training with any other muscle. I guess I'm thinking that if you "weight" your breathing, you'll breath easier when "unweighted," so to speak. There is certainly a premium on relaxed breathing the more atms you are working in.

I'm sold on that. It's just something I'm batting around.

Any takers?

JB
 
I think in the recreation market tons of money is spent on improving the equipment. investing in technology to manufacture a regulator that provides gas in a way that simplifies breathing. Keep in mind that rec limits are to 130 feet and the normal gas is air or nitrox. Sure, a tech diver spend way more on his/her equipment and frequently owns more than one of everything but I would think that a reg manufacturer will sell more regs in the rec market than exotic gas tech market. So the R&D dollars are spent there.

I don't know, that is all just my opinion.
 
RockPile:
I was originally certified at a military academy while teaching. More than a few of my mentors and instructors had combat diving backgrounds. They don’t approach the water the same as, well, anyone really. Suffice it to say, I picked up some odd diving habits.

One of the interesting ones with regard to training that I’ve never really heard discussed knowledgeably elsewhere is the use of lung training devices. A couple of the divers swore by them.

Anyone know if these devices are helpful/harmful/useless beyond just getting used to breathing hard?

JB
Click to expand...
As an avid freediver, I swear by mine. There is quite a bit of research to support the use of lung trainers. Among the benefits cited are significant changes in maximum ventilation, maximum volume, decreased respiration rate, increase in peak exhalation force, and many more. There have been some pretty compelling studies done to show that the respiratory muscles are trainable and can significantly enhance performance.
 
I think this would be pretty similar to the reason the Olympic training facility is in Colorado Springs, altitude. I've lived in Wyoming for 2 years now at almost 6000 ft. When I moved there I was always short breath, not so much anymore and when I travel home to Florida's sealevel alt. I feel much better when doing any physical task.
 
Prim,

Not exactly. That has to do with oxygen deprivation. You’re lungs and muscles don’t have to work harder (in fact I think they work easier) in the thin air. You just have to breathe more, initially, until your body becomes accustomed to the lower O2 level.

But your comment has made me wonder why guys like Pelizzari and Ferreras don’t train in high altitudes. It would be kind of like a permanent kind of partial apnea.

Just interesting, that’s all.

JB
 
RockPile:
But your comment has made me wonder why guys like Pelizzari and Ferreras don’t train in high altitudes. It would be kind of like a permanent kind of partial apnea.

Just interesting, that’s all.

JB
Click to expand...
hey RockPile, good question. I would speculate that they are bringing the hypoxic training to them instead of going to the mountains. Check this out.
 
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