Inspiratory Muscle Training - Benefits and Contraindications

What Is Inspiratory Muscle Training?

Inspiratory muscle training (IMT) is resistance training that focuses on strengthening the muscles that help one breathe. When these muscles are routinely trained for a few weeks, they adapt, become stronger, and can perform for longer periods. IMT is a safe treatment that has not been demonstrated to negatively affect patients' heart rates, blood pressure, or oxygen saturation levels. It is a strategy that has been widely used in various demographics, particularly older adults in general. IMT has been shown to increase exercise capacity, functional anatomy, diaphragmatic thickness and mobility, and cardiac autonomic regulation, making it a viable tool for overall health management.

How Does Inspiratory Muscle Training Work?

IMT (inspiratory muscle training) is like dumbbells to strengthen the diaphragm. Resistance training is used in IMT to increase the strength of the inspiratory muscles. The diaphragm and intercostals are the main respiratory muscles. One can also enhance their strength and stamina and lessen breathing fatigue by training them with inspiratory muscle exercises. This is beneficial not just to athletes who want to increase their athletic performance but also to people with breathing issues and healthy people who want to feel less breathless while they exercise. Training the inspiratory muscles can improve physical performance significantly. It enhances endurance, and the benefits can be significant for athletes who train daily. However, it positively impacts one's general health, including the body, brain, and heart. Several studies show that inspiratory muscle training improves vessel health, lowers blood pressure, and improves cognitive health.

• Using the breathing device, one can start with a lung test.

• Inspiratory muscle training should be performed in a relaxed seated position.

• Have to train for around five to ten minutes per day.

• Increase the breathing training time continuously.

• Have to train twice a day, preferably in the morning and evening.

Is Inspiratory Muscle Training the Same as Respiratory Muscle Training?

Respiratory Muscle Training (RMT) is a technique that involves performing particular exercises to improve the function of the respiratory muscles. Breathing devices for lungs are available online and they can also be used to remove mucus. RMT includes inspiratory muscle strength training or expiratory muscle strength training (these exercises include devices to increase the pressure of expiratory muscles to improve the respiratory and swallowing outcomes in cases of dysphagia or swallowing difficulties) or a combination of both. Inspiratory muscle training, in particular, has increased respiratory muscle function and may assist in reducing dyspnea (shortness of breath) during exercise. In some cases, like COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), a combination of inspiratory muscle training and expiratory muscle training (EMT) is used.

Respiratory muscle dysfunction is a common symptom of COPD patients. Dyspnea, hypoxemia (low level of oxygen in the blood), and impaired exercise capacity are severe respiratory muscle dysfunction symptoms. COPD patients' mortality is closely linked to respiratory muscle weakness. IMT has been suggested as a viable option for improving respiratory muscle performance.

COPD can also cause expiratory muscle exhaustion and poor inspiratory muscle performance. Expiratory muscle contraction enhances efficient cough by increasing intrathoracic pressure and decreasing lung capacity, which was previously assumed to be connected with airway clearing. Expiratory muscles in COPD patients are known to be recruited near the end of expiration during rest or weight-bearing breathing. This aids in the maintenance of respiratory function. Although only a few studies are looking into expiratory muscle training (EMT), it has been recommended to strengthen inspiratory and expiratory muscles alone or combined with IMT.

Does Inspiratory Muscle Training Benefit Everyone?

Inspiratory muscle strength, endurance, functional capacity, dyspnea, and quality of life showed statistically significant improvements after inspiratory muscle exercise. The increase in the proportion of type I muscle fibers and the size of type II muscle fibers in the external intercostals, the muscles between the ribs, is assumed to be responsible for the improvement in inspiratory muscle endurance capacity after IMT. Breathing deeper takes more energy and allows more oxygen into the bloodstream with each breath. As a result, one can take slower, deeper breaths and extract more oxygen from each one, lowering the amount of oxygen required by the breathing muscles during activity. As a result, more oxygen is available throughout an exercise for other muscles in the body.

Why Is It Necessary to Train Inspiratory Muscles?

The demand for oxygen in the body increases as one works out. As a result, one will need to increase their breathing volume or ventilation to meet the increased oxygen requirement. Several muscles surrounding the lungs must contract in a highly coordinated manner for this to work. To keep up with the body's significant rise in metabolism, the inspiratory muscles must contract more powerfully and faster as the intensity of the activity increases. Inspiratory muscle strength training significantly impacts respiratory fitness in health, fitness, and sports training, as well as boosting athletic performance.

How to Train Inspiratory Muscles?

Regular training is required to improve breathing and muscle strength. Even 30 breaths twice a day can make a difference. In addition, inspiratory muscle training can help warm the breathing muscles before exercising. One can strengthen the breathing muscles in the same way they would strengthen the other muscles. Targeting the respiratory muscles is harder than targeting a leg muscle. A breathing apparatus that encourages the diaphragm to work harder than it does during regular breathing is essential. Weight-lifting for the respiratory muscles will have the same impact.

What Are the Types of Breathing Trainers?

Doctors recommend individuals purchase a breathing trainer for respiratory therapy. There are three main types of breathing trainers:

• Flow resistance.

• Electronic tapered resistance.

• Pressure threshold resistance.

What Are the Contraindications of Inspiratory Muscle Training?

Caution should be exercised in the following events:

• History of spontaneous pneumothorax.

• Traumatic pneumothorax that has not fully healed.

• Burst eardrum or other states of the eardrum.

• Unstable asthma with a low perception of dyspnea.

Conclusion:

Inspiratory muscle strength training makes one more conscious of their breathing, helps them understand how to breathe more efficiently, and controls the amount of oxygen required. As a result, one can improve their endurance or ability to continue or last longer during physical exercise, which is crucial for increasing performance. Regular inspiratory muscle training is beneficial for enhancing aerobic or cardiovascular exercise, such as running or cycling, as well as a variety of other everyday tasks that require a lot of stamina.