Breath Work – A Highlight

The cause of the unforgettable infection that is COVID-19 is the viral respiratory disease, SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome), with many people experiencing respiratory problems as a result. So, it’s no surprise that we are turning to breathwork for nourishing both body and mind. In fact, breath work is now one of the fastest growing wellness trends.

Breathwork

Breathwork encompasses the use of breathing exercises and breathing techniques as a means of therapy for self-help. This is because it helps to relieve physical, mental and emotional stress and tension. For instance, a deep, diaphragmatic breath can stimulate your vagus nerve and lower stress responses. It activates your parasympathetic nervous system, also known as your ‘rest and digest’ system. In fact, a 2021 scientific study shows that diaphragmatic breathing training using POWERbreathe Inspiratory Muscle Training (IMT) lowers blood pressure too.

How Breathing Works

Your airways, lungs, blood vessels and the muscles that enable you to breathe are the main part of your breathing system. Your breathing muscles include your diaphragm, intercostals, abdominals and the accessory muscles in your neck and collarbone area. Out of all of these, your diaphragm is the main muscle you use to breathe. In addition to this main muscle, the muscles between your ribs, your intercostal muscles, also play an important part in breathing.

When you breathe in, it’s your diaphragm that contracts to pull air in, deep into your lungs. Then, as your muscles relax, you breathe out. This deep, nourishing breath in is an inspiratory breath. Breathing out is an expiratory breath. Although this happens automatically, you are able to influence your breathing. And this is where breath work comes in.

Breathe Stronger

As your diaphragm is a muscle, just like any other muscle, you can make it stronger. And, as it’s the muscle that draws breath into your body, it’s a muscle you shouldn’t neglect. But how to target it? Well, just as you might use dumbbells to improve your bicep muscles, there is a dumbbell for your diaphragm. POWERbreathe inspiratory muscle training (IMT) devices target the muscle that is responsible for you taking an inspiratory breath, your diaphragm.

Why Train Your Breathing

By using POWERbreathe IMT to train your breathing muscles, you will improve breathing strength, stamina and reduce breathing fatigue. This is beneficial to everyone – even healthy people. In fact, POWERbreathe breathing training is scientifically proven to be beneficial for:

1. Athletes to improve sports performance.
2. People with breathing problems.
3. Singers, musicians and dancers.
4. People in the uniformed services.

People who keep fit or play sport know that they need to train regularly to improve their muscle strength and sports performance. Yet, they often forget to train the most fundamental system necessary for improving sports performance – their breathing. Read more about why you should train your breathing to improve your sports performance.

Breath Work

A diagram of the ‘work of breathing’ can be found in our Breathing Facts blog. It illustrates the changes in breathing muscle contraction force and the resulting changes in lung volume at rest and exercise. During extreme exercise, both your inspiratory muscles and expiratory muscles will be working hard to perform the vital process of gas exchange. You can read more about this in What Happens When You Breathe. In the case of your inspiratory muscles, your inspiratory breathwork helps to keep your breathing from competing with your other muscles. This is known as metaboreflex.

By using POWERbreathe breathing training devices for just 30 breaths, twice a day, you will improve the strength and stamina of your breathing muscles. This scientifically proven training is easy to fit into a daily breathwork regimen. Whether it’s to improve your health or fitness, deep diaphragmatic breathing is hugely beneficial. Here are more tips to improve breathing.

How POWERbreathe Breathing Training Works