Effects of a nasal breathing protocol on physical fitness and pulmonary function in young basketball players.

BACKGROUND: Respiratory muscle training has been shown to provide positive effects for both health and performance purposes. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of a six-week period of nasal breathing on pulmonary function and cardio-respiratory fitness in young basketball players. METHODS: Thirty-four, male, basketball players were enrolled and assigned either to experimental group (EG) or to control group (CG). All participants were tested for Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery level 1 (Yo-Yo IR1), Shuttle Sprint Test (SST), Forced Vitality Capacity (FVC), Forced Expiratory Volume in one second (FEV1) and Peak Expiratory Flow (PEF). EG group followed reduced breathing frequency training program focused on intermittent running exercises while performing nasal breathing. RESULTS: The main findings were significant interactions in Yo-Yo IR1 test, FVC, FEV1 and PEF (P<0.05) in favor of EG compared to CG. Conversely, no significant changes were detected between EG and CG in the SST total time. CONCLUSIONS: Young basketball players may benefit from nasal breathing protocol during their regular training practice leading remarkable improvements in both physical fitness and pulmonary function.

Effects of different core exercises on respiratory parameters and abdominal strength.

[Purpose] This study determined the effects a new modality of core stabilization exercises based on diaphragmatic breathing on pulmonary function, abdominal fitness, and movement efficiency. [Subjects] Thirty-two physically active, healthy males were randomly assigned to an experimental group (n = 16) and a control group (n = 16). [Methods] The experimental group combined diaphragmatic breathing exercises with global stretching postures, and the control group performed common abdominal exercises (e.g., crunch, plank, sit-up), both for 15 minutes twice weekly for 6 weeks. Pulmonary function (measured by forced vital capacity, forced expiratory volume in 1 second, and peak expiratory flow) and abdominal fitness (measured with the American College of Sports Medicine curl-up [cadence] test and the Functional Movement Screen(TM)) were evaluated before and after the intervention. [Results] Significant changes in curl-up (cadence) test scores, Functional Movement Screen scores, and all pulmonary parameters were recorded in the experimental group at the posttraining assessment, whereas in the control group, no significant differences over baseline were observed in any parameters. [Conclusion] Compared with traditional abdominal exercises, core stabilization exercises based on breathing and global stretching postures are more effective in improving pulmonary function and abdominal fitness.

The vertical excursion of the body visceral mass during vertical jumps is affected by specific respiratory maneuver.

Most of the inverse modeling of body dynamics in sports assumes that every segment is 'rigid' and moves 'as a whole', although we know that uncontrolled wobbling masses exist and in specific condition their motion should be optimized, both in engineering and biology. The visceral mass movement within the trunk segment potentially interferes with respiration and motion acts such as locomotion or jumping. The aim of this paper is to refine and expand a previously published methodology to estimate that relative motion by testing its ability to detect the reduced vertical viscera excursion within the trunk. In fact, a respiratory-assisted jumping strategy is expected to limit viscera motion stiffening the abdominal content of the bouncing body. Six subjects were analyzed, by using inverse dynamics incorporating wobbling masses, during repeated vertical jumps performed before and after a specific respiratory training period. The viscera excursion, which showed consistent intra-individual time courses, decreased by about 30% when the subjects had become familiarized with the trunk-stiffening maneuver. We conclude that: (1) present methodology proved to detect subtle visceral mass movement within the trunk during repetitive motor acts and, particularly, (2) a newly proposed respiratory maneuver/training devoted to stiffening the trunk segment can reduce viscera vertical displacement.

Breathing training characterization by thermal imaging: a case study.

Specific respiratory muscle training improves athletes' performance particularly at high intensities. This work aims to study the usability of infrared thermography to evaluate two types of breathing, thoracic and diaphragmatic, on the cartographies of the cutaneous temperature of the trunk. IR thermography is a non-invasive technique that visually represents the whole process during and after training. A well trained subject in both respirations performed the exercise with SpiroTiger® for 5 minutes, followed by 5 minutes of recovery. Ten Regions of Interest on the subject skin were selected following anatomical and functional correspondence with the muscles involved in breathing. In order to check functional behaviour of respiratory muscles, we calculated the correlation among thermal data of all the ROI. Global temperature of body trunk showed a general decrease of few degrees during both kinds of the training but thermal imaging documented also thermal spots of increasing temperature in pectoral areas due to the superficial vasocirculation in thoracic breathing. The results indicate that thermal imaging can be used for quantitative evaluation of the cutaneous temperature in various trunk zones characterized by thoracic and diaphragmatic breathing. This work can be considered a preliminary study to the development of future statistical study.