Abstract
Background: Breathing technique may influence endurance exercise performance by reducing overall breathing work and delaying respiratory muscle fatigue. We investigated whether a two-month yoga-based breathing intervention could affect breathing characteristics during exercise. Methods: Forty-six endurance runners (age = 16.6 ± 1.2 years) were randomized to either a breathing intervention or control group. The contribution of abdominal, thoracic, and subclavian musculature to respiration and ventilation parameters during three different intensities on a cycle ergometer was assessed pre- and post-intervention. Results: Post-intervention, abdominal, thoracic, and subclavian ventilatory contributions were altered at 2 W·kg−1 (27:23:50 to 31:28:41), 3 W·kg−1 (26:22:52 to 28:31:41), and 4 W·kg−1 (24:24:52 to 27:30:43), whereas minimal changes were observed in the control group. More specifically, a significant (p < 0.05) increase in abdominal contribution was observed at rest and during low intensity work (i.e., 2 and 3 W·kg−1), and a decrease in respiratory rate and increase of tidal volume were observed in the experimental group. Conclusions: These data highlight an increased reliance on more efficient abdominal and thoracic musculature, and less recruitment of subclavian musculature, in young endurance athletes during exercise following a two-month yoga-based breathing intervention. More efficient ventilatory muscular recruitment may benefit endurance performance by reducing energy demand and thus optimize energy requirements for mechanical work.
Highlights
The physiological implications of reductions in physical activity due to an environment that is oversaturated with technological innovation are only beginning to be realized [1,2]
The present study evaluated whether two-months of a yoga breathing exercise program may influence breathing characteristics during various intensities of exercise in young healthy athletes
There was no significant change in the involvement of individual breathing sectors at rest or at any load level (p > 0.05; Table 1)
Summary
The physiological implications of reductions in physical activity due to an environment that is oversaturated with technological innovation are only beginning to be realized [1,2]. Chest wall volume changes can be assessed by optoelectronic plethysmography [33] or by optoelectronic plethysmography [34] Building upon these techniques, our group used a respiratory muscle dynamometer to measure instantaneous values of involvement of the ventilatory musculature (MD03 muscle dynamometer) [11,35,36]. Our group used a respiratory muscle dynamometer to measure instantaneous values of involvement of the ventilatory musculature (MD03 muscle dynamometer) [11,35,36] Using this dynamometer, the present study evaluated whether two-months of a yoga breathing exercise program may influence breathing characteristics during various intensities of exercise in young healthy athletes. We anticipated greater involvement of the musculature of the lower torso (i.e., abdomen and thoracic sectors) and less upper-body contribution (i.e., subclavian) during exercise following the yoga-based breathing intervention
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