Gordo Posted July 3, 2019 Report Share Posted July 3, 2019 https://www.inverse.com/article/54740-imst-training-blood-pressure-health?mc_cid=37fb5f9436&mc_eid=4bf90bf1ad A New Way of Working Out Takes 5 Minutes and Is as Easy as Breathing “Maybe they won’t do 30 minutes of aerobic exercise, but perhaps they’ll do 5 minutes of this." By Sarah Sloat on April 9, 2019 Filed Under Biology, Data, Energy, Health & Public Health More than 100 million Americans have high blood pressure. Doctors say a mere 30 minutes of daily aerobic exercise can combat the condition, but only about 5 percent of adults meet that minimum. In an effort to meet this challenge, scientists at the annual Experimental Biology Meeting presented preliminary evidence supporting a new way of working out, which they claim is just as good for the heart, body, and brain. It’s called Inspiratory Muscle Strength Training (IMST), and it’s designed to only take up five minutes a day. Essentially, IMST is strength training for the muscles we use to breathe. Across two presentations on Sunday and Monday, researchers from the University of Colorado Boulder explained how early trials suggest that IMST lowers blood pressure, improves blood vessel health, improves cognitive health, and increases exercise tolerance time. To work out with IMST, people breath vigorously through a handheld device called an inspiratory muscle trainer, which provides resistance — you can think of it as sucking through a straw that sucks back. Lead author Daniel Craighead, Ph.D., tells Inverse that its ease of use makes him hopeful that people will adopt the device. “It’s very time efficient so we hope that someone who has a reason to try it out — they have high blood pressure, or they want to keep their blood pressure under control — would adopt this as something they can do daily, like brushing their teeth,” Craighead says. A volunteer demonstrates Inspiratory Muscle Strength Training at the University of Colorado Boulder. This research is also not complete yet. So far they’ve collected about half the data they eventually want to have — the goal is for these trials to result in a larger, long-term study that can ensure that what they’re seeing is real and robust. But what they’ve seen so far is encouraging. This trial focused on 50 subjects who were 50 years and older. Each individual had blood pressure above the ideal blood pressure of 120 millimeters mercury, but they were otherwise healthy. The blood pressure of participants was key — the study’s foundation is to test whether or not they can lower their blood pressure. The team suspected this approach would help after results emerged from a 2016 University of Arizona trial led by Fiona Bailey, Ph.D.. Her study was designed to see how IMST could help people with obstructive sleep apnea. IMST was originally developed in the 1980s to help wean critically ill people off ventilators. Because it strengthens inspiratory muscles, Bailey figured it could aid apnea patients, who have weaker breathing muscles. The heart health results linked to this device are similar to 30 minutes of aerobic exercise IMST did help these patients, and it yielded an unexpected side effect: After six weeks, their systolic blood pressure dropped by 12 millimeters mercury. That result is about twice as much of a decrease as researchers would expect to see from aerobic exercise. Craighead and his colleagues wanted to see whether these results were specific to people with apnea, or could be applied to the public at large. So far the data shows that when it’s utilized at a high-intensity level — 30 vigorous breaths in five minutes — IMST can promote optimal health. Each patient demonstrated improved cerebral vascular function, motor function, cognitive function, and bodily vascular function. They also had an easier time exercising than they did prior to the trial. “I think IMST has slowly evolved from something used only by a very sick population to being something that people can adopt as a part of their everyday lifestyle,” Craighead says. “Maybe they won’t do 30 minutes of aerobic exercise, but perhaps they’ll do five minutes of this and get some benefits.” While the study isn’t over yet, IMST devices are already on the market. The researchers used ones from a company called PowerBreathe, namely because they have an internal data storage system that tracks how the device is being used. There’s a big range in IMST prices, but Craighead says there’s no evidence yet that the more expensive ones yield better results. He does, however, caution people to talk to their doctors before taking up this form of exercise. While you ostensibly can be sitting while you do this, it’s still considered a form of high-intensity physical training, so it’s important that people consult a physician to make sure this is the right choice for their health. In the future, Craighead hopes to see doctors encouraging their patients to use IMST. Until then, he’s gathering the evidence needed to make that happen. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ There are LOTs of these gadgets on Amazon, not really sure which is best, kind of like the ones that 1) Can offer resistance on both inhale or exhale 2) Have instructional videos on YouTube. One example: https://amzn.to/309pChq In the article they mention PowerBreathe: https://amzn.to/2J8JA6kFrom customer comments: Quote Here are a few suggestions/warnings not in the instructions. (1) As in any new exercise, start with just moderate exertion and gradually increase the exertion over several weeks.. (2) If you need the nose clips and find them uncomfortable--as I do--just hold your nose closed with one hand. (3) When washing the device twice weekly, I suggest boiling water for two minutes in a covered pot to sterilize it and letting it partially cool an hour (to the point where it is warm but not hot) to minimize the chance of mildew growing within the device. (4) If you find yourself loosing the count to 30, set a count-down timer for three minutes and watch your progress relative to it.Does it work? In five weeks of almost twice daily use, I have progressed from the zero setting to the "one" setting of the Medium Resistance device, which is approximately a 70% increase in force. I distinctly have more "sucking" power when using my Advair Diskus asthma medication. And I seem to have a bit more "wind" when jogging. I plan to try build strength for another month or two, and then switch to a maintenance schedule. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Put Posted July 7, 2019 Report Share Posted July 7, 2019 Thanks for this. Actually, it's something I across a while back and it seemed to be pretty well backed by research, but I had completely forgotten about it. Just got a different version of it ( not exactly clear what the difference is, other than price :), but I liked the black color better :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomBAvoider Posted July 7, 2019 Report Share Posted July 7, 2019 Err, guys, do you read other threads around here at all :)? I've covered this a month ago, and have been doing it regularly: https://www.crsociety.org/topic/17021-inspiratory-muscle-strength-training/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomBAvoider Posted July 7, 2019 Report Share Posted July 7, 2019 Also, Ron/Gordo one of those devices you linked to is NOT the same thing. It is in fact a link to Inspiratory/expiratory device which is very different from what the researchers discuss - research regarding expiratory are controversial, I would NOT mix those two, as there's talk about bad effects of expiratory obstruction. If you want to stick to research, stick to inspiratory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Put Posted July 7, 2019 Report Share Posted July 7, 2019 Thanks, Tom. You are correct and your's appears to be probably a better built device, but I wanted something which works for expiratory training as well. Why is expiratory training "controversial?" I don't see anything based on a quick search:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4316503/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0031940619300768 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sibiriak Posted July 8, 2019 Report Share Posted July 8, 2019 Quote ...there's talk about bad effects of expiratory obstruction. My neighbors were never that thrilled with my saxophone playing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mccoy Posted July 8, 2019 Report Share Posted July 8, 2019 7 hours ago, Sibiriak said: My neighbors were never that thrilled with my saxophone playing. 😂🎷😱 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Put Posted July 11, 2019 Report Share Posted July 11, 2019 I hope this thing is useful. I got the black one and I've done it three times so far, but I am at setting 6 for Inhale (which is the max) and 2 for inhale (max is 5). Doesn't seem difficult, let's hope I can tell a difference (for the better :) in a week or four. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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