Power Breathers
 

Does anyone have experience with powerbreathers? They seem like a good idea but at tad expensive for what they are.
Any appraisals or recommendations?

what is a Power Breather?

Are you talking about Breath Right strips? The ones advertised for snoring and such?

--Seth

This is a power breather

http://www.parker-international.co.u...rer/googleBRPW

What does it do, offer resistance to your breathing in an attempt to stregthen your lungs?

--Seth

i believe so.at least this one does
http://www.powerlung.com/us/prod/prod_sp.htm

ive been wondering about the powerlung too.has anyone tried it?

Sounds to me like it needs to be put up on the shelf with the See Clearly Method and other snake oil remedys.

They will make you faster........by lightening your wallet.

Spend that hard-earned on some new shorts, tyres, etc etc. Power Breathers are a complete waste of time and money for cyclists.

On their home page there is a caption under a picture:
Basically, people who do not breath, need not apply... :roflmao:

Great....strong intercostals.

How about improving lung capacity or aerobic/lactate threshold??? Nothing on there about that??

I've never heard of this device or the other referenced in this thread before following the links and have no idea if they perform as claimed. Since your statement is so definitive as to the worthless nature of the product, I was wondering if you have first hand experience, or were just making your own value judgment? If you haven't, it would be nice hearing from someone who has used them how it worked or didn't work for them.

First hand. salesman tried to sell to the shop I worked in. Could provide no proof of it being able to do more than marginally strengthen the intercostal muscles.

No perfromance enhanciing ability whatsoever. Marketing gimmick.

When I got pneumonia several years ago I went through a recovery therapy with very similar gadgets

in theory they sound good. you condition your lungs to deliver air when they are under stress. after heavy running blah blah blah. id try one.
-rOOster-

Dude, is stupid. Just because you are at LT and your are breathing harder it does not mean your lung is weak. In that case, your lungs would be forever weak since when you are at LT you are supposed to breathe hard. :D Is the legs. Is all about the leg muscle and your heart.

Being able to suck more air into better expanded lungs seems like a worthwhile improvement to me.
One of the guys I race with has one for a breathing disorder [something to do with his larinx (sp)] and says it's helping him heaps and his performance is noticeably improving.
At my age I need every assist I can get. Still not convinced though, and I need a set of aero bars anyway. :D

Here's my take on it, which may or may not mean anything to anyone else. In the practice of breathing while exercising, most of us can fill our lungs as is at this time without too much of a problem. But, how often do you fully fill your lungs while you are riding very hard? It seems that most people are far closer to panting and hyperventilating when their efforts get too hard. Next, if we look at the limiting factors in the lung area, we find that what limits most people is the number of alveoli that are able to "grab" the oxygen from what we just inhaled and put it to use by transporting it to our bloodstream. The limiting factor appears to be not how much air you can get into your lungs, but the number and effectiveness of the oxygen transporters. Unless these devices can help in that area, then I don't believe they are worth the money.

So let's all buy one and meet back in 2 months and report our results :p

I agree with the above based on what I read/heard many years ago...and it had nothing to do with power breathers. I would agree that there is likely a select group of people with some form of physical abnormality whom would benefit from this tool, but this is not the norm.

I'd rather buy a tuba and play that for 6 months.

with apologies to my next-door-neighbor.

As a musician, I actually have experience with toys like that. My opinion is that it's completely useless for 95% of the riders out there, as in general, people do not know how to breathe well enough to make use of increased lung capacity. HOWEVER, if you ever feel like you're not getting enough oxygen, ie. you're doing a ride 8000ft above where you normally ride, they will help.

That being said, I think everyone should have one. No reason not to. Don't buy one of the name brand ones, though. Go to home depot, pick up a 1"~1.5" PVC pipe, cut it to a couple inches long, stick a ball valve on it, and voila, you have yourself an adjustable-resistance breather for about $4.

I have no idea if this contraption would work, but...I've been fighting off a summer cold, and my sinuses and lungs are pretty congested. I was having trouble breathing on my ride yesterday, and I think it really held me back. Would stronger lung muscles have helped in this case? Probably not, but better breathing is always better.

because they're breathing wrong. I never pant or hyperventilate when I ride, no matter how hard. Breathing should be slow (the fastest I breathe is about 45 breaths/min - each breath being one in, one out) and deep.

I won't disagree with you at all there, as I said "most people" in my original statement. But not everyone played a wind instrument or learned how to breathe properly through this or other activities either.

The bottom line remains that assuming you can fill your lungs, the lung tissue and its surface area are the limiting factors in the use of oxygen--not how much you can get into your lungs. Now, if you have asthma or something along those lines, where the muscles around your lungs are not strong enough for some reason, then these devices may help. Other than that though, practice taking very deep breaths, expanding your stomach and not your chest when you inhale.

I already have one.

It's called a trumpet.