Five minutes of daily breath training improves exercise tolerance, boosts energy metabolism and combats aging.
Despite the myriad known benefits of exercise, many middle-aged and older adults struggle to meet physical activity recommendations. New research finds potential for high-resistance inspiratory muscle strength training (IMST) to help this population transition to a healthier lifestyle by improving exercise endurance and boosting metabolism.
Although exercise reduces the risk of developing chronic illness with aging, many adults struggle with physical inactiveness. Increasing adherence and improving physical function are key to reducing the risk of chronic diseases with aging.
One simple way to improve exercise tolerance, improve endurance, and increase metabolism involves inhaling through a handheld device called a manual breathing trainer that adds resistance to the breath. Elite athletes have been using this technique for many years to gain an edge in competition.
The benefits of IMST can be helpful to everyone, especially middle-aged and older adults, even those that are recovering from respiratory illness such post acute covid. A good place to start is using a manual breathing trainer for 30 breaths a day. Studies indicate that after 6weeks of use, a significant increase in endurance, measurable improvements in energy metabolism and fatty acid metabolism resulted.
Take home: 5 min/day of high-resistance IMST increases exercise tolerance and increases metabolism. To find out more, talk to one of our primary care providers at Pandya Medical Center.
