2024 Volume 54 Issue 5 Pages 163-175
Inspiratory muscle training (IMT) increases respiratory muscle strength and endurance, improves exercise tolerance, dyspnea, and health-related quality of life. IMT is mainly performed with inspiratory resistance loading, and in addition to the threshold type (fixed loading method), a new type of equipment, the tapered type (gradual loading method), has recently been introduced.
Recently, IMT has been developed in the field of sports. In the field of sportsmen's exercise-related respiratory disorders, the causes of exercise-related respiratory symptoms include cardiovascular disease, physical limitations (athletic ability and obesity), asthma/exercise-induced bronchoconstriction, breathing pattern disorder (BPD), exercise-induced laryngeal obstruction (EILO). IMT has received considerable attention in improving sports performance, with effects including increased endurance, improved respiratory efficiency, decreased lactic acid accumulation, increased muscular power, improved recovery, improved mental health, and increased laryngeal function. IMT has been reported to improve endurance, respiratory efficiency, lactate accumulation, muscle power, recovery, and psychological effects. In the future, IMT training protocols (degree, frequency, duration, type, and individualization) in the field of sports will need to be optimized. The optimization of IMT training protocols (degree, frequency, duration, type, and individualization) in the sports domain is needed.
