For years, everyone thought that breathing didn't limit exercise performance.  Lung volumes are essentially set, so how could breathing impact performance?  But Alison McConnell, Professor of Applied Physiology at Brunel University's Centre for Sports Medicine and Human Performance, and a former competitive rower knew that sensations such as "lung burn"  and the need to "stop and catch a breath" surely meant that breathing limited our ability to exercise.  So she embarked on a journey of groundbreaking research and uncovered that yes, indeed, our breathing muscles suffer the same amount of fatigue and metabolic repercussions as any other exercising muscle.  Only, when these muscles fatigue they steal blood and therefore energy away from our exercising muscles in order to continue to function.  And that, most certainly, limits exercise performance.  The good news is, she also developed a wonderful tool, called POWERbreathe that specifically targets and trains the respiratory muscles.

POWERbreathe is now available in Canada through Breathe Well Physio.  It is recommended that when you purchase a POWERbreathe product, that you also book a one hour consult with Jessica DeMars, Physiotherapist to ensure you have a correct breathing pattern and can use the device properly.  This ensures you get the best results possible.  Contact Jessica at Breathe Well Physio for more information.