My last 12-week project has been to measure and improve my respiratory muscle strength.
Devices used:
WellO2 (for respiratory muscle training, RMT)
Mybreath (smart mouthpiece that measures metrics like maximum inspiratory pressure (MIP) & maximum expiratory pressure (MEP)
Garmin watch (For estimated VO2 Max)
Training routine:
One session is 4 minutes (17 exhales and 16 inhales against resistance)
4-6 times a week, usually one session daily, sometimes double. Gradually increasing the resistance.
One deload week in the experiment.
Results after 12 weeks:
in MIP & MEP, we can see a significant increase:
My MEP value was already solid (above my age group), so the increase was “only” 16%.
One potential benefit of RMT is increased VO2 Max, I witnessed an 8% increase with estimated VO2 max:
Garmin watch is not the same as laboratory level VO2max test. However, few studies are showing that Garmin’s estimated VO2 max result is around 95% accurate.
The main question in my case isn’t the actual VO2max value; rather, did my VO2max increase during the experiment?
Luckily I have estimated VO2max data in my Garmin watch since 2019. There has not been such a sharp increase before. Usually, data fluctuates ±1, sometimes 2. Here is my data during the experiment vs 6 months before the experiment:
After the experiment, I was unable to beat my MEP record and only achieved a 1% (169 cm H20) increase in MIP. It feels like I have achieved my maximum levels with MIP, MEP, and estimated VO2 Max with RMT.
More info, data and pictures can be found here: Superior respiratory muscles with WellO2 MyBreath (12-week experiment) - Addicted to optimization