Effect of respiratory muscle strengthening on rowing performance

Background: Respiratory muscle training (RMT) has been proposed as a beneficial means of improving respiratory muscle strength (RMS) and respiratory muscle fatigue (RMF) in athletes. Aims and Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the effects of a 12-week specific RMT program on the RMS, RMF and rowing ergometer performance in highly- trained rowers. Materials and Methods: Twenty professional rowers aged 20-35 years were recruited for the study during the competitive period and randomly grouped into an experimental (n=11) or control (n=9) group. Baseline measurements of maximal inspiratory and expiratory mouth pressures were obtained with a portable handheld mouth pressure meter while performance was assessed by 2000m and 5000m rowing ergometer machine. Subsequently rowers in the experimental group were prescribed a novel RMT program comprising of specific breathing and abdominal muscle exercises while the control group was prescribed a “general exercise program” for non- respiratory muscles for a 12-week period. RMF was assessed by calculating the difference between the pre-exercise and post-exercise mouth pressures. Results: Respiratory muscle strength improved overtime in the experimental and the control group following the respective training programs (p 0.05). More importantly, rowing ergometer performance improved significantly in the experimental group compared to the control (p<0.01). Conclusion: The results suggest that the novel RMT program had a significant effect in improving rowing performance, although the effect on RMS and RMF was not significant.