Powerbreathe - does it help cycling performance?

Ok so here goes for an attempt at a blog. At 45 years old this is pretty new, but I came to it because I use product reviews more and more now before buying. You can't beat personal experience or recomendation, or damning of a product or place to help make a decision.

I got back into cycling in January 2012 after years of being a fairly decent rugby player (Premiership level back in the early 90's). Finally had to give up the game I loved a few years ago, not through injury but just lost the enjoyment because I was no longer able to do the things I used to on a field. The brain was still great but the body was starting to fall behind... time I left rugby before rugby left me!

When I say I got back into cycling, I used to cycle as a kid and up to my mid teens. 60-100 miles weekend rides with my Dad (who's still racing at 75!) were standard, although I did shed many tears on some of the hills of North Wales in mid January. I've always remained interested in cycling but rugby became my first love.

So in January this year I decided to set myself a goal of getting back into actual competitive cycle racing and the hard work began putting the base miles in and trying to loose some of the muscle I'd bulked up with over the years for rugby. I was 5ft 8 and 13st when I finished playing rugby, not particularly overweight, fairly muscular and still a regular at the gym.

The months followed with a steady build up in mileage and speed and I may write another blog on that. I started competing a month or so ago and wow what a wake up. These guys Im racing are serious athletes and seem to have reserve levels of energy I cant match yet. I found my breathing was short and eractic when training and had heard of the powerbreathe before and as an attempt to get any edge on training possible I ordered the #Powerbreathe Ironman Plus to see if this can have any added benefit to my training regime.

I chose the Ironman plus after reading some reviews as its effort level allows for more of a increase in resistance.
It arrived 2 days ago and here is where I start my blog of my own personal experiment to see if it makes any difference!

Day 1: It came ready assembled with a DVD on how to use it, however, it pretty easy to use. Just put the nose clip on, insert the powerbreathe in your mouth and take a deep fast breathe, then slowly breathe out... repeat 30 times... twice a day.
There is a 0-10 gauge to alter resistance. I immediately thought, lets try the level 10! I couldnt even breathe in so sensibly i decided to start at level 0. 30 deep breathes later I started getting the hang of it.
Initially I felt dizzy when breathing but by slowing down a bit this disappeared. The feeling is like a restriction on your breathing and I really feel my lungs, abdomen and neck working hard to take that deep breathe.

Day 2: stuck with the resistance at 0 and felt comfortable for both sessions of breathing. Went for a 40 mile bike ride and averaged 18.5mph. This was about the usual speed for an intensive ride and too early to notice any difference breathing wise.

Day 3: ok so now i cranked the resistance up to 3... slightly too hard... so dropped it down to 2.5. I managed to get 30 good breathes in without suffocating and felt it definitely was working my lungs and abdomen. Rest day on the bike today so will repeat the #Powerbreathe tonight on the same setting.

Day 4: 2 more sessions on 2.5 resistance, felt comfortable

Day 5: 1st session before breakfast and easily completed 30 reps on 2.5 resistance so cranked it up a notch to 3 resistance. Definitely feel the effort and completed 30 reps. Progression seems fairly quick but I doubt I will be able to get to 10 resistance... now there's a challenge.

Day 6: Moved redistance up to 3.5. Cycled 60 miles today, No real differnce noticed yet.

Day 7/8 One week in with my powerbreathe and Im up to a resistance of 4. The progression is quicker than I expected and I'm sticking to 2 sessions of 30 breathes a day. Tonight was a good test with a 30 mile Road Race. Im new to racing so my induction has generally involved surviving a maximum pain and heart rate threshold for 70 minutes. With regular pace changes and intervals of full power my breathing was much more under control. Rather than resembling a a mad dog on a hot day chasing a bus, I actually felt comfortable at times. Now this could be down to general fitness improvements but I guess its probably a mixture of all. So I'm fast becoming a believer in the Powerbreathe and it might actually be doing some good.

Week 2: into the second week with powerbreathe, keeping up with the routine but not making the same quick progress, was stuck on level 4 and just today increased to 4.5 resistance. Coincidence or not but I raced this weekend and coped well with the pace, breathing was good and rode at threshold heart rate for an hour. Check out the Strava link:


Week 2 day 3: increased to level 5 on resistance. Indoor turbo trainer session was notably easier, even though it was at 90% max.

Week 2 day 5: completed 30 breathes at resistance 5 so immediately increased resistance to 5.5 and completed another 30 breathes. Just like weight training, it's easier to warm up the muscles first and then go for an increase. Completed the 30 breathes with effort on level 5.5. There's no way I could have done that 2 weeks ago so impressed.

Race day tomorrow so I'll let you know how it goes!

RACE DAY: 35 Mile criterium with an average speed of 25mph. A massive improvement from a few weeks ago, jumped across to a few breaks and felt comfortable in the bunch even with an average HR of 93% of maximum. Breathing was good and I was recovering well after attacks. Whether this is down to Powerbreathe or a combination of some interval training, racing and speed work. My gut feeling is that all are helping but I feel the Powerbreathe is making a difference. I'm still doing the 2 sessions of 30 breathes a day and up to resistance 5.5
Ive attached the strava report for the race...


Week 3: This week I've plateau'd out at 5.5 resistance on the powerbreathe, and on a few days had to return to 5. I missed a few sessions which may account for this. Technique is definitely important to maintain at this level, once this goes then its a slow suffocation! No race this week but some good training sessions at maximum effort , see below, and breathing was controlled throughout.

Week 4: into week 4 and the task now is to remember to do the exercise twice a day. Upped the resistance to 6 and managing ok. Big race this weekend so lets see how I get on.
Race Day: a windy Sept day with a strong field was always going to make things hard for a novice like me. Heart rate was pretty much 90% or above for the race but surprisingly the legs were good, it was the tactics which let me down as I missed the breaks. The combination of gaining some race experience, some specific training and the powerbreathe all must have helped.

That kind of wraps up the season so I'll end my blog at this point.

Its a long blog and probably far too much info so apologies! The powerbreathe is definitely worth the money and definitely helps as part of a training plan.