improve respiratory health with youbreathe

In our lab at London South Bank University we are progressing the youbreathe research and the results are getting more and more interesting and exciting. We are currently costing up a study in cystic fibrosis patients. Cystic fibrosis and other respiratory diseases such as COPD, neurological diseases such as motor neuron disease and multiple sclerosis and some forms of cancer can lead to increased mucus production which patients often have trouble clearing. If not cleared this mucus can move into the smaller airways of the respiratory tree and even to the alveoli where it can impair the functional units of respiration, block the airways and lead to secondary problems.

Because of the oscillatory nature of youbreathe and the frequency range it operates we believe it can be of enormous benefit in promoting the clearance of mucus through altering the viscosity of the mucus, breaking the bond between the mucus and the airways and promoting the cilia to do their job and move the mucus up and out of the respiratory system.

There are other devices out there which can perform this function such as Flutter, Acapella and other laboratory equipment. The advantage of Flutter over some of the other devices is that it can be used in the home which allows greater freedom to the patient and reduced cost to the primary care trust. The feedback we have received about the Flutter is that it works but the user adherence is low.

The following is a link to a chest respiratory physiotherapy site which describes all the basic forms of sputum clearance :

Chest Physio

This is where we believe youbreathe has a significant advantage. youbreathe can not only promote mucociliary clearance but can improve respiratory system performance, which can assist those with respiratory problems get active and live as normal a life as possible. This should increase patient adherence lading to long term benefit.

The trials will hopefully be underway soon and I will report on the findings as soon as possible.

Best wishes, stay healthy.

Flexi-bar

Hi,

This week I want to talk a little bit about another vibration related training modality - Flexi-bar. I actually know the distributors of this product and the guy from all the videos, Steve Schiemer. Before we get on to the product, I would like to say that Steve is a really great guy and knows what he is talking about.


Flexi-bar is an interesting device and the theory behind it is sound. I tried one for a few weeks and found it to be challenging but also interesting. Maybe this is where it's real benefit lies, making training varied and fun. Some of my colleagues at London South Bank University, Drs Jo Bowtell and Katya Mileva did some testing and found that there were differences in muscle recruitment with Flexi-bar but the investigations were not deep enough to allow real conclusions to be drawn. It looked like Flexi-bar was doing something.

I haven't seen the athletic version yet, but I think for core stability training it could be an excellent addition to a training programme. I know Wayne Rooney's girlfriend Coleen McLoughlin has been seen using one plus I know a few sports teams use them especially in Germany.

Hope this helps

Best wishes

youbreathe vibration breathing training and Taekwondo

Hi,

This week I want to report on some youbreathe users who have had some great success. Jaguar Taekwondo are using youbreathe as part of their training regimes and as a recovery tool during competition. They report have faster recovery profiles and greater endurance during fights.

We decided to go along and watch their latest competition which was held at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre on Sunday 8th July. They had 7 fighters competing in total and they finished with 2 golds, 1 silver and 3 bronzes, which could have been higher if not for injury.

I always feel immensely proud when I see youbreathe users doing well. I am not saying that their success is down to youbreathe but that youbreathe has played even a small part in their success. This is immensely gratifying for me.

Watching these athletes was also incredible. Then speed, stamina and skill they demonstrated was exceptional. They are coached by Dr Dave Cook who is a biomechanist, and he has done a great job with his athletes.

Cystic Fibrosis

Tomorrow I have a meeting with a cystic fibrosis clinician who wants to use youbreathe for his patients. We have known for a long time now that as well as breathing improvements, we can also utilise youbreathe for clearing mucus in cystic fibrosis, asthma, cancer plus other diseases. This is why we created youbreathe, to solve problems like this, and I hope youbreathe can be available to everyone who needs it. After all youbreathe is for everyone who breathes!

Human Growth Hormone continued

Hi,

I am going to continue to talk a little more about human growth hormone responses, but this week I want to talk a little more about breathing. When we designed youbreathe we did so with neuromuscular and hormonal responses in mind. We knew that growth hormone responded very strongly to vibration with exercise, and we knew there were effects of breathing on growth hormone responses. We always had in mind to see if youbreathe would cause growth hormone responses as the theory predicted.

We have some prelim results and it certainly looks promising. We have a couple of elite sprinters and some strength and conditioning coaches trying programmes out with youbreathe use for strength, sprint and power training. All feedback so far has been very positive.

We have several programmes developed so far but we need to continue the research to see which gives the best responses. In the next couple of weeks I will provide here a beta version for you to try in your own training regime. It makes training harder but the potential benefits will be well worth it.

We hope to be able to apply this to many clinical situations were atrophy is a problem and also maybe to obesity.

See you next time

This weeks update

We have had a good couple of weeks in terms or research and what we have learnt about vibration. One of our devices has also received great coverage in Athletics Weekly magazine in the week leading up to the marathon. I find it so rewarding when someone comes back with a very positive experience using something that I did or contributed to. This is why we got into Science and this line of research. As a side note the editor of Ultra-Fit (http://www.youbreathe.com/general/images/17-2%20Vibration%20Training.pdf) magazine came back and said youbreathe had really helped him in his rowing time trial performance. These are exciting times indeed.

Many people keep asking me about vibration training and one of the most important questions I keep being asked is do I think it is bad that people are looking for quick fixes rather than doing the hard yards of a conventional training programme. Honestly I agree but what we have to realise is that our society is changing and we have to change with it. People don't seem to have the time to commit to regular training like they used to. So vibration training is one way we can try and keep the world healthy and happy even with a short amount of time and effort.

We also have an exciting week coming up for some of our other vibration inventions. We have a meeting coming up next week with the largest gym equipment manufacturer in the world who want to use our technology for their equipment. I think there hasn't been any major advances in training methods and gym equipment for a good 30 years. Vibration training is a quantum leap forwards for those who embrace it first. I hope soon everyone can have access to a vibration suite based on our technology. That would be fulfilling indeed, especially with the London Olympics coming up.

OK, will keep you updated regarding all things vibration.

Bye

Work less, Benefit more.

Recently a “new” training modality is hitting the headlines. Due to its use by celebrities such as Madonna and Kylie Minogue, vibration training is becoming all the rage with outrageous claims being made for the benefits including “45 minutes worth of exercise in 15 minutes…!” Clearly strap lines like this make for great headlines to sell magazines, newspapers and vibration devices, but is it true?

Researchers at London South Bank University have published a paper in a peer-reviewed scientific journal demonstrating that during and subsequent to a single bout of leg extension exercise with vibration at 35% of 1-repetition maximum (1-RM), subjects responded in a similar manner to the responses observed subsequent to the subject performing a single bout of leg extension at 70% 1-RM without vibration. The longer-term training studies are not finished yet but this result suggests that lowering the exercise intensity (weight lifted) and adding a vibration stimulus could lead to similar benefits as high intensity resistance training. It is still very early days for vibration research and application but the important principle appears to be reducing the stimulus quantity and increasing the stimulus quality. For these reasons it’s been always recommend that someone interested in using vibration for training, especially at the elite level, consults qualified strength and conditioning practitioners as part of a training programme, such as the Human Performance Centre at London South Bank University.

The most common method of vibration training is that of vibrating platforms that the user performs exercises on. These devices have been used often in research but the results produced, although offering potential, are not consistent. Some users find that these devices can cause nausea, and if used incorrectly can cause the vibration to be sent straight up the spine to the base of the scull (as this user found out to his cost!). For these reasons we prefer the idea of targeted vibration directly to the exercising muscle ensuring a more specific training stimulus and eliminating any of the unpleasant side effects.

I have recently released a targeted vibration device for the respiratory system called youbreathe which causes the airflow into and out of the lungs to be pulsatile stimulating the stretch reflex of the respiratory muscles. Preliminary results look very exciting with similar acute responses to those seen in the leg training above. youbreathe is currently being used by elite cyclist, tri-athletes, footballers and rugby players who all report perceptible benefits for their sports performance. More trials are under way with future plans to conduct clinical trials with the aim of reducing symptoms of cardio-respiratory disease such as coronary heart disease, asthma and COPD.

In conclusion, vibration training certainly seems to offer the possibility of increasing the return on your exercise investment, getting more response for a given effort. However it would be too soon to draw conclusions about which is the best vibration training method (targeted vs platform) or which protocol is best for a particular desired effect (endurance vs power). I’d like to recommend taking advice from qualified practitioners and incorporating vibration training in a complete training programme. Certainly vibration training seems to offer great potential for rehabilitation in clinical populations and for training the elderly.