Hi,
This week I want to talk a little about using youbreathe and it's potential effects on back pain. Seems like a strange connection to make, but there could actually be a strong benefit of regular youbreathe use on treating back pain.
Let me explain. One chronic problem that can lead to very diverse negative symptoms is chronic hyperventilation (breathing to much and too quickly). Most people actually breathe too much and this has been explained as a probable cause of many diseases such as some cases of asthma and various cardiovascular diseases. Now when you hyperventilate your blood carbon dioxide level goes down which leads to a removal of the neural drive to the breathing muscles. So if the drive to the diaphragm is lower it means the diaphragm is in a more relaxed state. The diaphragm also has a role to play in core stability and stabilising the mid to lower spine, so this means that a more relaxed diaphragm gives less support to the lower back, possibly risking injury.
Additionally, chest breathing and not using the diaphragm means that you are not going to oxygenate the blood very well, and also the blood will become more alkaline, meaning oxygen transport is compromised.
This has certainly been my experience. I have suffered from back pain since I was in my mid teens but since developing youbreathe and using it regularly my back pain has cleared up. I still do my stretching as a flexible back is also very important for injury prevention and health. For more info on youbreathe please visit www.youbreathe.com
There are too many potential symptoms for me to cover in this blog, but the exciting part is that using youbreathe with it's vibration can enable people to relearn abdominal breathing quickly and permanently.
For more info on back pain please visit these sites:
NHS - Back Pain
Back pain general information
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke - Back Pain
Back pain tutorial - prevention
Please visit the abdominal breathing section of the downloads page on the youbreathe website : http://www.youbreathe.com/
Hope this is all clear.
Have a great week.
Sunday, 10 June 2007
Sunday, 3 June 2007
What is youbreathe?
Hi,
Some feedback I have had about this blog from friends is people reading this might not know what youbreathe is. So this week I will explain a little more about youbreathe but without trying to make this into a sales pitch.
youbreathe is a hand-held device that applies the principles of vibration to the breathing muscles. There are currently several respiratory muscle training products on the market but non of them utilise vibration. So youbreathe allows people to train their breathing muscles without any discomfort or great effort. We have submitted some results recently showing that using this device for a little as 10 breaths can increase breathing performance by up to 15%. Obviously when you train long term the benefits are much greater than this. So breathing in and out of youbreathe for around 5 mins a day, 5 days a week can have amazing effects on performance.
Another colleague who is a national strength and conditioning association coach has been using youbreathe and found that when he goes for a run he gets into the zone so quickly since using youbreathe. Again this is great for me to hear that something I invented can actually help someone. For more info please see www.youbreathe.com.
OK, I hope this clears up what youbreathe is.
I am going to start working on some youbreathe exercises that are combined with eastern philosophy and some visualisation exercises, as training the body and mind is far superior to training just the body.
Ok have a great week, see you next post.
Bye
Some feedback I have had about this blog from friends is people reading this might not know what youbreathe is. So this week I will explain a little more about youbreathe but without trying to make this into a sales pitch.
youbreathe is a hand-held device that applies the principles of vibration to the breathing muscles. There are currently several respiratory muscle training products on the market but non of them utilise vibration. So youbreathe allows people to train their breathing muscles without any discomfort or great effort. We have submitted some results recently showing that using this device for a little as 10 breaths can increase breathing performance by up to 15%. Obviously when you train long term the benefits are much greater than this. So breathing in and out of youbreathe for around 5 mins a day, 5 days a week can have amazing effects on performance.
Another colleague who is a national strength and conditioning association coach has been using youbreathe and found that when he goes for a run he gets into the zone so quickly since using youbreathe. Again this is great for me to hear that something I invented can actually help someone. For more info please see www.youbreathe.com.
OK, I hope this clears up what youbreathe is.
I am going to start working on some youbreathe exercises that are combined with eastern philosophy and some visualisation exercises, as training the body and mind is far superior to training just the body.
Ok have a great week, see you next post.
Bye
Monday, 28 May 2007
Hi,
This week I have been working on sales channels for youbreathe. We are getting so much interest from people wanting to sell youbreathe. Once people try it they get hooked. You can pretty much feel the benefits straight away so it really markets itself. I guess this is what sales people are looking for, somthing they can make money from that takes little or no effort whatsoever.
This week I have been working on sales channels for youbreathe. We are getting so much interest from people wanting to sell youbreathe. Once people try it they get hooked. You can pretty much feel the benefits straight away so it really markets itself. I guess this is what sales people are looking for, somthing they can make money from that takes little or no effort whatsoever.
I have also been working with the team at London South Bank University on the science of vibration training. We have been looking at stimulus characteristics and transmission. Obviously the vibration pulses get damped by the tissues of the body so working out which stimuli have the best transmission is just about as important as working out what stimuli have the best effects on the body. I will let you know more later.
I am also planning to add some meditations and visualisations that will be downloadable from the website as I think covering the psycho-physical is better than just covering the physical, especially when breathing is involved.
See you soon
Sunday, 13 May 2007
this weeks news
Hi,
Lots happening this week. We have had a good presence at the Scottish Vitality Show http://www.thevitalityshowscotland.co.uk/. youbreathe was received with lots of excited interest, people do seem intrigued by vibration training and what is offers.
We are continuing to get lots of interest from media, again they can see the potential of vibration training as something that people want to know about. I will keep you updated about where to go and what to do.
OK, let talk about some physiology of vibration training. Vibration affects sensory receptors within the muscles called muscle spindles, you already know about these from when you were children and u used to tap the front of your knees and your lower leg used to kick out. This is called a stretch reflex. Now imagine doing this 20-50 times a second. It can lead to huge muscle contractions. As we talked about previously if you do this at the same time as a muscle contraction then it is possible to get higher force contractions.
This also has effects of bone. Bones are constantly being broken down and reformed, which is why astronauts can only stay in space for relatively short lengths of time. There is no gravity in space which means there is no stress on the bones so they become soft. This is why vibration training has been so important to space as it acts like hypergravity, causing greater stress on the bones meaning they get stronger.
Hopefully we will be off to Italy later this week as we are having a meeting with one of the worlds largest gym manufacturers about working together on our vibration technology.
I will keep you updated as to how that went.
Have a great week
Lots happening this week. We have had a good presence at the Scottish Vitality Show http://www.thevitalityshowscotland.co.uk/. youbreathe was received with lots of excited interest, people do seem intrigued by vibration training and what is offers.
We are continuing to get lots of interest from media, again they can see the potential of vibration training as something that people want to know about. I will keep you updated about where to go and what to do.
OK, let talk about some physiology of vibration training. Vibration affects sensory receptors within the muscles called muscle spindles, you already know about these from when you were children and u used to tap the front of your knees and your lower leg used to kick out. This is called a stretch reflex. Now imagine doing this 20-50 times a second. It can lead to huge muscle contractions. As we talked about previously if you do this at the same time as a muscle contraction then it is possible to get higher force contractions.
This also has effects of bone. Bones are constantly being broken down and reformed, which is why astronauts can only stay in space for relatively short lengths of time. There is no gravity in space which means there is no stress on the bones so they become soft. This is why vibration training has been so important to space as it acts like hypergravity, causing greater stress on the bones meaning they get stronger.
Hopefully we will be off to Italy later this week as we are having a meeting with one of the worlds largest gym manufacturers about working together on our vibration technology.
I will keep you updated as to how that went.
Have a great week
Wednesday, 2 May 2007
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
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
Sunday, 15 April 2007
Vibration training
Hi Again,
This week things have been moving on. I am currently writing a paper about vibration training and specifically vibration training. We are really just at the beginning of seeing how far vibration training can take us. We have shown some miraculous results in our lab, but other results that have just been average. It seems to me that each person may have a sweet spot to the vibration frequencies and amplitudes and that you can get it perfect for everyone, although we are working on something that I will reveal in a few weeks.
This week I have some exciting meetings coming up with potential partners who can see the benefit of vibration training. Most people are getting very excited about youbreathe. Lets see how it goes.
See you next time.
This week things have been moving on. I am currently writing a paper about vibration training and specifically vibration training. We are really just at the beginning of seeing how far vibration training can take us. We have shown some miraculous results in our lab, but other results that have just been average. It seems to me that each person may have a sweet spot to the vibration frequencies and amplitudes and that you can get it perfect for everyone, although we are working on something that I will reveal in a few weeks.
This week I have some exciting meetings coming up with potential partners who can see the benefit of vibration training. Most people are getting very excited about youbreathe. Lets see how it goes.
See you next time.
Saturday, 10 March 2007
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.
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.
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