Inspiratory muscle training: integrative review
Four pages on PainSci cite Padula 2006: 1. The Art of Bioenergetic Breathing 2. The Respiration Connection 3. When To Worry About Shortness of Breath … and When Not To 4. Neck Pain, Submerged!
PainSci notes on Padula 2006:
This review of the evidence indicates that exercising your breathing musculature probably works pretty darned well, and benefits take about “20 to 30 minutes per day for 10 to 12 weeks” to achieve. Better yet, the evidence also shows that it’s reasonable to expect some benefits “regardless of method”! In other words, there’s no great concern about which technique to use. Common protocols for respiratory training “are generally safe, feasible, and effective.”
original abstract †Abstracts here may not perfectly match originals, for a variety of technical and practical reasons. Some abstacts are truncated for my purposes here, if they are particularly long-winded and unhelpful. I occasionally add clarifying notes. And I make some minor corrections.
This article provides a critical review of inspiratory muscle training (IMT) in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Although extensive research on IMT has accumulated, its benefits have been debated, primarily because of methodological limitations of studies. Using relevant key words, multiple databases were searched from 1966. Selected studies used PImax (maximal inspiratory pressure) as an outcome variable. Overall, research demonstrated that a standard protocol of 30% or higher for a duration of 20 to 30 minutes per day for 10 to 12 weeks improves dyspnea and inspiratory strength and endurance with either inspiratory resistive or inspiratory threshold training. Regardless of method, IMT protocols for people with COPD and inspiratory muscle weakness and dyspnea are generally safe, feasible, and effective. Patient selectivity and study of subgroups are recommended.
related content
- “Effects of High-Intensity Inspiratory Muscle Training Following a Near-Fatal Gunshot Wound,” Hill et al, Physical Therapy, 2011.
- “Effect of Inspiratory Muscle Training Intensities on Pulmonary Function and Work Capacity in People Who Are Healthy: A Randomized Controlled Trial,” Enright et al, Physical Therapy, 2011.
This page is part of the PainScience BIBLIOGRAPHY, which contains plain language summaries of thousands of scientific papers & others sources. It’s like a highly specialized blog. A few highlights:
- Common interventional procedures for chronic non-cancer spine pain: a systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomised trials. Wang 2025 BMJ.
- Gabapentinoids and Risk of Hip Fracture. Leung 2024 JAMA Netw Open.
- Classical Conditioning Fails to Elicit Allodynia in an Experimental Study with Healthy Humans. Madden 2017 Pain Med.
- Topical glyceryl trinitrate (GTN) and eccentric exercises in the treatment of mid-portion achilles tendinopathy (the NEAT trial): a randomised double-blind placebo-controlled trial. Kirwan 2024 Br J Sports Med.
- Placebo analgesia in physical and psychological interventions: Systematic review and meta-analysis of three-armed trials. Hohenschurz-Schmidt 2024 Eur J Pain.