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5-min breathing workout lowers blood pressure as much as exercise, drugs (2021)

• shireboy 5y ago
  Interesting. I’m currently trying to lower blood pressure naturally and have found typical “in through nose, out through mouth” breathing exercises will drop mine a few points. Also, hand weights- 2 reps of 10 in each arm- will drop significantly. I have a lingering concern though that these are just ways to hack the test. In me, the drop has been temporary- by the afternoon it’s back up if that’s all I do. It is encouraging that this study seems to say there are long term benefits, but I still wonder if that’s because the treatments are allowing for better traditional cardio. In the video he kind of hints at that.
• BurningFrog 4y ago
  So where can I buy this simple machine? Or do I need a prescription and paying US healthcare level prices?
  • ivansavz 4y ago
    Seems to be available on the amazons: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=POWERbreathe https://www.amazon.com/s?k=POWERbreathe I haven't read the paper yet, so not going to impule-buy a $70 device yet, but the cheaper models seem interesting (assuming they operate on the same principle).
• giardini 4y ago
  Swimming also restrict air flow to the lungs: you must inhale quickly and hold your breath during parts of the strokes. Possibly the effect shown here contributes to swimming being such a good exercise and might be useful in comparing the physiology of swimming with that of similar sports (e.g., rowing). Would this regimen improve the blood pressure of swimmers? Swimmers are already breathing under restrictive conditions (possibly as much as an hour or two each day) so my guess is "No". But if I can get any significant part of a swimming workout in minutes per day, I'll take it!
  • isitmadeofglass 4y ago
    While breathing during swimming is definitely “less easy” than normally, I would point out that when swimming you are not experiencing resistive airflow. But some trainer snorkels do include pieces to increase airflow resistance and it might have similar effects to IMST. I’m not sure if these are used by serious athletes though.
    • giardini 4y ago
      isitmadeofglass says >"when swimming you are not experiencing resistive airflow."< I disagree! During swimming: - you have a window of time within which to inhale during each stroke and you're inhaling as much as possible. If you do this slower then you move slower (and you lose the race), - meanwhile the (mouth, throat, lungs) system works to keep stray water from entering the lungs and to remove any that has entered, causing further restriction, - the position of the head and neck relative to the body constantly changes b/c of the body's rotation and the head's movement. The airflow changes accordingly. Ask any other competitive/Masters' swimmer about this. For these reasons I doubt "PowerBreathe" is useful to (esp. competitive) swimmers, who already are breathing in a restricted manner. But that's just my opinion after swimming and racing for decades. Note: To my astonishment, while searching this topic before posting, I stumbled across PowerBreathe ads targeted toward swimmers, the very audience I thought would find it useless! So maybe I've been sucked into a PowerBreathe SPAM campaign unwittingly.
• amai 4y ago
  Eating garlic works even better for lowering blood pressure: https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/garlic-for-blood-pressure https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/garlic-for-blood-pressu... But combining garlic with breathing exercises might lead to unwanted side effects ;-)
• meristohm 4y ago
  > “We have identified a novel form of therapy that lowers blood pressure without giving people pharmacological compounds and with much higher adherence than aerobic exercise,” said senior author Doug Seals, a Distinguished Professor of Integrative Physiology I laugh at the term "novel" here, and am frustrated that we feel we need to make up a new technique and a new gadget when we could be teaching breathing practices that have been around for millenia. Try "nadi shodhana" or alternate-nostril breathing, using one's own hand to apply pressure (see the appendix of the book Breath by James Nestor; though I'm sure there are other references, that's what I've read and feel confident recommending).
• youeseh 5y ago
  I wonder if they got the idea from watching Wim Hoff videos on YouTube.
  • Jtsummers 5y ago
    Considering it's an exercise protocol from the 1980s, probably not.
  • another_story 5y ago
    If you read the article you'll see this is an adjustment of a technique used since the 80s.
  • encephalos 5y ago
    Interestingly enough, I entered a friend’s clinical research study last year where they’re looking to replace the standard cardiac stress test by proving their hypothesis. Essentially, they believe that by purposefully engaging in a combination of deep/long/shallow/etc. ("Wim Hoff style breathing techniques" - my friend’s words not mine), and get a patient to hyperventilate basically (in a controlled environment and developed protocol/framework), they could produce similar results and draw similar clinical conclusions as one would after a traditional stress test. They had me do two hours of various breathing techniques while simultaneously imaging my heart and then my brain using fMRI imaging. * NAD but I managed to get the DICOM files and found some open source software (Horos) and loaded up the slices and it was super cool seeing what was going on during the different breathing * I recently caught up with the individual and was told the study is in its final stages and so far looks very promising (which I’m sure all researchers say right but I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt).
• Fatboyrunning 5y ago
  Where can I buy one?
  • troydavis 5y ago
    It's called Inspiratory Muscle Strength Training (IMST) and they are on the market: https://www.powerbreathe.com/ https://www.powerbreathe.com/ (and other manufacturers). I believe this study used the POWERbreathe K-Series: https://www.powerbreathe.com/product-category/breathing-trainers/k-series/ https://www.powerbreathe.com/product-category/breathing-trai...
  • deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  • Someone1234 5y ago
    Amazon. PowerBreathe. Around $70.
    • rsanek 5y ago
      Looks like the ones used in the study are an order of magnitude more expensive than the ones on amazon. Amazon (Plus model), $70: https://www.amazon.com/POWERbreathe-Fitness-Breathing-Trainer-LSI-Plus2/dp/B000NJMLPA/ref=sr_1_5?crid=2XUZPPY0CGIBV&keywords=POWERbreathe+K3&qid=1649983213&sprefix=powerbreathe+k3%2Caps%2C113&sr=8-5 https://www.amazon.com/POWERbreathe-Fitness-Breathing-Traine... From manufacturer (K3 model), $500: https://www.powerbreathe.com/product/k3/ https://www.powerbreathe.com/product/k3/
    • TheBlerch 5y ago
      There are various inhalation resistance trainers on Amazon for as little as $20. I'm doubtful the more expensive devices offer any benefits over the less expensive models. In fact the simpler less expensive models look much easier to take apart and clean. As long as you are breathing against resistance, you're getting a benefit.
• reactspa 5y ago
  The article mentions that the device is used during the inhale. Doesn't clarify if it's also used during the exhale or not. (I just rolled-up my fist and breathed through it. And it provided lots of resistance. So it looks like I might be able to make this work with just my fist.) If anyone knows, please hit reply and let me know.
  • jansan 4y ago
    In the video on the webpage at 0:14 the patient is using the device only for inhaling, not for exhaling. I tried breathing through my fist and it worked really well. Since I am not interested in another device that I have to clean and carry with me on travels I will try the fist method in the next weeks.
    • reactspa 4y ago
      Thank you for clarifying about the "exhale" part. Saved me some time.
  • pen2l 5y ago
    Paper is linked in the article: https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/JAHA.121.020980 https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/JAHA.121.020980 Intervention section mentions that study participants used a device called 'POWERbreathe K3 inspiratory muscle training device'. Googling the device provides these videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nd5U7mDhFi4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nd5U7mDhFi4 & https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvtZW5Q1ox8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvtZW5Q1ox8 When I was working out in the gym in the summer in pandemic season with masks on, I noticed my breathlessness, the movement of the mask amplifies the visual and it was easy to draw a comparison in this way with my surrounding gym peers, and indeed I realized my lungs were in much worse shape than I'd expected, so I'm going to give this thing a try. Edit: model featured in YouTube is not the same one the study used but close ‘nuff to get the idea.
  • Someone1234 5y ago
    I'm not sure I understand the question. The point is to breathe in and out as strongly/deeply and slowly as possible. You don't "do" anything aside from breathing and increasing the difficulty mode as your strength improves (over e.g. weeks). If you breathe out quickly you're losing a large amount of the benefit of the exercise. PS - I own a POWERBREATHE Sport, no relation to the company or this study.
• hereforphone 5y ago
  Doctors hate him
• sn41 5y ago
  Any idea on how to do this without the device? Probably someone with Pranayama can comment - to me this seems a modification of anuloma-viloma (alternate nostril breathing).
  • giantg2 5y ago
    You could try this instead. It has similar benefits. https://highbloodpressurebegone.com/how-to-do-hand-grip-exercises-to-lower-blood-pressure/ https://highbloodpressurebegone.com/how-to-do-hand-grip-exer...
  • Enginerrrd 5y ago
    I bought this one for this purpose and it seems to work. ($25) https://www.amazon.com/Expand-A-Lung-BD12512-Breathing-Fitness-Exerciser/dp/B00JWTRA5I/ref=sr_1_5?crid=SLLB4A6UOTTF&keywords=breath+trainer https://www.amazon.com/Expand-A-Lung-BD12512-Breathing-Fitne...
    • kovek 5y ago
      I'm curious how breathing with this device compares with breathing through the nose
      • Enginerrrd 5y ago
        It's adjustable with a screw down. In general though breathing through the nose just will not replicate the inspiratory effort required to use this device. Not even close.
• giantg2 5y ago
  I wonder if you can stack the breathing exercises (9pt reduction) with grip strength exercises (10% reduction) for even more benefit. Edit: People are disagreeing with this? Why?
  • aghostincarrot 5y ago
    What grip exercises?
    • giantg2 5y ago
      https://highbloodpressurebegone.com/how-to-do-hand-grip-exercises-to-lower-blood-pressure/ https://highbloodpressurebegone.com/how-to-do-hand-grip-exer...
  • throwawayboise 5y ago
    Just lift weights.
• girvo 5y ago
  Okay, so I have some straight up anecdotal evidence done with a real blood pressure cuff by a trained medical professional for a related phenomenon. I have to get a buprenorphine injection monthly. As a part of this, they take my blood pressure. I was talking to the nurse, animatedly about the silly policies our state government has around electric scooters, as she was taking my blood pressure. She didn't read out both for me, but I initially had "135" as the result. The nurse got me to take 5 minutes doing a guided (heavy) breathing and relaxation protocol, and sure enough, on running the blood pressure test again, I got "118"
  • jghn 5y ago
    It might just be the sitting there for 5 minutes, and not so much the protocol. I get my BP checked regularly by my PCP's nurse. Usually they have me sit for a few mins and then come in to check. It's not uncommon that the first reading is higher than they'd like, and then they tell me to wait there for 5-10 mins and voila when they come back it's much lower.
  • The_rationalist 5y ago
  • Dove 5y ago
    If you are going to study effects on blood pressure in your own physiology, I very much recommend getting a home device so you can take a lot of measurements. Blood pressure changes constantly for any reason or (as far as I can tell) no reason. When I take my own measurements, I take five measurements back to back without moving and see bigger swings that you did. I've seen that using three different home devices. I've seen it in clinical settings being measured by many, many professionals. I remember once seeing a thirty point swing between two measurements taken immediately back to back by a nurse. The sheer amount of downright superstitious behavior I've seen in nurses surrounding blood pressure measurements is pretty incredible, too: lots of retaking measurements until the number is what they expect, repositioning, or trying something random like you did. I find it all very reminiscent of the 2 4 6 Puzzle -- a lot more confirmation and explanation than investigation. I'm not trying to say this sort of thing is statistically invalid at a population level. On the contrary. I'm pretty convinced in my own case that breathing exercises are worth about ten points. But I strongly recommend developing a healthy respect for the sheer variability of the number before drawing strong conclusions from a low number of measurements.
• The_rationalist 5y ago
• r3trohack3r 5y ago
  My wife has white coat syndrome. There was a time (~7 years ago). We were living in NYC. The doctors office was at the top of 5 flights of stairs and the elevator was out. Having just climbed 5 flights of stairs and telling the doctor she has white coat syndrome, they _immediately_ take her blood pressure. Noting it’s (unsurprisingly) high, suggests she go on blood pressure medication. A decision that would surely have damaged her health. 4 years ago, we told her OBGYN she had white coat syndrome. We got a blood pressure cuff to use at home that recorded every reading (including date/time) so we could bring it in to her. Every reading at home, out and about, was good - even borderline low. At the doctors office, it was always high. The doctor, knowing this, STILL tried to suggest we induce early labor. TL;DR - doctors will kill you. Your health is your own - don’t delegate the most important decision in your life.
  • spaetzleesser 5y ago
    I have a blood pressure monitor at home and my values can go from 140/100 to 110/80 within pretty short time. It's completely insane to make a medication recommendation after only one blood pressure measurement.
  • sebmellen 5y ago
    You are completely correct with your TLDR. I saw the same when a close family member had to battle their way through the medical system to live through (and eventually overcome) advanced cancer. I’ve started to see doctors more like advanced chatbots than anything else. They are good if you know what you need and how to formulate your questions. They are good at searching UpToDate (a database of DDx flows). They are good at treating specific problems. But it is a very rare doctor who takes considerate time to understand a patient and treat them holistically. I believe this is why alternative medicine providers are able to peddle their voodoo so effectively. Many people who don’t feel understood by allopathic medicine turn to cranks, because at least the cranks listen to them and make them feel heard.
  • mceachen 5y ago
    Good that she could self-advocate! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_coat_hypertension https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_coat_hypertension describes the condition.
• nradov 5y ago
  I've been using a Powerbreathe for inspiratory muscle training. The daily exercise only takes a few minutes. But it requires occasional cleaning, and the spring valve sometimes gets stuck closed. I haven't noticed any obvious decrease in blood pressure. https://www.powerbreathe.com/product-category/breathing-trainers/plus/ https://www.powerbreathe.com/product-category/breathing-trai...
  • deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  • TheBlerch 5y ago
    There are inhalation resistance trainers on Amazon for as little as $20. I'm doubtful the more expensive devices offer any benefits. In fact the simpler less expensive models look much easier to take apart and clean. As long as you are breathing against resistance, you're getting a benefit.
• foxes 5y ago
  What is the obsession of looking for a cheap way out if you are able bodied. Literally just go for a walk, run, or ride. I highly doubt doing some small activity can really compare to the full health benefits of some daily exercise.
  • modeless 5y ago
    Why are you punishing yourself with unnecessary work if the easy way gets most of the benefit? Literally just breathe. "But I like exercise" OK that's great for you, I have other things to do and not enough time to do them.
    • foxes 5y ago
      Yes, exercise is not always easy, but it has been worth it. I have met plenty of amazing people and gone to many interesting places because of it, its not just about the exercise. I wouldn't exchange that for sitting around retweeting Elon Musk lol.
      • Broken_Hippo 5y ago
        * I have met plenty of amazing people and gone to many interesting places because of it, its not just about the exercise.* I haven't. At best, I'm alone. At worst - especially when I was younger - I was just laughed at. Not to mention that I couldn't always do things like afford shoes that allowed me to walk regularly without pain or that I can rarely find a sports bra in my size (let alone afford it), so things like running are out of the question.
  • Jtsummers 5y ago
    BP tends to go up with age even being able bodied and active, so research into how to control it without medications (which have to be tuned to the individual and can have some unpleasant side effects) is worthwhile.
• s00b4u 5y ago
  This is called Pranayam. We are doing this in India since ages... Good to see that 'experts' from Western countries taking baby steps to learn. Good for you guys! Keep it up. Note 1: Some 'expert' took my comment on their ego and downvoted my comment. Guys, my comment was encouraging. Taking it on your ego is your personal choice.
  • throwaway_1928 4y ago
    Another commenter made this observation, but his comment was deleted by HN moderators. I sure hope Elon Musk takes over Twitter so we will not need HN to have an open conversation.
  • jablala 5y ago
    What else do you believe the west is missing?
    • s00b4u 5y ago
      I don't think I have time to compare what East has to learn from West and vice-versa. You can try to document it as it suits you.
    • Fssl_22 5y ago
      I'm a German with lots of interest in Yoga science ... I'd say patience. And non-attachement.
    • callmeal 4y ago
      Civilization https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/mahatma_gandhi_141784 https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/mahatma_gandhi_141784 :)
  • mistrial9 5y ago
    mainne englo shikshakon ke saath adhyayan kiya, lekin seedhe Sri BKS Iyengar ke vansh ke tahat. mere shikshak bahut satark the. main bahut achchhe svaasthy mein hoon aur tees saal baad ab meree achchhee aadaten hain. Light on Pranayama kee adhikaansh takaneeken ek shaharavaasee ke lie, yahaan tak ki mere lie bhee, bahut unnat hain. edit: apologies for the terrible Hindi, but since YNews was so rude to a guest with a downvote, I wanted to show some respect to the South Asian knowledge. Yogas citta vritti naroda'ha -- namaste
• jonnycomputer 5y ago
  This is interesting, and is a pre-regisetered double blind study; still it was 18 participants in each condition, which is on the low end of what I'd find acceptable.
• formerkrogemp 5y ago
  Of course this should not stop you from exercising where possible. It could be very useful in case of arthritis or similar conditions inhibiting exercise.
• femto 5y ago
  I don't fully get the "lowers blood pressure" claim. Doesn't Table S2 in the paper say that blood pressure stayed roughly the same for people doing high-resistance IMST and went up for the control/sham group doing low-resistance IMST? The question in my mind is "why does low-resistance IMST increase blood pressure?" Am I missing something?
  • rsanek 5y ago
    Hmm this is a great catch. The figures quoted in their Methods and Results ("from 135±2 mm Hg to 126±3 mm Hg") don't seem to match any in Table 2.
    • jonnycomputer 5y ago
      Those are casual systolic blood pressure readings (from 135±2 mm Hg to 126±3 mm Hg). Table S2 are ambulatory.
      • rsanek 5y ago
        Do you have thoughts or resources on comparing the two types of readings?
        • jonnycomputer 5y ago
          No, sorry; I was just learning about them now, because they were terms in the paper I didn't understand.
          • femto 5y ago
            By my understanding "casual blood pressure" is when you sit for 5 minutes in a doctor's office then have a blood pressure measurement taken [1]. "Ambulatory blood pressure" is when a monitor is strapped onto you and automatic readings are taken periodically (typically half hourly) over a period of time (typically 24 hours) then averaged. There is some debate (according to Google), but diagnosis of hypertension typically involves an ambulatory measurement over a casual measurement. It strikes me that the ambulatory measurement is the more important one from a long term health perspective, and it's odd that the paper chose not to mention the ambulatory measurement along with the casual measurement, though I'm not a medico. As an aside, at one point I added a microcontroller to a cheap Aldi blood pressure monitor to do ambulatory measurements. A doctor seemed keen to diagnose hypertension based on a few casual readings, but I was keen to base the diagnosis on more data. [1] https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007%2F978-3-319-31420-4_42-1 https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007%2F978-3...
• upofadown 5y ago
  >...the IMST group saw their systolic blood pressure (the top number) dip nine points on average, a reduction which generally exceeds that achieved by walking 30 minutes a day five days a week. Walking isn't very aerobic. I think you would have to walk/jog up a hill for some sort of meaningful comparison.
  • mellavora 5y ago
    > Walking isn't very aerobic. Depends how much weight is in your pack
• mikrl 5y ago
  Fun things to try with breathing: - When lightly exercising, close eyes and focus on breathing. Note effects on heart rate. - Get into an uncomfortable (but safe) position such as a deep squat, crab position, etc. Close eyes and focus on breathing. Note effects on feelings of discomfort, and effort to maintain the position.
  • chefandy 5y ago
    Safety note for folks with uncontrolled hypertension: before squatting even just your body weight, read up on the Valsalva maneuver.
  • IWantToRelocate 5y ago
    when I'm completely relaxed after a breathing workout, I sometimes dont "feel" the need of breathing, for long periods, is that normal?
    • sooheon 5y ago
      If by breathing workout you mean Wim Hof style hyperventilation, then yes. Hyperventilation causes hypocapnia, which reduces air hunger.
• lr4444lr 5y ago
  I guess this would help some truly disabled people, but traditional exercise, even in similar time frames, offers so many additional health benefits than breathing techniques.
  • fortran77 5y ago
    And weight loss. See: https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/files/docs/public/heart/hbp_low.pdf https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/files/docs/public/heart/hbp_low.pd... and https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/wfhtn/documents/wfhtn_aha_how_can_i_reduce_high_blood_pressure.pdf https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/wfhtn/documents/wfhtn_aha_... My brother, who is probably about 70 pounds overweight, takes blood pressure medication. Won't even try losing weight. He claims that "everyone he knows" takes it and just resigned to having to use it.
• citizenkeen 5y ago
  Is this the same article from 2019? https://www.colorado.edu/today/2019/02/25/novel-workout-improves-health https://www.colorado.edu/today/2019/02/25/novel-workout-impr...
  • ta988 5y ago
    The follow up clinical trial.
• nyjah 5y ago
  If you want to learn more about breathing I recommend checking out the book The Oxygen Advantage by Patrick Mckeown. It's got a bunch of different breathing exercises and ways to measure progress. It basically reteaches you how to breath too, which is fascinating on its own. Worth checking out for sure. https://www.amazon.com/Oxygen-Advantage-Scientifically-Breathing-Techniques/dp/0062349473/ https://www.amazon.com/Oxygen-Advantage-Scientifically-Breat...
  • sph 5y ago
    Please don't take this the wrong way, but is there a tl;dr? Often these "self-help" books are the same concept repeated for 200 pages that can be summed up in a paragraph. How should I breathe?
    • eimrine 5y ago
      An far as I have understood, the key point is the video. It shows a guy who is sucking air throw tough device called power-meter and the greater the power the better. Also, if I've understood correctly, the very process of training the breath power is something that actually lowers blood pressure. Correct me if I am wrong because my English is not fluent and I may miss some points.
  • tcoff91 5y ago
    Amazing book! My nasal breathing definitely improved from few simple tips from the book, and I wasn't even particularly diligent with following the program very far. I'm sure I could get even more benefits if I adhered to the exercises more consistently.
  • windexh8er 5y ago
    Oxygen Advantage is a great book. I'd recommend James Nestor's - 'Breath' [0] as a first read, however. I feel like the book has more real world application and I picked up a number of things outside of what I learned studying Hof breathwork. I also studied, prior to both books, with Wim Hof in Poland in 2017 on one of his week long expeditions. The in person experience of group breath work is something to experience if you've never. It's so much different than working on it solo - especially if you're new to any of these methods. Breath work and cold exposure have been a large part of my life after reading 'What Doesn't Kill Us' by Scott Carney [1]. That was the book that drove me want to experience it first hand. [0] https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/48890486-breath https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/48890486-breath [1] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30039048-what-doesn-t-kill-us https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30039048-what-doesn-t-ki...
• thenerdhead 5y ago
  After reading Wim Hof and James Nestor a couple years ago during the pandemic, I used their techniques in full while battling long Covid. I had a blood pressure monitor and pulse oximeter on my bedside table that I would experiment with doing these various techniques and seeing my heart rate go down, my blood pressure go down, my anxiety would disappear, lung/chest inflammation would settle, and even oxygen levels increase up to 5%. I did this primarily because Covid reduced my average running mile time by around 20%. I was hopeful that I could make a full recovery which I did and then some. This new tool I believe saved my life, and I’m excited to use it for the rest of it.
  • ceasesurthinko 5y ago
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tybOi4hjZFQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tybOi4hjZFQ It's amazing.
  • inter_netuser 5y ago
    >their techniques can you link to the exact regimen? tia
    • thenerdhead 5y ago
      https://www.wimhofmethod.com/breathing-exercises https://www.wimhofmethod.com/breathing-exercises (YouTube video is best) Nestor stuff is short. Breathe through nose, tape your mouth, right nostril inhale/left exhale.
      • meristohm 4y ago
        By "tape your mouth", James Nestor suggests taping the mouth shut while sleeping, to condition the nose (extra benefit of not drying out the gums--my dentist approves). It took months of applying a thin strip of tape vertically across my lips (surgical tape, easy to pull off if needed, but it never came to that), and now I habitually breathe through my nose at night instead of my mouth, and can nose-breathe all day, too, where before I'd need some mouth-breaths in a panic. The switching-nostils breathing is just one way to practice (there's a list at the back of the book). If anything, best practice for oxygenation and venting C02 seems to be inhaling over 5-6 seconds and exhaling for the same or slightly longer. The more-recent book Breath Taking by Michael Stephen backs this up.
• xyst 5y ago
  guess I will stop ignoring those breathing sessions my watch recommends
• ta988 5y ago
  I am worried about the risk of pneumothorax with uncontrolled use of such devices. If you are at risk I would be careful.
• jayp1418 5y ago
  I do this 11 min Pranayama it helps a lot https://youtu.be/vhmbnsXOhx8 https://youtu.be/vhmbnsXOhx8
  • mettamage 5y ago
    How does it help?
    • jayp1418 5y ago
      I do that Pranayama after some yoga session it helps me focus and overall improvement my digestive system works well and better sleep at night.
• mdoms 5y ago
  The lack of skepticism in this comment section is so depressing.
  • friedman23 5y ago
    Rather than post this completely useless comment, why don't you actually contribute by posting why you think this study should be ignored? I think many people in this comment section know from personal experience that breathing is a powerful tool for stress management so this result is intuitive to them.
    • Broken_Hippo 5y ago
      breathing is a powerful tool for stress management As is the occasional recreational drug of choice. Heck, a glass of milk before bed can do be a powerful tool for stress management. Same for going to a salon and having someone else wash your hair. Even when it seems to work for you, you should still be sceptical when you find this stuff in a paper - especially when it is a small study. Especially with stress relief, something can "work" for you but still be completely without scientific merit (no better than a placebo, so no real benefit in telling the general population to do it).
      • amelius 5y ago
        > As is the occasional recreational drug of choice. Heck, a glass of milk before bed can do be a powerful tool for stress management. Same for going to a salon and having someone else wash your hair. So? What does that say about this technique? I can't see the logic.
      • friedman23 4y ago
        > Especially with stress relief, something can "work" for you but still be completely without scientific merit This paper is scientific evidence. What it really sounds like is for some strange reason you don't want this to be true. Put in the effort yourself, read the study, and tell us all why this paper is bs.
• yalogin 5y ago
  This is exactly what is prescribed in yoga. Very interesting.
• blackoil 5y ago
  Anecdote. My mother had asthma since age of 30 and my father developed high bp at age of 50. Mother had a very strict diet ( inhaler weren't popular in Indian middle class) and father was supposed to take a pill for life. They started following breathing exercises (Pranayam) as told by Indian yog Guru Ramdev on television for 30-60 mins a day and they have mostly controlled it now for last 18 years. For anyone searching on youtube, he and other gurus make lot of tall claims and say irrational things, sell snake oil and are in general against western medicines, you'll have to ignore it.
  • danans 5y ago
    > For anyone searching on youtube, he and other gurus make lot of tall claims and say irrational things, sell snake oil and are in general against western medicines, you'll have to ignore it. That's the insidious thing about those gurus: they often couple genuinely healthful practices like mindful breathing and exercise and healthy diet with horrible things like snake oil remedies and religious intolerance - essentially using the former to try to legitimize the latter, and many who follow them are not equipped to distinguish one from each other.
    • aniforprez 5y ago
      Especially with Ramdev who's made an entire conglomerate in his name making all sorts of stuff from detergents to instant noodles to medicines, all of which use his reputation to promote their "healthy" status despite a lot of the ingredients just being bog standard and the same as any other product on the market and often plain inferior. My parents are sucked in completely and buy so many of their products It's a shame that he turned so political and money hungry. A lot of his yoga and breathing techniques are simple and easy to follow and are genuinely helpful
• parentheses 5y ago
  Does this mean that wearing a mask with a proper seal and filtration has been improving my cardiovascular health?
• u385639 5y ago
  Anyone know if breath is also connected to specific body parts? Really crude contrived example to illustrate what I mean: deep breathing affecting the left arm, shallow breathing affecting the right arm? I always felt there must be some connection but never really understood how to even investigate. I definitely noticed that certain deep breathing was extraordinarily useful for alleviating IBS symptoms... basically the physical expansion of the lungs (contracting the diaphragm) clearly physically pressed upon the intestinal tract and massaged it (this is personal experience, anecdotal)... I have always wondered if this principle was extendable further? Everything I've seen about the lungs is always about what it does for oxygen/co2 regulation in the blood... feels like this really underestimates whats going on
• mysterypie 5y ago
  > not necessarily meant to replace exercise I'm hoping someone can answer a question to which I've never heard a really satisfactory answer: Why does human health benefit from exercise whereas any kind of simple machine wears out with exercise? For example, doing a hundred stretches per day improves my health whereas stretching an elastic band 100 times per day will cause it to lose elasticity and soon destroy it. So what's the low-level mechanism by which exercise improves health in people but not in simple machines?
  • leon-z 4y ago
    Not exactly what you were asking for, but Nassim Taleb's "Antifragile" might be of interest to you. It's about how many human made things e.g. machines, the economy, etc. are fragile and get weaker/collapse under stress. In contrast many organic things (e.g. muscles) are antifragile, i.e., they gain from (small) stressors. Definitely an interesting read.
  • xboxnolifes 5y ago
    Simple machines don't have internal processes that rebuild themselves to be stronger after wear and tear.
  • shagmin 5y ago
    My basic understanding is when we are strength training we are putting tiny tears in our muscle fibers. The body then uses protein to heal those tears and make the muscle fiber bigger as part of that process, allowing us to train even harder in the future. Elastic bands are relatively just static objects.
  • croh 5y ago
    In human body, new cells are created every day which is not case with elastic band. Best anology could be economy. If you keep creating wealth and not spending one day you reach your limitations. Continously churning and creating gives boost to economy.
    • caturopath 5y ago
      Some tissues generate new cells every day, but tons of relevant things to exercise such as cardiac muscle cells and the fibrocytes making up things like ligaments and tendons really don't. This also goes for most of the other stuff on the inside of your body.
• car 5y ago
  Just for context, I posted this study since I was intrigued by this[0] recent HN comment about an anecdotal apnea training effect on weight and then came across this study. I'm using the Apnea Trainer app on iOS, but too early to say how it affects my weight. I'm going to get a PowerBreathe device[1] as used here, since I am also dealing with hypertension. [0]https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30617118#30624918 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30617118#30624918 [1]https://www.powerbreathe.com/product/powerbreathe-plus-medium-resistance/ https://www.powerbreathe.com/product/powerbreathe-plus-mediu...
  • Narretz 5y ago
    I wonder if they will come down in price. The internal mechanism doesn't seem to warrant a starting price of 400€.
• ck2 5y ago
  If you do the exercise right you won't even need the breathing. Run 45 minutes a day, doesn't have to be fast, just consistent. My blood pressure and pulse is actually too low sometimes and have to make sure I take enough salt.
• DreamFlasher 5y ago
  Which device was used in the study? Any buying recommendations?
  • mitchdoogle 5y ago
    They mention power breathe device https://www.powerbreathe.com/ https://www.powerbreathe.com/