title: Respiratory muscle specific warm-up and elite swimming performance.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Inspiratory muscle training has been shown to improve performance in elite swimmers, when used as part of routine training, but its use as a respiratory warm-up has yet to be investigated.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To determine the influence of inspiratory muscle exercise (IME) as a respiratory muscle warm-up in a randomised controlled cross-over trial.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 15 elite swimmers were assigned to four different warm-up protocols and the effects of IME on 100 m freestyle swimming times were assessed.Each swimmer completed four different IME warm-up protocols across four separate study visits: swimming-only warm-up; swimming warm-up plus IME warm-up (2 sets of 30 breaths with a 40% maximum inspiratory mouth pressure load using the Powerbreathe inspiratory muscle trainer); swimming warm-up plus sham IME warm-up (2 sets of 30 breaths with a 15% maximum inspiratory mouth pressure load using the Powerbreathe inspiratory muscle trainer); and IME-only warm-up. Swimmers performed a series of physiological tests and scales of perception (rate of perceived exertion and dyspnoea) at three time points (pre warm-up, post warm-up and post time trial).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The combined standard swimming warm-up and IME warm-up were the fastest of the four protocols with a 100 m time of 57.05 s. This was significantly faster than the IME-only warm-up (mean difference=1.18 s, 95% CI 0.44 to 1.92, p<0.01) and the swim-only warm-up (mean difference=0.62 s, 95% CI 0.001 to 1.23, p=0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Using IME combined with a standard swimming warm-up significantly improves 100 m freestyle swimming performance in elite swimmers.
authors.affiliation: Nottingham Respiratory Research Unit (NRRU), School of Medicine, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham City Hospital, , Nottingham, UK.
authors.forename: Emma E
authors.initials: EE
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.forename: Tricia M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: McKeever
authors.forename: Claire
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lobb
authors.forename: Tom
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sherriff
authors.forename: Luke
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.forename: Glenn
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hearson
authors.forename: Neil
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.forename: Martin R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Lindley
authors.forename: Dominick E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Shaw
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D054874:Athletic Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D005260:Female; D005541:Forced Expiratory Volume / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012132:Respiratory Muscles / Q000502:physiology*; D016037:Single-Blind Method; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000502:physiology; D013550:Swimming / Q000502:physiology*; D014797:Vital Capacity / Q000502:physiology; D063996:Warm-Up Exercise / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Assessing Physical Training Modalities in Enhancing Sports Performance; Elite Performance; Respiratory; Swimming