I was reading up about it in the Journal of Sports Science. It says it; -Dr Mitch Lomax, university of Indiana's Department of Sport and Exercise Science
Training the muscles responsible for breathing in – inspiratory muscles – can improve performance by 15 per cent, meaning a runner can run for longer and a swimmer can swim faster
While I haven't seen professional journal articles or the original study by Dr. Lomax, I did find that an article about Dr. Lomax's study was quoted in another thread
Physical Fitness (Jogging, Diet, Cardiovascular, and Strength ). Since it may seem that you equate training in a gas mask to training the respiratory muscles as per Dr. Lomax's study, I'll requote some pertinent passages from that article.
http://nextbigfuture.com/2011/04/training-breathing-muscles-can-boost.html. . . . . IMT involves the use of a hand-held device that provides resistance as one inhales through it, requiring greater use of inspiratory muscles. For half of the study participants, the IMT device was set to a level that provided resistance as the subjects took a fast forceful breath in. For six weeks they took 30 breaths at this setting twice a day. The cyclists in the control group did the same exercises with the IMT adjusted to a minimal level.
. . . . . .
In the study, Dr Lomax used an inspiratory muscle training device which works in a similar way to other resistance training devices to build muscle strength. An athlete doing training would use such a device to do one set of 30 breaths twice a day. For inspiratory muscle warm-up, because the power-boosting effect of warm-up exercises typically dissipates within half an hour, an athlete would use the device to do two sets of 30 breaths immediately before the sporting event for best results.
. . . . . .
She also said it is important athletes and coaches use the device correctly because, as with any other sports equipment, if used incorrectly it could do more harm than good. “If it isn’t done right, there is the risk of hyperventilating and passing out. Technique with these devices really matters because they can also cause injury or strain if they aren’t used correctly.”
Dr Lomax tested 12 runners over six weeks and found that those who did inspiratory muscle warm-ups improved their times by 5-7 per cent; those who did inspiratory muscle training improved their times by 12 per cent; and those who did both improved by 15 per cent. Dr Lomax said those were very conservative figures and did not rule out athletes making even greater gains. A sample size of 12 is a typical sample in sport and exercise physiological studies.
It should be made clear that this study was not about training while wearing a gas mask, but rather a breathing device that restricted the flow of air. The device was not used continually during a training period.
I am nowhere near a SME on exercise physiology or even much interested these days in performing at peak physical condition (
I'll pause while those who know me snort and make rude remarks about when or if I was ever interested in being in peak physical condition). However, there was a time when my primary duties (and some odd secondary duties) exposed me to some of the things being discussed.
The breathing exercises (and breathing device) proposed in the study reminds me much of the "breathing physio" that post-op cardiac patients had to do nearly 30 years ago when I worked in the cardiac unit at NDMC. The intent was probably much the same - to get the individuals to breathe deep and exercise the muscles involve in respiration - it did not restrict the total amount of air inspired nor did it lead to hypoxia. Do not automatically assume that training while wearing a gas mask will equal the inspiratory muscle exercises as per Dr. Lomax's study. There is no measurement of the breath intake while wearing a gas mask. One can just as easily continue breathing but taking in less air, thus leading to hypoxia.
But there can (possibly, maybe, hopefully) some benefit in training in hypoxia. During my quick google search I did come across some relatively recent (within the last ten years) journal articles about exercise results in both normobaric and hypobaric hypoxic conditions. It seemed that the goals of these research studies was often aimed at the obese - a way to increase the workload without increasing the physical demands on joints etc.
The only time I've ever done PT while wearing a gas mask was during BOTC, but that was punishment c**k because there were stupid people on course. On one of the few instances when I observed a soldier seriously doing individual PT in a gas mask, he passed out; however he was a stupid person and that was not the only sample of his idiotic behaviour. It's a good example for making the case that doing PT in a gas mask should be a controlled activity, not something that should be done alone.
Nobody knows what the harmful long term effects of doing cardio with a gas mask on because there are no medical researchers whom would ethically subject people to such a test.
While I know of no studies that were specifically aimed at doing PT in a gas mask, there has been some research into effects of physical activity while wearing gas masks and other elements of NBC ensemble. I'm personally familiar with some conducted in Canada in the 1970s. I couldn't quote the results or even the intent of the studies; at the time I was more interested in the test allowance and the extra days of leave granted for each individual test.
