POWERbreathe EX1 Expiratory Muscle Trainer (EMT) – Medium Resistance

POWERbreathe EX1-Medium EMT Device Is Recommended For

• Amateur athletes to optimize their breathing technique, sports performance, and recovery.
• Wind musicians to improve breath support and control.
• Singers to improve breath management for longer air supply, greater stability, and agility.

Features

• This ‘medium’ resistance calibrated spring offers adjustable load training at a ‘medium’ intensity.
• A comfortable mouthpiece provides a tight seal around your lips thanks to the bite tabs and outer flange.
• The 0 – 10 training levels provide precise adjustment of expiratory load.
• The ergonomic design means that there’s no chance of accidentally obstructing the airflow and the device is held comfortably in the vertical position.
• Its design also makes it easy to clean and keep hygienic.

What Is Expiratory Muscle Strength Training (EMST)?

Whereas POWERbreathe Inspiratory Muscle Training (IMT) trains your inspiratory muscles to become stronger, Expiratory muscle training (EMT) targets your expiratory muscles to become stronger. EMT exercises your expiratory muscles, including your abdominals. Your expiratory muscles are the ones you use when you forcefully breathe out, such as coughing, during extreme exercise, singing or when playing a wind instrument. The stronger they are, the more endurance they will have.

Who Is Expiratory Muscle Training For?

The POWERbreathe EX1-MR is designed to improve the strength and endurance of your expiratory muscles.

Your expiratory muscles play an active role in breathing, particularly during extreme exercise and sports training. This is because your abdominal muscles are expiratory. Stronger expiratory muscles and abdominal muscles help to control your body when you run, twist and turn, such as in explosive power sports. Furthermore, with stronger expiratory muscles you are able to sustain a more prolonged physical effort, such as when competing. Finally, stronger muscles also help to prevent sports injuries.

Why the POWERbreathe EX1-MR is Beneficial For Sports People

The POWERbreathe EX1-MR is useful to sportspeople wishing to improve their sports performance. This is because maximal expiratory pressure (MEP) along with maximal inspiratory pressure (MIP) provides an insight into the breathing muscle endurance of an athlete. A sportsperson is able to improve both these measures by using expiratory muscle strength training (for MEP) and inspiratory muscle training (for MIP).

Finally, your expiratory muscles also play a role in breathing control and the flow of breath in singers and wind musicians.

The POWERbreathe EX1-MR expiratory muscle training is for:

• Athletes
• Singers
• Wind musicians
• Respiratory issues such as shortness of breath due to obesity or older age decline in functions
• Cervical or spine injury

How Expiratory Muscle Training Works

POWERbreathe EMT devices use expiratory ‘pressure threshold’ loading to exercise your expiratory muscles. This is like weightlifting. The weight is provided by the internal, precisely calibrated ‘medium resistance’ spring which provides a breathing load to your expiratory muscles. Because the breathing loads are precisely calibrated, you can be confident that the intensity of your breathing training is quantifiable and appropriate.

The handle on the POWERbreathe EX1-MR features an adjustable dial. This is where you increase (or decrease) the resistance to your out-breath. It. is marked on training levels from 0 to 10, with 0 offering the least resistance and 10 the most.

The calibrated, spring-loaded valve requires you to produce an expiratory pressure (breath out) that is sufficient to overcome the breathing load you set. At this point, the valve then opens and you can hear a rushing of air as you exhale through the device. The valve will then close completely as soon as the pressure is less than the breathing load you set.

If, however, you do not produce enough expiratory force, the spring-loaded, pressure-threshold valve will remain closed, and no air will flow through the device. This means that the training level you have set (and therefore breathing load) is too much for your expiratory muscles at this point in your training. You can easily reduce the load slightly by turning the training level down on the handle.

How To Do Expiratory Muscle Training

When you generate enough power and force as you breathe out, the spring-loaded valve opens at the load you set using the training levels. This then allows you to breathe out through the device.

The typical training protocol for expiratory muscle training is 5 x 5 x 5 (5 x exhales, 5 times a day, for 5 days a week):

1. After taking an initial deep breath in, place the POWERbreathe EX1 EMT device in your mouth and maintain a tight lip seal around the mouthpiece.
2. Then, forcefully exhale through the device until the valve opens and you can hear the air rushing out. Repeat this 5 times. After each set, rest for 1 minute before attempting the next set.
3. Do this set of 5 exhalations, 5 times per day, and perform this training 5 days a week.

When you find your training becomes easier to perform, it means your expiratory muscles have become stronger and require more of a challenge. You can challenge them further by increasing the resistance using the adjustable dial on the handle. You can increase the training level by a full turn, but it might be better if you turn the dial a quarter-turn first to assess if this is enough of an increase in resistance.

Adjustable Load Setting Range

POWERbreathe EMT devices use cmH2O as the unit of pressure. This is because it is what other, long-established devices use to determine lung health. It is the unit for measuring breathing on ventilators, CPAP and BiPAP machines, as well as, breathing training devices. By having the spring-loaded valve calibrated to increments of cmH2O, the adjustable load settings on the POWERbreathe EX1-MR EMT device mean that your training improvements are quantifiable. Having adjustable training levels also ensures that your expiratory muscles will always reach an appropriate training intensity for eliciting benefits, such as increasing your expiratory muscle strength and endurance.

Adjustable Dial

Although the POWERbreathe EX1-MR offers a ‘medium’ level of resistance to your expiratory muscles, the amount of resistance is still adjustable. It’s a bit like choosing a medium resistance band. You can still adjust the amount of resistance it offers by adapting it. For instance, you would leave it long and loose for less resistance or hold it shorter and tighter for more resistance. To adjust your breathing load on your POWERbreathe EX1-MR and make the resistance lighter or heavier, you simply adjust the dial on the handle and choose a lower or higher training level. The device goes up to training level 10 which is the most resistance that the POWERbreathe EX1-MR provides. The load is measured in centimetres of water (cmH2O) and is easily set on the device by using the marked training levels on the handle. Think of ‘load’ as weight lifted. So, the higher the load/weight (cmH2O), the harder it will be to exhale against the resistance and open the valve.

Adjustable Load Selection Range – cmH₂O

10 Reasons to Choose POWERbreathe EX1

What’s In The Box?

The following items come as standard with every POWERbreathe Plus Medium Resistance purchase:

1. POWERbreathe EX1 EMT Device – Medium Resistance
2. Mouthpiece
3. Storage pouch
4. 4 x Cleansing Tablets – except for in the USA. Genuine POWERbreathe devices will not contain POWERbreathe Cleansing Tablets in the USA, as these tablets are not approved for sale and/or
   distribution within the USA by the regulatory authorities. Read more about Counterfeit products.
5. French/English User Manual.

Precautions & Contraindications

POWERbreathe EMT breathing training is drug-free, suitable for almost anyone and should cause no harmful side effects when used properly. Please read the following precautions and contraindications to ensure that your POWERbreathe EX1 EMT breathing device is used safely and appropriately. You must always consult your healthcare professional before embarking on any new form of exercise and this includes POWERbreathe breathing training.

General Precautions

Please also see Medical Precautions (below).

• A patient must not make changes to any prescribed medication or prescribed treatment programme without consulting their doctor.
• Do not use the POWERbreathe EMT device whilst taking part in other activities where you may become distracted, such as walking, running, and driving.
• To prevent the potential transmission of infections, we recommend that your POWERbreathe EMT device is not shared with other users, including family members.
• POWERbreathe EMT is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
• POWERbreathe EMT devices are designed for exercising the expiratory muscles only. No other use is intended or implied.
• Anyone who is under the age of 16 should only use a POWERbreathe EMT device with supervision from an adult. POWERbreathe EMT devices contain small parts and are not suitable for children under 7 years.
• Whilst training with the POWERbreathe EMT device, you should feel resistance when exhaling but it should not be painful. If you feel pain whilst using the POWERbreathe EMT device, stop immediately and consult your healthcare professional.
• Some users may experience slight ear discomfort when training with the POWERbreathe EMT device, especially if they are recovering from a cold. This is caused by inadequate equalisation of pressure between the mouth and ears. If symptoms persist, you should consult your doctor.
• If you are suffering from a cold, sinusitis, or respiratory tract infection, we advise that you do not use your POWERbreathe EMT device until symptoms have disappeared.
• If you start to feel dizzy using POWERbreathe EMT, please pause until recovered and take longer gaps between breaths.
• POWERbreathe EMT should not be used if you are suffering from a ruptured eardrum or any other condition of the eardrum.
• It is not recommended to use POWERbreathe EMT if you have suffered from or are likely to suffer from Costochondritis.
• POWERbreathe EX1 EMT devices should not be used if you are suffering from excessive intraocular eye pressure.
• If you are or might be pregnant.

Medical Precautions

Healthcare Professionals should take into consideration the following conditions before prescribing the use of POWERbreathe EMT to patients and assess its use on a case-by-case basis:

1. A history of spontaneous pneumothorax (a collapsed lung that was not due to traumatic injury e.g., broken rib), as this may lead to a recurrence of the condition.
2. Pulmonary hypertension or large bullae on chest x-ray.
3. Marked osteoporosis with a history of rib fractures.
4. Seek medical advice and approval before using POWERbreathe EX1 with a Patient who is undergoing Cerebrospinal Fluid Drainage (CSF drainage).
5. Chest trauma or surgery, including cardiac surgery, as well as any recent oral, face or neck and skull surgery.
6. Epistaxis (nosebleeds).
7. A patient undergoing or recovering from oesophageal surgery.
8. Active haemoptysis.
9. A patient undergoing or recovering from a lung resection or lung transplant.
10. Tracheostomy patients.
11. A patient suffering excessive intraocular eye pressure.

Medical Contraindications

When determining if a patient is suitable for EMT, it is worth considering if a Valsalva manoeuvre would be contraindicated for their condition. This is because like the Valsalva manoeuvre, EMT involves exhaling as hard as possible while the nose is pinched closed. Therefore, if the generation of intrathoracic pressure (ITP) and/or intracranial pressure (ICP) is contraindicated for the Valsalva manoeuvre, then so too is the use of EMT.
Expiratory muscle training, such as the POWERbreathe EX1, is not recommended for patients with certain conditions, which include the following:

• Patients who have undergone recent abdominal surgery and those with an abdominal hernia.
• Asthma patients who have a very low symptom perception and suffer from frequent, severe exacerbations or with an abnormally low perception of dyspnoea.
• If a patient is suffering from a ruptured eardrum or any other condition of the ear.
• Patients with marked elevated left ventricular end-diastolic volume and pressure.
• Patients with worsening heart failure signs and symptoms after Respiratory Muscle Training (RMT).
• Patients who are or might be pregnant.
• Patients with untreated or uncontrollable heartburn and gastroesophageal reflux (GERD).
• Patients with untreated and uncontrollable high blood pressure (hypertension).