Curated by Luigi Ferritto (1), Walter Ferritto (2), Gianfranco Scotto Di Frega (3) |
In recent decades sports culture has undergone significant changes. Competitive athletes with important ambitions, in fact, follow rigorous training cards for the preparation, which include daily sessions of several hours and which lead to various adaptations both to the skeletal muscles, to the cardiovascular system and to the load of the respiratory system: the very changes that occur on the latter begin to be known as " Athlete's Lung ".
The respiratory system is urged to increase ventilation (VE), so that from a resting condition VE increases up to 25 times, from 6 l / min to 150 l / min and more. This increase in ventilation (VE) so onerous results in short-term effects and long-term effects in athletes.
Short term effects
They are transient effects, in which the values of some pulmonary parameters increase during exercise and / or remain higher than normal values in the hours that follow. An example is the residual lung volume (VR) which, conceptually analogous to the residual functional capacity, measures the volume of air remaining in the lungs at the end of a maximal exhalation. It has been verified that its value increases following an intense physical exercise, both short and long lasting (a great cycling fund).
This value is particularly significant in the short term, according to the following table:
| Residual pulmonary value | |
Measurement time | % Increase in residual lung volume |
5 minutes after the end of the effort | 25% |
30 minutes after the end of the effort | 18% |
1 hour after the end of the effort | 15% |
However, this increase is of short duration, as the value of the parameter returns to normal levels 24 hours after the effort.
Long-term effects
They are lasting effects, in which the values of some pulmonary parameters increase due to physical exercise and / or remain higher than normal values in the hours that follow.
An example is the Vital Capacity (CV) which, as already pointed out in the definition, measures the difference between the volume of air corresponding to the maximum inspiration and that corresponding to the maximum expiration. This pulmonary parameter is closely related to age, sex and body size (height, weight) and can be influenced by training and individual physical abilities (performance). In fact, endurance athletes have higher vitality values than subjects belonging to samples of young males and females (students) (7.6 L - 8.1 L for endurance athletes, compared to values lower than 4-5 L of the control sample).
Other effects are qualitative, not correlated that is to say a measurable and effective variation of the values of the pulmonary parameters, as to a greater resistance to fatigue and to a higher capacity to maintain high dynamic parameter values for a longer period of time. In fact, part of the feeling of fatigue related to breathing during physical activity (the "breathless") is linked to the training state of the inspiratory muscles (diaphragm, intercostal, scalene). Their job is to expand the chest cavity by raising the ribs and lowering the diaphragm. Since it is a mechanical muscular work, intense physical activity can cause fatigue of these muscles, which lose effectiveness in contraction.
The purpose of the training does not therefore translate into the variation of the pulmonary parameters, but in a greater training of the respiratory muscles, which are able to maintain performance under the maximum of the ventilation values for longer intervals of time. This also means that, at the same time, the feeling of fatigue (breath) decreases in trained subjects. The decrease in the subjective sensation of respiratory fatigue is a phenomenon well known not only to beginner athletes, but also to opera singers, in which the only muscles used are precisely the respiratory ones (the diaphragm mainly) and which note a remarkable effect of adaptation to fatigue increasing vocal and respiratory training.
Wanting to characterize the training of respiratory muscles with some quantitative parameters, it is necessary to consider, like any muscular work, the concentration of lactic acid in the respiratory muscles and the increase in their aerobic capacity. In particular, the training of respiratory muscles causes a decrease in their concentration of lactic acid at the end of physical exercise, and an increase in their aerobic capacity.
To try to compensate for the muscular fatigue associated with breathing, the subjects assume a typical position that facilitates respiratory mechanics: the torso flexes forward, with the trunk flexed and no longer vertical, the neck is bent forward and the mouth is open to bring the jaw parallel to the ground. This phenomenon is often observed in long distance running tests, for example in marathon runners or cyclists, and in many subjects suffering from respiratory diseases that limit ventilation. In fact, it seems that this position facilitates the mechanical work of lowering the diaphragm and raising the ribs, in addition to favoring the venous return to the heart.
In summary, in the exasperation of athletic activity to which we have arrived today, an apparatus, such as the respiratory apparatus, which was considered uneditable up until a few years ago, begins to be considered an element whose strengthening can improve performance by determining that "breath ”In addition, useful for achieving certain results.
