The effectiveness of respiratory muscular training in athletes: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

The aim of this review was to summarize the effectiveness of respiratory muscle training (RMT) in athletes in muscle strength, lung function and performance of athletes. Searches without date limits or language restrictions, in the databases: Medline via PubMed, Lilacs via Virtual Health Library, CENTRAL through the Cochrane Library, PEDro, EMBASE, ClinicalTrials.gov, reference lists of retrieved articles and gray literature. The selection of studies and data extraction was performed in duplicate by two independent reviewers. Twenty-five articles (involving 522 athletes) provided sufficient information to be included in the meta-analyzes. Most studies included swimmers and soccer players. The RMT was most commonly performed between 30 and 90% of MIP and/or MEP. Furthermore, in a meta-analysis involving 18 studies (different sports), RMT was favorable to increase MIP values (DM = 27.90cmH₂O 95% CI: 16.18cmH₂O to 39.62cmH₂O, p = 0.00001) and in the meta-analysis involving soccer players, MEP values increased significantly (MD = 31.77cmH₂O 95% CI: 22.49cmH₂O to 41.05cmH₂O, p = 0.00001). We conclude that the TMR favors the improvement of pulmonary function: MIP, FEV₁, FVC, Tiffenau Index in athletes, mainly soccer players, who also improved their physical performance. However, these results are based on very low to low quality evidence.

Keywords: Athletes; Performance; Randomized controlled trial; Respiratory muscle training.