Breathing for Blood Pressure Control
IMST Breathing Exercises For Blood Pressure Control
What is IMST?
IMST stands for Inspiratory Muscle Strength Training exercise. It's a breathing exercise sometimes known as resistive breathing training that is performed with a hand-held device that creates resistance to inhalation and exhalation when done through its mouthpiece. This exercise helps strengthen the muscles involved in carrying out breathing.
What muscles are trained in this exercise?
The muscles of breathing are trained in IMST, which include:
The diaphragm, a dome-shaped muscle separating the chest from the abdomen
External Intercostals of the ribcage
Abdominal Muscles
How does breathing become an active process?
Usually, any person at rest is breathing passively, provided he has normal respiratory muscle activity. By using IMST devices, breathing becomes an active process. This means there is the energy needed to carry out the breathing against the resistance provided by the device. The resistance tones and strengthens the muscles used in the breathing process. Other than this, the only time breathing becomes an active process is during exercise.
Does IMST control blood pressure?
Patients with COPD and asthma have used IMST to aid in breathing. Many types of research have also been conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of these exercises in lowering blood pressure. It has been found that these exercises positively affected heart health and gradually reduced systolic pressure. Researchers propose that IMST increases the vasodilator nitric oxide NO in the body.1 This lowers the blood pressure by decreasing the resistance to blood flow.
How to do IMST?
The exercise is everything but complex. First, you have to resist the airflow through your nostrils by constricting your nose with your thumb and index finger while keeping your mouth closed. Resist the inhalation of air but do exhalation freely. Next, sit back, relax with your spine erect and take six deep breaths in one minute. Continue to do this for 5 minutes. This would make 30 deep breaths in total. You can repeat this 5-minute exercise as much as you want and when needed.
The breathing exercise would not only help your respiratory muscles but also make you feel more relaxed and calmer. You will feel reduced stress as well. In addition, doing this a few times a day will significantly improve your health and reduce cardiovascular complications.
Why do IMST?
It's easy to do, doesn't require any training, and you can even do it without a device. It is an easy practice that requires no equipment, no going to the gym and no space. You can easily do 30 breaths per day six times per week at any place and at any time. As a result, you can reap the benefits of increased respiratory muscle strength with little to no effort at all.
What's its benefit for Post-menopausal women?
It has been found that aerobic exercises did not benefit post-menopausal women as much as they helped men. But IMST has been shown to have equal benefits for both men and women making it a promising lifestyle intervention that can improve heart health and reduce the risk of cardiovascular incidents.2
References:
Craighead, Daniel H., et al. "Time‐Efficient Inspiratory Muscle Strength Training Lowers Blood Pressure and Improves Endothelial Function, NO Bioavailability, and Oxidative Stress in Midlife/Older Adults With Above‐Normal Blood Pressure." Journal of the American Heart Association 10.13 (2021): e020980.
University of Colorado at Boulder. "5-minute breathing workout lowers blood pressure as much as exercise, drugs: 'Strength training for breathing muscles' holds promise for host of health benefits." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 30 June 2021. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/06/210630135033.htm>.