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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Physiol.
Sec. Exercise Physiology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fphys.2025.1492446
This article is part of the Research Topic Tailored Respiratory Muscle Training for Athletes, Patients, and Vulnerable Groups View all articles
Respiratory Muscle Training Improves Aerobic Capacity and Respiratory Muscle Strength in Youth Wrestlers
Provisionally accepted
Mehmet Ismail Tosun 1*
Erkan DEMİRKAN 2
Abdurrahim KAPLAN 2 Yasemin Ari Yilmaz 3
Irem Eker Arici 3
Michael FAVRE 4 Veysi Aslan 5
Mehmet Kutlu 1- 1 Department of Physical Education and Sports, Faculty of Sport Sciences, Hitit University, Corum, Türkiye
- 2 Department of Movement and Training Sciences, Faculty of Sport Sciences, Hitit University, Corum, Türkiye
- 3 Department of Pulmonary Diseases, Hitit University Faculty of Medicine, ÇORUM, Türkiye
- 4 Department of Intercollegiate Athletics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States
- 5 Department of Coaching Training, Ege University, Bornova, İzmir, Türkiye
BACKGROUNDː Respiratory muscle training (RMT) has shown potential for enhancing athletic performance, but its effectiveness, in youth wrestlers, remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the effects of RMT on respiratory muscle strength and aerobic endurance in youth wrestlers. METHODSː A parallel-group trial was conducted across 22 male youth wrestlers aged 14.8±0.4 years. Participants were assigned to an experimental (E) group (n=11), which received RMT in addition to their regular wrestling training, or a control (C) group (n=11), which continued with standard wrestling training only. The RMT was performed three times a week using the POWERbreathe Classic Blue® device at 50% of maximal inspiratory pressure (MIP). Pre- and post-intervention measurements included MIP, peak inspiratory flow (PIF), inspiratory volume (IV), and aerobic endurance assessed by the Yo-Yo Endurance Level 1 test (YYT).RESULTSː Significant improvements were observed in the E group, with MIP increasing by 9.57%, PIF by 14.77%, and IV by 10.46% (p<0.05 for all). Aerobic endurance, as measured by VO2max and total running distance, also significantly improved by 4.93% and 8.22%, respectively (p<0.05). The C group showed smaller yet significant gains in MIP, PIF, and VO2max but no significant change in IV.CONCLUSIONSː The addition of RMT to traditional wrestling training significantly enhances respiratory muscle strength and aerobic endurance in youth wrestlers. These results suggest that RMT may be an effective complementary training method to improve athletic performance in this population.
Keywords: Respiratory muscle training, Wrestling, Aerobic endurance, Inspiratory muscle strength, Peak inspiratory flow
Received: 06 Sep 2024; Accepted: 10 Mar 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Tosun, DEMİRKAN, KAPLAN, Ari Yilmaz, Eker Arici, FAVRE, Aslan and Kutlu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Mehmet Ismail Tosun, Department of Physical Education and Sports, Faculty of Sport Sciences, Hitit University, Corum, Türkiye
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