What the study found
The review found improvements in exercise capacity with rehabilitation exercise; combined aerobic and breathing exercise also improved breathlessness and quality-of-life measures.
Participants and protocol
Fourteen studies of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis were included, comprising four randomized trials and ten prospective before-and-after studies, with 362 training participants and 95 controls.
What this cannot establish
This is pulmonary rehabilitation evidence in people with a serious lung disease. It does not show that breathing exercises improve healthy runners' race times or replace clinical treatment.
Publication details
- Record
- PubMed 32274173
- Publication types
- review-article · Review
- Source record checked
- 2026-10-18
Publication type and subject indexing describe the record; they are not a quality grade or proof of a benefit. An abstract does not replace a review of the full methods and results.
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Performance Science Lab
Research summaries for endurance athletes, with study context, practical protocols, and clear limitations.
Open guideBreathing performance research
Breathing interventions can help if they reduce wasted effort and improve tolerance at high work rates.
Open guideTime to exhaustion research for endurance athletes
A lab outcome that can still guide training: it often tracks fatigue resistance.
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