Effects of Inspiratory Muscles Training on the Development of Respiratory Function in University Students: A Case Study of Guangzhou Sport University

Abstract

Background and Aim: The objective of this research was to develop Inspiratory Muscle Training for Respiratory Function in University Students. Materials and Methods:  This research was experimental research. From the initial 48 third-year college students recruited at Guangzhou Sport University, we excluded 8 students who also participated in other sports programs or had school absences due to personal reasons, leaving the remaining 40 students as experimental subjects. They had just learned Four kinds of swimming in their second year of college and began the early stages of formal swimming training. Using the simple randomization method, 40 male college students were divided into two groups, one experimental group and one control group with 20 students in each group. The experimental group participated in the swimming training three times a week and designed the respiratory control training. The control group participated in swimming training three times a week, and the whole training time was 6 weeks. The specific approach is as follows: before the grouping, the 50-meter freestyle test was conducted, ranked according to the swimming result from the highest to the highest, and the balance was allocated to the experimental group and the control group. This study investigated the effects of inspiratory muscle training on respiratory function in college swimmers from four aspects: (1) VC (vital capacity), (2) MIP (maximum inspiratory pressure), (3) MIF (maximum inspiratory flow), and (4) MIC (maximum inspiratory capacity). In this research, T-test and ANOVA were used to compare and analyze the data. The statistical significance level was 0.05. Result: After 6 weeks of continuous inspiratory muscle training in swimmers, regarding the index of vital capacity (VC), there was no significant change in the control group. However, there was a significant increase in the experimental group (p=0.01); regarding the three indicators of maximum inspiratory pressure (MIP), maximum inspiratory flow (MIF), and maximum inspiratory capacity (MIC): both the experimental group and the control group showed an improvement, but the experimental group showed a greater improvement, and the enhancement appeared earlier. Conclusion: Inspiratory muscle training is beneficial to the development of respiratory function in university students.