A study found that the most crucial workouts for asthmatics wanting to improve their lung function were yoga and breathing exercises paired with cardiovascular training.
The research, which was published today in the Annals of Medicine journal, highlights how important it is to incorporate the proper kind of fitness training into asthma care plans.
The findings, in the opinion of the study’s primary author Shuangtao Xing, an Associate Professor in the School of Physical Education at Henan Normal University, demonstrate the potency of specific exercise training regimens in enhancing lung function in those adults.
“Breathing training combined with aerobic training, and yoga training, appear to be particularly advantageous – offering potential avenues for effective treatment approaches,” he stated.
“Larger, well-designed randomized controlled trials are now needed to more accurately estimate the benefits of exercise training for individuals with asthma.”
Asthma, a chronic lung condition that affects around 339 million people worldwide, causes symptoms such as coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath and chest tightness.
In the past, exercise was considered a potential risk factor for individuals with asthma, as it was believed to trigger or worsen acute asthma attacks.
However, recent studies have revealed that exercise training can actually enhance respiratory function and exercise capacity in adult patients. However, variations in the specific exercise interventions in existing randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have made it challenging to compare the effectiveness of different rehabilitation programs.
To address this issue, the current study conducting a network meta-analysis, which enables a simultaneous comparison of results from multiple treatments in a single analysis, to compare the effects of multiple types of exercise training on lung function in adults with asthma.