EFFECT OF WIM HOF BREATHING EXERCISE ON VENTILATORY FUNCTIONS IN SMOKERS

"1. Subjects will be asked to breathe deeply for an average of 20-30 breaths then exhale, (deep rapid inhalations and relaxed expirations)~2. Hold their breath in an unforced manner for one minute or longer until they feel the urge to breathe (retention phase).~ (For safety, they were instructed not to hold their breath longer than 3.5 min).~3. Take deep inhalation breath and hold again for 15 seconds (recovery breath).~4. This procedure was repeated a total of three times.~5. After the last cycle, subjects were instructed to return to their natural rhythm of breathing and remain lying down without moving to relax for five minutes.~6. Done every day in the morning or at least three hours postprandial for four weeks.~(Marko et al., 2022)"

Aerobic exercises were performed by walking on the treadmill for 30 minutes a day (5 days/week) and at least 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity aerobic activity at 60-75% of the maximum heart rate (HR) for four weeks. Maximum heart rate is taken from 220 - to age. Both the warm-up and cool-down were performed for five minutes. Each session concluded with stretching the calf, hamstring, quadriceps, gluteus, back, neck, and shoulder muscles (Acar et al., 2024; Shandu et al., 2023a)