Effects of mouthpiece shape and expiratory threshold loading on contraction of the lateral abdominal muscles: A cross-sectional study.

Background: Expiratory tasks may facilitate transversus abdominis (TrA) activity for spinal stabilization. The purpose of this study was to verify whether a combination of pursed-lip breathing (PLB) and use of an expiratory threshold loading (ETL) device to increase expiratory resistance would promote TrA contraction comparable to that for a stabilization exercise.

Methods: Twenty healthy men performed expiratory tasks or an abdominal drawing-in maneuver (ADIM).

Strategies for learning glossopharyngeal breathing in boys with Duchenne muscular dystrophy: A feasibility case series.

Objective: To propose alternative learning strategies for glossopharyngeal breathing in patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) and healthy men.

Design: A feasibility study with small case series.

Subjects: Five boys with DMD and 7 male physical therapists as healthy controls who had not learned glossopharyngeal breathing.