The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of respiratory exercise on cardiopulmonary function and muscle activity of rectus abdominis in smokers and non-smokers with elderly people. All the participants were older than 65 years, and twenty non-smokers, and twenty smokers participated. Non-smokers and smokers were randomly divined into 10 feedback breathing exercises (FBE) and a balloonblowing exercise (BBE) group. The FBE and the BBE were performed three times a week for four weeks. Forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume at one second (FEV1), forced expiratory volume at one second/forced vital capacity (FEV1/FVC), peak expiratory flow (PEF), and vital capacity (VC) were measured as pulmonary function. EMG was used to measure the activity of the rectus abdominis. In the FBE and BBE groups, FEV1 was significantly lower in non-smokers compared to smokers at two and four weeks (p<.05), FEV1/FVC, PEF and VC were significantly lower in non-smokers compared to smokers to pre-test, two weeks, four weeks and six weeks (p<.05). Muscle activity of rectus abdominis was significantly difference in the BBE group at pre-test, two weeks, four weeks, and six weeks (p<.05). These results suggest that respiratory exercise was effective in improving pulmonary function and rectus muscle activity.

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of feedback breathing exercise on respiratory muscle activity. Thirty stroke patients were randomly and equally assigned to an experimental group and a control group. The experimental group received rehabilitation exercise treatment for 30 minutes and feedback respiratory exercise for 30 minutes and the control group received rehabilitation exercise treatment for 30 minutes and conducted motomed exercise for 30 minutes. All of them conducted exercises five times per week for four weeks. Respiratory muscles including the upper trapezius(UT), longissimus dorsi(LD), rectus abdominis(RA), external abdominal oblique(EAO) and, internal abdominal oblique(IAO) were measured using MP 150WSW prior to and after the experiment. Regarding pulmonary functions prior to and after the experiment, the experimental group showed significant differences in all sections but the control group did not show significant differences in any sections. As for in-between group differences after the experiment, there were significant differences in the UT, LD, RA, and IAO but no significant differences in the EAO. In conclusion, respiratory muscle activity was more effective for the experimental group than the control group. It is considered that feedback respiratory exercise may induce improvement in respiratory muscles in stroke patients through feedback breathing exercise.