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Just what is up Chris Froome’s nose?

  • Ron 

If you’ve been watching the Tour de France, you’ve no doubt noticed that race leader Chris Froome has had some extra, well… stuff in his nose.

Is it the secret to his success? Maybe not totally, but the Turbine nasal dilator is said to increase air intake through the nose.

The Turbine is a revolutionary new breathing technology developed by small Melbourne medical technology company Rhinomed, and it’s helping athletes around the world to get greater airflow and as a result enjoy better endurance and recovery.

Froome isn’t the only one harnessing the benefits of increased airflow thanks to the Turbine. Shannon Rowbury, the US Olympic middle distance athlete, recently powered home second in the 1500m US National final wearing Turbine. And athletes like Calvin Watson (Trek Factory Racing Team); Paul Van Der Ploeg (world champion eliminator mountain bike champion); and triathletes Emily Cocks (US), Luke Bell (Australia) and Annabel Luxford (Australia) have incorporated Turbine into their programs.

So what’s driving this focus on breathing? As athletes around the world strive to improve by seeking innovation in training, recovery and performance, something as simple as improving your breathing is increasingly recognised as the next frontier.

“Races and events like the Stages of the Tour De France can cause huge hypoxic and metabolic stress on athlete’s bodies. Recovering from this effort starts the second an athlete finishes each Stage. With legs screaming full of lactic acid, breathing is a first line mechanism to re-equilibrate that acidic stress, even before they get to the cool down. As their physiology responds to rebuild damaged muscle cells, every breath counts to restore electrolytes and replenish energy stores before the next days stage,” said Dr Mitch Anderson, head of Sports Science at Rhinomed.

The Turbine is part of Melbourne based Rhinomed’s nasal technology platform and works by gently opening the nasal passages to deliver an average increase of 38% more air (compared to nasal strips). Developed in response to a need to address shortness of breath or dysponea in athletes, the technology platform has been validated in a clinical study at the Royal Melbourne Ear and Eye Hospital. Rhinomed is now carrying out a trial at Australia’s Murdoch University to investigate the ‘Influence of internal nasal stenting on a 20km time trial performance.’

So what does an increase by an average of 38% more air through the nose mean in practice?

“Our goal was to make breathing easier when the going gets tough. The Turbine not only provides that extra breath when it is needed most, it also works as a bio-feedback stimulus to encourage athletes to focus on optimal breathing patterning during performance,” Anderson said.

The innovative Turbine is made of ultra soft polymers, with a design that enables great grip and comfort. It has a specially patented ratchet system that allows athletes to dilate their nose and tune the device for optimal fit and performance.

Since the first iteration, Rhinomed has continued to innovate – building and improving on the design and materials by taking advice and feedback from leading athletes. This included specific feedback from Froome after he wore Turbine in last year’s Vuelta a Espana.

Turbine isn’t the only Australian innovation finding its way into the Peloton. Mute, another Rhinomed breathing technology which can reduce snoring and improve sleep quality by improving breathing at night is being used by SBS Tour de France commentator and former professional cyclist Robbie McEwen. McEwen announced on Twitter “[I’ve] been using Mute anti-snoring device lately and [my] wife says it seems to have ‘muted’ me.

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