NASAL STRIPS??

No, they do not work. Their whole premise is based upon the fact that if you increase consumption of oxygen, you'll increase the body's ability to buffer lactate and avoid the stockpiling of lactic acid. However, oxygen utilization is the limiting factor...not consumption. Read a book on the cardiovascular system to see how that part of human physiology works. Out

They help you you look like a tool.

No evidence that they are of any benefit.

If your nose is stuffed up and this bothers you, the strips would be of some psychological benefit to you. Other than enjoying the feeling of open sinuses, they don't offer much in the way of performance.

They work for me.

I have allergies and my nose is often stuffy and my nasal passages are always slightly swollen and restricted. I used to get sinus infections often until I had deviated septum surgery.

They help me because I like to breath through my nose and the less restriction the less energy I spend trying to inhale when I am racing. On the night before race day during allergy season (now) I irrigate with a saline solution, use a nasal spray and sleep with a strip on to get a good nights sleep and I use a strip for the race.

It works for me and it is not just psychological. YMMV

I don't use them for training anymore unless it's a fast day of long intervals.

My guess would be none of these wizards have a need nor any experience to speak from.

I got a test on respiratory and cardiovascular s*** tomorrow morning, and I came across this:

Breathing throught the nose helps humidify and warm the air during inhalation and filers out foreign particles from the air.

It contains two pieces of plastic spring (two for flexibility) sandwitched between two thin breatheable material with adhesive. Plastic springs basically lifts up the soft area of your nose to open up the nasal passage. They actually don't claim you can increase oxygen intake with it; it "reduces the air flow resistace" by (up to) 30%.

They've done clinical study on it and, while there's no evidence that it makes you run faster (sorry, guys!), it proved that you can actually engage the same intensity of physical activity at less heart beats. To translate it simply, your body will not be working as hard at that intensity. Can you really feel the difference? I don't know. But I CAN tell you, if you wear BR and go for a run, at a half way point, take that off. Then you can really tell the difference. Would that really make a difference in performace? I wouldn't know. But if even if it's psychological, the edge is the edge.

They had come up with BR for race horses several years ago. I was involved with that project. Race horses bleed in their lungs because the air pressure difference is so huge. If they bleed a lot, that shortens their career as a race horse. It's got three big-a#@ plastic spring and about 6"X4". They brought it down to University of North Carolina for the clinical study and found out, seriously folks, it actually reduces the bleeding by (up to) 80%! Clearly it's good for houses' health but unfortunately most horse trainers seem to only care about making them run fast. That's why you don't see it as much.

One more thing; someone mentioned something about stuffy nose while running. Yoko Shibui, a 2:19 marathon runner (female) always seem to get a stuffy nose. I sent some BR to her coach (who is my personal acquaintance) and ever since, she loves it. The only thing is that she doesn't want it to be seen (so much for sports promotion!) so she prefers Clear BR, which I personally don't recommend for running--it's a non-breatheable polyester material and comes off more easily when sweating. I've seen her wearing it in the beginning of the race and next thing you know, in the 2/3 of the race, it's gone. Wear Regular Tan. That's better for running and it's also an identify!?