Functional Fitness for COPD and Asthma is an original exercise video created by occupational therapist Suzanne Andrews that focuses on improving your breathing, relieving your stress and increasing your quality of life as you learn to live with COPD.
Pros
- Affordable for most pocketbooks, on sale now for $17.99, or, you can rent it for $1.99 on Amazon by clicking here.
- Medically engineered for safety and efficacy.
- May increase strength and capacity of respiratory muscles.
- An alternative exercise plan for those patients unable to undergo a traditional pulmonary rehabilitation program.
- Helps COPD patients function better in their daily lives.
- Uses no fancy medical jargon -- easy to follow techniques are simple to comprehend and perform.
- Allows you to choose your level, either seated or standing.
- Teaches gentle therapeutic breathing exercises designed to help increase your lung capacity.
- Helps to increase your endurance by giving you more energy to breathe, a plus for patients with COPD.
- Includes therapeutic energy conservation techniques to help you improve your ability to cook, dress, play with your pets and perform other activities of daily living so you can stay active.
- Bonus feature that includes excerpts from the TV show Medical Matters, where doctors discuss symptoms, types and treatments for asthma.
Cons
- May be unaffordable to those on fixed incomes.
- Little focus on large muscle groups of the lower body like the legs, which would also greatly benefit from muscle strengthening and conditioning for COPD patients.
Guide Review
I found Functional Fitness for COPD and Asthma to be a very simple program that most COPD patients, regardless of degree of disability, will be able to perform easily in the comfort of their own homes. Suzanne Andrews provides a clear explanation of the disease process, and incorporates a variety of breathing techniques into this uncomplicated, comprehensive exercise DVD. My favorite feature is the special therapeutic energy conservation section. If you want to increase your ability to perform daily living activities and decrease the workload of breathing, then Functional Fitness for COPD and Asthma is a good option.
Disclosure: Review samples were provided by the manufacturer. For more information, please see our Ethics Policy.
