During my second or third Airofit Pro lung test, I could feel how I intake and expel air from my lungs. It's a strange sensation, being able to control your breathing consciously. At that point, although I hadn't seen any numerical improvements in my VO2 max, I knew I was on the right track to get better at being in charge of the most fundamental organic processes there is.
The Airofit trainer is one of the most unique fitness devices I tried in recent times, and I used some interesting equipment in 2021, such as the Vitruvian V-form Trainer. What piqued my interest wasn't the fact that it looks like a scuba mouthpiece but that it's capable of improving VO2 max in just 5-10 minutes a day. Now that's a claim I had to put to the test!
Airofit Pro: Price and availability
The Airofit PRO is available to buy now directly from Airofit for a recommended retail price of $379/£329/AU$613. It's also available at Amazon US.
There is a cheaper model called Airofit Active which is a simplified version of the Airofit PRO breathing trainer.
Airofit also sells a carry case, a tripod for your phone, replacement mouthpieces and even a fingertip pulse oximeter for a little extra money.
Airofit Pro: what is it and how does it work
The Airofit PRO is a small breathing device that controls and measures how much air enters and leaves your lungs. There are two dials at each side, controlling the amount of air the Airofit PRO lets in and out. There is also a rubber mouthpiece – this goes in your mouth – and a head unit that sends the data to your phone where it gets analysed.
The Airofit PRO connects to your phone via Bluetooth. There is no display on the Airofit PRO itself; it's only the on/off button that provides feedback of what's happening (it blinks when it's charged or turned on). It's a simple and straightforward device; as to how it should be.
The magic happens in the Airofit app: this is where you'll find the exercises and instructions on how to perform them. In the app, you can set your goals – general wellbeing or sport – and the app will recommend daily workouts accordingly.
As well as these, you can also find a bunch of different exercises under the 'Discover' tab. These lung workouts can help you increase respiratory strength, anaerobic threshold, and more. Here is where you can perform an ad hoc 'lung test', too, something you should do daily before your daily sessions to see how you progress.
Airofit Pro: first impressions
My initial impression of the Airofit PRO was that it looked way cheaper than a device someone has to pay over £300. The all-plastic construction didn't radiate a sense of quality and the unit was comparatively light too, an unfortunate combination when it comes to value perception.
However, my mind was quickly put to ease by the wonderful peeps over at Airofit.
They explained that the reason why the device uses these materials is that all plastic needs to be medically certified – it goes in your mouth, after all – so they can't apply any coating to it to make it look fancier.
I did have some trouble taking off the head unit so I can charge it. The head unit is made of the same material as the rest of the device and has very little grip. I was concerned that if I squeezed it too much the whole thing might break. Once you get the hang of it, though, the removal process is not terribly hard to perform.
That said, I wish the head unit had some protruding bits or rubber inserts so it's easier to grab and remove. Best would be if the charging port would be on the outside of the unit so I didn't have to fiddle around with removal in the first place. And can we please request the Airofit PRO 2 to be USB-C compatible? Much appreciated.
Airofit Pro: getting better, one breath at a time
Initial niggles aside, I was quite hooked on using the Airofit PRO in general. Not only it's interesting to see how you progress in the app, there is also a sense of achievement when you perform better at your daily lung tests.
I don't smoke and exercise a lot so I was expecting to see marginal improvements in my performance. Interestingly, although the stats didn't improve straight away, I felt more confident performing the tests from the third day onwards. I could control my breathing more precisely and follow the guided exercises in the app more accurately too.
I've only been using the Airofit PRO for a little bit under a month but I'm already acing some of the exercises. Haven't got as far as cranking up the difficulty to the hard setting but I'm getting there! VO2 max is improving steadily but I will have to use the device for a few more weeks to see tangible improvements in this area I feel.
Airofit Pro: should you buy one?
The Airofit PRO is and will always be a tool for endurance athletes to become better at their chosen sport. I can't see people buying this the same way they might buy a running watch or a fitness tracker just so they think they did something to improve their health.
For those wanting to get better at running, swimming, cycling, using the Airofit PRO can be the key to getting ahead of the competition. Sure, you can improve the VO2 max and anaerobic threshold by just cycling/running/swimming all the time, but by using the Airofit PRO, you can give your joints a break without compromising performance.
And that is worth more than what the Airofit PRO sells for.
