How To Increase Your Lung Capacity

The capacity of lungs has to be increased, especially when you are an athlete or a singer. You need to acquire a good control over your breath, when you are practicing athletics, singing or playing wind instruments. Breathing exercises, yoga, exercises in water, cycling and running are some of the surefire ways to improve the capacity of your lungs. If you are still wondering how to increase the capacity of your lungs, this article will help you a great deal. Read on to know about the best ways to have strong and capacious lungs.

Exercises That Increase Lung Capacity

Start your day by performing a simple breathing exercise. Breathe deeply. Hold the breath for a moment and then exhale slowly. Do the exercise ten times every morning. After a few days, you will find that your capacity to hold your breath has increased significantly. The exercise will also give you good breath control.
Lay flat in your bed. Now, place your right hand flat on your stomach, while the left hand should be just above your chest. Inhale slowly, to the maximum extent possible. Hold your breath for half a minute. You will feel your chest expanding slowly, as you breathe in air. Exhale all of the breath slowly. Be sure that you keep your mouth closed, all through the exercise. Perform this exercise daily and watch out for good results!
Practice yoga daily. By doing yoga, you will not only ensure physical fitness, but also increase your ability to control and expand breathing. 'Pranayama' are specially formulated to increase the lung capacity and control over your breath. Consult a person practising yoga, to get information on how to do pranayama.
Swimming is a surefire way to ensure capacious and strong lungs. Start with sessions of short duration, with a couple of laps. As you become adept at controlling your breath in water for a long time, you can increase the duration of the exercise.
A strenuous cardio activity can help you improve the capacity of your lungs. Running or cycling on a regular basis is suggested. Be sure to wear appropriate outfit and footwear, while doing the exercises. Also, do not strain your muscles by overdoing them. Start with a small duration and then extend the time limit later on, when you have attained a considerable control over your breath.
If you are inclined to music, you may learn to play a wind instrument, like saxophone, flute, trombone, tuba, oboe, mouth organ or clarinet. Since wind instruments require more and more lung capacity, with the increasing duration and intricacy in the music played, they will help you gain a better control over breathing and increase your lung capacity as well.

Tip

If you are a smoker, immediately give up the habit. Smoking not only decreases the lung capacity, but also leaves you with a number of ailments, ranging from cardio vascular diseases to the deadly cancer.

How to Cite

Related Articles

See also

More in 'Health & Fitness'