Diminished lung capacity can negatively affect your quality of life. Various factors can decrease your lung function, among these are emphysema, smoking, lung cancer and asthma. Weak lung volume is not the only reason you might wish to increase your capacity. Athletes, singers, musicians and other health-concerned individuals also look for methods to strengthen their already healthy lungs. Practicing these exercises can help you improve your lung capacity regardless of your particular situation.
Breathing Exercises
Various reliable sources recommend practicing deep-breathing exercises to increase lung capacity. Women's Health Services of Australia suggests a technique called mother breath. Slowly inhale for seven seconds and hold this breath for one second. Then slowly exhale for seven seconds and hold for one second before repeating. HealthExpertAdvice.org details similar breathing methods. Implement resistance by inhaling deeply through your nose and then keeping your lips closed as you exhale through your mouth, allowing a small, resistant opening in your lips through which to push the air out. Because your lungs become accustomed to retaining air for a longer period of time, they will expand. The University of Missouri-Kansas City endorses breathing exercises as well. One of its recommended exercises employs lying on your back with pillows under your knees and neck. Place your hands on your stomach just below your rib cage and breathe deeply, allowing your stomach to expand and push your fingers apart, then breathe out slowly, feeling your stomach fall.
Water Exercise
HealthExpertAdvice.org cites water exercises for building stronger, higher lung capacity. Develop a light weight lifting and stretching routine outside of the water and practice it until you become comfortable with it. Then, move your workout into an exercise pool or other body of water at a depth that reaches your neck. Performing your stretching and weight lifting routine under water will cause you to take shorter, quicker breaths, due to the water's pressure on your body and the movement of blood into your chest. Because your body must work harder to receive air, your lung capacity will improve over time.
Candle Exercise
According to Women's Health Services, an exercise involving blowing out a candle improves lung capacity. Simply extinguish a lit candle with a long, slow breath. Move the candle farther away each time you master this skill from a certain distance.
Breathe Through a Tube or Pipe
HealthExpertAdvice.org advises breathing through a tube or pipe to increase lung strength. First, ensure the tube or pipe is sterile and large enough to open your mouth wide when you place your lips around it--but not wide enough to cause pain or discomfort. Practice breathing in and out through the tube slowly and use caution, because you will receive a high level of oxygen and it could cause lightheadedness. Health Expert Advice says that doing this exercise often enough will enable you to take deeper breaths, since your lungs will become used to receiving more air.
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