Lung Expanding Exercises

While you cannot physically increase the size of your lungs, you can maximize their strength and your ability to expand them through regular cardiovascular exercise and routine practice of deep-breathing techniques. While intensive physical exercise is an important part of building lung capacity, you can also work on your respiratory strength by exercising your lungs alone.

Pursed-lip Breathing

A breathing exercise called pursed-lip breathing can be performed while resting or during activity to expand the lungs, according to physician and integrated medicine specialist Dr. Andrew Weil in his book "Breathing: The Master Key to Self Healing." To perform this exercise, according to the Ohio State University Medical Center's instructions, inhale through your nose only at your normal rate and depth. When exhaling, purse your lips as if playing the flute, building pressure in the chest and windpipe while forcing the air out. Because of this restriction, exhalation should take two to three times as long as inhalation. Weil says that beginners should warm up to this exercise by initially practicing it while sitting or lying down. When you're comfortable with the technique, do it while standing, walking or working out. This exercise builds pressure in the lungs and forces you to expand them to the greatest comfortable extent and is clinically proven to reduce shortness of breath among chronic obstructive pulmonary disease sufferers, according to studies published by the American College of Chest Physicians.

Bellows Breathing Technique

The American Medical Student Association recommends another breathing exercise called the bellows breathing technique. With a foundation in yoga, the exercise is also sometimes called the stimulating breath because it is believed to stimulate the senses and promote alertness. To perform this exercise, sit up straight in a comfortable chair and breathe in and out through the nostrils at a fast rate and an even pace. Complete two to three inhalation and exhalation cycles per second. Though the lungs will not fill during the course of this exercise, you should feel tightness in the chest and abdomen, signaling that your lungs are working hard and building strength. Beginners should attempt this for no more than 15 seconds at first. As you become more comfortable with the technique, lengthen the duration of your exercise five seconds at a time. Do not attempt to exceed one minute. Due to the possibility of hyperventilation or lightheaded sensations, you should not attempt this while standing or walking.

Diaphragmatic Breathing

Diaphragmatic breathing, according to "The Breathing Book: Vitality & Good Health Through Essential Breath Work" by yoga expert Donna Farhi, is a conscious breathing exercise designed to strengthen the diaphragm and make full diaphragmatic breathing come more naturally when breathing normally. The diaphragm is a large muscle at the base of the lungs that can grow weak when it is underused because of shallow breathing. To perform this exercise, lie on your back with your head supported with a pillow, your knees slightly bent and your feet flat on the floor. Place one hand on your chest and the other on your abdomen so you can easily feel which is higher than the other. Inhale slowly and deeply through your nostrils. As you do so, you should feel the hand on your abdomen rise, but the hand on your chest should remain in place. At the end of the breath, when your belly is fully expanded, exhale slowly through pursed lips as described in the pursed-lip exercise above. Again, the hand on your chest should not move, but your other hand should slowly sink. Toward the end of the breath, tighten and hold the abdominal muscles, forcing all of the air out of the lungs. Repeat this exercise up to 20 times.