Exercising is just one of a series of steps you can take in order to get in shape and live a healthier lifestyle. The effectiveness of your workout is determined by several different factors, including your lung capacity. As you get your lungs in shape, you will find that your workouts will be better and can exercise for a longer period of time. Although there is no way to physically increase the size of your lungs, there are several ways to increase your lung capacity and effectiveness.
Step 1
Increase the length of your workouts. Your lungs will become more effective the more you push them. Keep running or working out past the point where you believe you hit your limit. As you take in more air and work your lungs harder, they will get trained to use the extra air you breathe in.
Step 2
Breathe deeply as you exercise. Many times, people working out take short shallow breaths which are good for getting you oxygen, but not much more. Concentrate on taking in large amounts of air, holding it for a beat, and letting it out.
Step 3
Add resistance to your normal breathing. Keep the opening of your mouth small and then try to consciously breath in through your nose and out through your mouth. This will keep more air in your lungs which will train them to hold the air in longer.
Step 4
Work out at a higher altitude than you are normally used to. The higher altitude will have thinner air, which makes your lungs work harder to get it. This is akin to adding weights to your lifting bar to increase your muscle size.
Step 5
Exercise in water. Water slows your body movements down which requires more effort from every part of your body. No matter how in shape your lungs are, you will most likely be forced to take short, shallow breaths at first. Work in the water until you can begin taking normal sized breaths. The extra work will build your lung capacity.
Tips and Warnings
- Added lung capacity is a long-term goal. Give yourself time to achieve your goal.
- One of the biggest enemies of increased lung capacity is smoking. Stop smoking before you try to increase your lung capacity.
