When you first started running, you may have been huffing and puffing by the end of the block, but you now can run a 5K easily, keeping your breathing under control. This could lead you to believe that running has increased the amount of air your lungs can hold, but it has really increased the amount of air you can use. Training can increase the efficiency with which your body gets and uses oxygen.
Lung Capacity Versus VO2 Max
Imagine you could pump air directly into your lungs like you were blowing up a balloon. The total amount of air you can hold would be your lung capacity, which depends on the size of your lungs; larger people have larger lungs and vice versa. So how can so many elite runners be small with proportionate lungs? Because running well is related more to the way you use oxygen, not how much you can hold. Your VO2 max is the amount of oxygen your body can use in one minute per kilogram of body weight.
Oxygen Exchange and Running
Each breath you take sends air into your lungs, where oxygen is transferred to your blood, which takes it throughout your body to help power your muscles. If your circulatory system isn't working efficiently, you won't be able to power much of a run, no matter how much air you can hold.
Taking bigger breaths doesn't help you; the action required to take those breaths diverts blood flow away from the muscles that are moving you forward, and your run suffers. The only way to increase your speed and endurance is to train your heart and lungs together, so they work together to get oxygen to your muscles faster, increasing your VO2 max.
Training
Interval training can help increase your VO2 max. Start by running at maximum speed, then recovering an equal amount of time. Then cover the same distance slightly slower, with a shorter rest. Repeat the process several times, slowing your speed and shortening your recovery each time. Some runners practice yoga to help increase their VO2 max with a combination of breath work and vigorous asanas as an adjunct to their running training.
Outside Factors
A 1981 study in the "American Review of Respiratory Disease" found that subfreezing temperatures cause bronchoconstriction, which limits the amount of air you can take in with each breath. Altitude also affects the amount of oxygen your body uses from each breath, because your heart doesn't pump as much blood with each beat. This effect increases as elevation rises, so keep that in mind the next time you have a race in Denver.
References
- Brain Mac Sports Coach: VO2 max
- "Yoga Journal"; Yoga for Runners; Baron Baptiste, et al.
- "American Review of Respiratory Disease"; Lung Function After Marathon Running at Warm and Cold Ambient Temperatures; D.A. Mahler, et al.; August 1981
- CoachR.org; " 'I Can't Catch My Breath': Lungs and Distance Running Performance"; Jason Karp
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