An average human lung has the capability of holding about 5 liters of air. This lung capacity affects your body's ability to gather, transport and deliver oxygen to the working muscles during physical activity. Your individual lung capacity is a determining factor to your overall running ability. While the physical size of your lungs can't be changed, you can improve your lung's ability to maximize that capacity. Through proper conditioning, you can improve lung capacity to help you run longer and faster.
Step 1
Increase the intensity of your running workouts by performing brief timed intervals. These short, high-intensity intervals place a higher demand on the cardiovascular system for increased lung capacity.
Step 2
Increase the overall volume of your training runs. The increased mileage and intensity of the workouts forces your body to expand the lung capacity to accommodate the increased work load.
Step 3
Perform cross-training workouts one to two days per week. You can use swimming, cycling or rowing to change your workout routine and force the body to increase lung capacity.
Step 4
Focus on your breathing during every workout. To maximize your lung's capacity, they must receive increased amounts of oxygen while exhaling the carbon dioxide. As a result, big, controlled breaths allow you to maximize the lung capacity for optimum transfer of oxygen and carbon dioxide.
Step 5
Train at higher altitudes where the oxygen levels are lower. Altitude training forces the body to adjust to the thinner air by efficiently transporting the available oxygen to the working muscles.
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