Breathing, the vital human function that proves you are healthy and safe. However, breathing is also one of the most underrated functions of the human body. Most people think that their body needs exercise but they never think that their lungs also need exercise. When working in a gym their main focus is on the muscle movement only but never on the movement of our lungs. If you have been living a passive life, sitting behind a computer throughout your day, you might have noticed that simple cardio makes you feel breathless. Shortness of breath is not just common during the workout, it is also common when you are performing simple daily functions like going up the stairs or carrying something. All these things explain that your lungs are facing capacity issues and you need to push yourself if you want to do better and stay a healthy life.
Table of Contents
Table of contents
With the help of this article, we will highlight the importance of lung capacity and the proper way of breathing that everyone should follow. We will also talk about simple exercises that will help you increase your lung capacity.
Why Is Lungs Capacity Important?
Lung capacity is the amount of oxygen your lungs can intake at a time. This means that if your lungs have less capacity, you will have to breathe more and this will eventually impact the heartbeat. In short, for the same amount of oxygen, your body has to work double. According to an estimate, most people only use 40% of their lung capacity because they have a very passive lifestyle. This transplants to their work as well because oxygen helps with brain function. Overall, body health is also affected and small household chores or simple physical activity gets very difficult.
Top 4 Exercises to Improve Lungs Capacity
For lung capacity, you will find so many different tools that can help you practice your breathing and improve your lung capacity. However, experts say that although these tools work you do not have to invest in these tools. Instead, you can practice with simple exercises. Some of the best exercises that you can use include:
- One of the simplest and most effective techniques is the use of the whistle. Get a whistle that will require a lot of effort and then try to blow it. This will help you work on your breathing.
- You can also try and blow balloons because they are also very effective.
- Diaphragmatic breathing is a very effective technique that will help you work on your lungs capacity. You need to keep one hand on the chest and the other on the belly. Now inhale with full force and let your lungs fill with air. Now hold it for at least a few seconds and then let go. You need to keep repeating this process for at least 10 minutes.
- Pursed-lips breathing is another important technique that is just like blowing a balloon. You need to sit straight, close your eyes and let your lungs be filled with air. Make sure to inhale through your nose and hold it. Now close your lips and pucker up. Now breathe out through your mouth.
Tips and Tricks for Healthy Lungs
Most people only focus on exercises and do not understand that lifestyle changes are equally important. Some of the best tricks that can help you keep your lungs healthy for a long time include:
- Avoid smoking
- Improve your diet by adding food that has antioxidants.
- Use soothing solutions to help you clear out your lung pipe
- Walking, jogging and hiking is very important
- Plant more trees and also use indoor plants so that you can improve the air quality. Synthetic fragrances, dust, and moldy environments are not good for breathing.
Bottom Line
To sum it all up, breathing is the first thing that we learn as we are born. However, we never understand how the human body has been designed to breathe. Simple seasonal changes, lifestyle, habits, and sometimes disease affect the way we breathe. Considering the COVID situation where everyone is currently struggling with the breathing technique it is now more important than ever to improve our breathing technique and work on lungs capacity. Researchers and health experts have designed sophisticated machines that help with breathing exercises but you do not have to invest in these machines. Instead, there are simple alternative exercises that will help you perform the same function. The best way is to start with simple steps and eventually you will see the progress.
