Staying fit through movement and exercise is hands-down the best way to keep your lungs thriving long-term.
I set out to share basic breathing practices for lung health and well-being—but any solid list starts with physical activity at the top.
Research and personal experience alike reveal that the simplest way to maintain healthy lungs in the long run is by being physically active.
If you have specific health conditions, then you should follow your doctor’s advice. You can have breathing and physical exercises tailored for you.
Lung capacity and longevity
There’s now enough research to show that our lung capacity— how much air we can breathe in and how well we breathe out — affects not only how long we live (life span) but also how well we live (health span).
Our lungs and heart are finely tuned to work in harmony with each other. A poor functioning lung can affect heart health.
Poor lung capacity is not just about our inability to breathe.
Our lung capacity reflects our body’s ability to deliver oxygen to vital organs and remove waste gases like carbon dioxide. Low lung capacity can make this process inefficient.
Low lung capacity also puts us in a vicious cycle – we can’t breathe well so we move less. We move less so we don’t build lung capacity.
Exercise and lungs
Any exercise or physical activity that leaves you moderately breathless—like how you feel after a brisk walk— makes you work your respiratory muscles by taking deep breaths.
Over the long-term, exercise improves your lung capacity, strengthens your respiratory muscles and promotes efficient gas exchange.
Things affecting lung capacity
Aging affects lung capacity. Just getting older reduces the elasticity of our lung tissue and the strength of our respiratory muscles.
Once we add environmental factors like pollution, stress, viruses, surgery, and lung and other health conditions we have enough reasons to not ignore our lungs.
I am not saying that breathing techniques have no value. When you are in the midst of something like an asthma attack some breathing techniques can give you relief.
But in the long run, breathing techniques alone won’t be sufficient.
One could then say that movement or physical activity is in fact an essential breathing practice. We can now talk about other breathing techniques — more in my next post.
In the meantime, we always have access to our natural, essential breath. It is primarily:
- Oscillating:
The natural, easy breath can be felt as an oscillation of the body. Every in breath feels like a gentle reaching or expansion away from the center of the body. Every out breath is a quiet return or yielding to the center of the body.
- Diaphragmatic:
Our lungs don’t have muscular tissue. The primary muscles we use in breathing are the diaphragm and intercostal muscles.
- Originates internally:
Breathing is initiated by signals from the brain and pressure gradients in our lungs. In essence, we are breathed from within.
- Multi-directional:
Breathing is an all-round (360o) movement of the upper body; not just the front and back.
- Rhythmic:
Inhale – Exhale – Pause — that’s the rhythm of the natural breath. We breathe about 12-20 times every minute; 3-5 seconds for each in-out cycle.
- Flexible:
Our breath changes and adapts naturally to perceived exertion on the body. You will notice your breath change as your thoughts, feelings and movements change.
- Effortless:
Healthy lungs breathe with ease. If breathing feels effortful even at rest, it’s good to get seek medical help.
Reference: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11814402/