Title: 
Your 3 Best Options for Increased Lung Capacity

Word Count:
398

Summary:
Is it possible to increase your lung capacity and if so how?


Keywords:
increase lung capacity, lung capacity, increasing lung capacity, average lung capacity, lung capacity, expand lung capacity


Article Body:
Copyright 2006 Marc David

Imagine the frustrated person who says, "I do at least 30 minutes of cardio in every training session I do spinning classes, cross trainer and StairMaster.  But when it comes to going running I feel so unfit and can't last more than 10 mins!"

Have you ever wondered why some people seem to have a bigger lung capacity?

The question ended with "is it possible to increase my lung capacity and if so how?"

Yes, it's true...

You can change the capacity of your lungs to a certain point.  But before I go too far into the details, let's learn a little bit about the lungs in general.  Trust me, this will not be hard.

Facts About Lung Volume (capacity):

* Average human lungs hold about 5 liters of air
* Volumes can vary with height and age
* Total lung capacity depends on person's age, height, sex, weight and degree of physical activity
* Females tend to have 20-25% lower capacity than males
* Tall people tend to have more lung capacity then shorter people
* Heavy smokers have less lung capacity
* Altitude affects lung capacity

For starters...

Because you are doing cardiovascular activities already, that alone will help to increase your lung capacity thru your physical exercise.  As you progress, the workouts become more challenging, your lung capacity will increase so that your body can get more oxygen from the air.

As you will see, that is the single biggest thing you can do right now to increase your overall lung capacity!

Tip #1 for Increased Lung Capacity:

- Do challenging cardiovascular activities - Start slow and work your way to more intense cardio depending on your goal.  Cardio workouts can be progressive.

Tip #2 for Increased Lung Capacity:

- Train at higher altitudes

Frankly, this isn't something most people can do all the time but it's a well known fact that runners who are serious will train for a time period at higher altitudes before a race.  Their lung capacity will be larger at higher altitudes because there is less pressure from the atmosphere.

Once they come down to sea level, they have a larger overall lung capacity for a short period of time.

FACT:  When somebody from sea level goes to a higher elevation, they often develop altitude sickness because their lungs cannot process enough oxygen for their body's needs.

Tip #3 for Increased Lung Capacity:

- Don't smoke

These 3 tips will help you increase your lung capacity.


