What Are Your Lungs Capable Of Four Ways You Could Improve Your Lung Capacity
Posted May 22, 2025
For the 2015 film, “Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation”, Tom Cruise held his breath for approximately six minutes while filming an underwater stunt. Kate Winslet broke Cruise’s record during the production of the 2022 film, “Avatar: The Way of Water”, when she held her breath underwater for an astonishing seven minutes and 15 seconds. While these feats of lung power are far beyond normal pulmonary expectations, they are great examples that with the right care and expertise, you could be breathing in a way that you never thought possible.
If you suspect your lungs could do more, here are four ways to improve your lung capacity.
Physical Exertion
Several types of exercise can help you increase your overall lung capacity. Aerobic exercises like walking, running, swimming and cycling force your lungs to work harder. Muscle-strengthening exercises such as weightlifting or Pilates that are designed to build/increase your core strength, improve posture and strengthen the muscles involved in the breathing process. Engaging in both styles of physical exercise can increase your overall lung capacity.
Breathing Exercises
Three different types of breathing exercises can help increase your lung capacity. Diaphragmatic breathing (more commonly known as belly breathing) is when you focus on expanding your belly while inhaling and exhaling—this practice exercises your diaphragm, the primary muscle used for breathing. Pursed lips breathing controls airflow and can be used to strengthen your lungs and reduce shortness of breath. To breathe with pursed lips, tightly close your mouth like how you might whistle and then breathe out slowly. Another method, deep breathing exercises, involves taking as deep of a breath as you can through your nose to fully expand your lungs and then exhale through pursed lips.
Lifestyle Adjustments
Some of the choices that we make in our daily lifestyles also have an impact on lung capacity. Poor posture, for example, can place unnecessary pressure on your diaphragm thereby reducing your ability to breathe deeply. Exposure to indoor and outdoor pollutants and allergens can affect your ability to breathe. Dietary choices and a healthy weight impact your lungs’ ability to do their best. Diets rich in fruits, vegetables and whole grains contain the proper nutrients for healthy lungs. If you’re a smoker and wish to improve your breathing, quitting is the best first step. Smoking damages lung tissue and the longer a person smokes the greater their lung capacity is reduced.
Additional Tips
Always consult your doctor or primary care provider about what exercises or health changes may be right for you. If you don’t feel like you are breathing as you should, start a conversation about your breathing and lung capacity goals. Listen to your body. If you are having trouble breathing with certain exercises or activities it is important not to do too much too fast and put your health at risk. Of course, be patient and kind to yourself—if you are working to strengthen your lungs and their overall capacity—these changes take time.
To learn more about how to improve your lung function, find a doctor or request an appointment, visit summahealth.org/medicalservices/pulmonary or call 330.375.3000.
About the Author
Vitality eNews Sign Up
Receive the Summa Health eNewsletter for the latest health tips, advice and updates.
Related Blogs
Even without a medical degree, having certain medical equipment in the home can be a helpful way to keep an eye on your or a loved one’s health. For instance, most people are familiar with using a thermometer to determine if you are experiencing a fever. People who have or suspect they are experiencing a respiratory issue or illness may fine an at home oxygen meter just as helpful—and easy to use—as a trusty thermometer.
At home oxygen meters, more commonly…
After decades of prevalent tobacco warnings, the popularity of vaping has increased significantly — particularly among individuals looking for an alternative to smoking cigarettes. The attraction to vaping is often due to its variety of flavors, the belief that it is less harmful than smoking and the convenience of e-cigarettes. However, along with the rise in vaping's popularity, concerns regarding its long-term health effects have escalated. One of the most…
Here at Summa Health, a team of professionals are prepared to help you with advanced tools, tests and…
If you have been recently diagnosed with Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) its important to understand that COPD isn’t just one disease, it’s a spectrum of conditions that impacts the ability to get air out of the lungs. COPD is a common condition that can be treated more successfully when you know what type of COPD you have been diagnosed with and how to manage it.
COPD claims nearly as many lives as some cancers and due to the various causes and…
Imagine navigating a health system during a stressful time, like a new diagnosis or chronic illness. That’s where patient navigators come in—they act as personal guides to help patients receive the best possible care at Summa Health.
Patient navigators bridge the gap between our patients and the medical system. Although their backgrounds vary, they all deeply understand the healthcare landscape and are passionate about patient advocacy.
Patient navigators…
- Heart disease
- Stroke
- Respiratory conditions
- Various cancers
Prioritizing your lung health is very important, especially if you’re suffering from chronic lung conditions, such as COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), lung cancer or asthma.
Your lungs allow you to take in oxygen from the air you breathe and are the key to carrying it to all your organ systems to keep them running efficiently, while clearing your body of carbon dioxide.
The body has a natural defense system designed to protect the lungs, and help keep dirt…
Lung cancer is the second most commonly diagnosed cancer in both males and females in the United States, and according to the American Cancer Society (ACS), is the leading cause of cancer deaths, making up almost 25% of cases.
While smoking is the leading cause of lung cancer, nonsmokers can be diagnosed with cancer as well. Exposure to radon, asbestos, and secondhand smoke are some of the other risk factors that can increase your risk of developing lung cancer.
The good news…
Updated November 2024
You know winter has arrived when the days get shorter, snow flurries fill the air and you can see your breath when you speak. When temperatures hover around freezing for months on end, it can make for a long and dreary season for many.
But for people with asthma, it can be even more frightful when the frigid winter weather causes their symptoms to worsen. Exposure to cold, dry air is a common asthma trigger and can quickly cause severe symptoms.
When cold,…
Listen to this episode of the Healthy Vitals Podcast featuring Paul Bailey, a registered respiratory therapist, and Sarah Serb, an acute nurse practitioner.
Smoking cigarettes is a dangerous habit that damages nearly every organ in the body, leading to disease and long-term disability.
People who smoke are at a higher risk for lung cancer, stroke, heart disease, diabetes, tuberculosis, eye diseases, and the list goes on. Another major health effect caused from smoking is chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or COPD.
COPD is a lung disease that affects the way air flows in and out of your lungs, making it difficult to breathe.…
Are you suffering from asthma, bronchitis, emphysema or another lung problem? A respiratory therapist may be able to help.
One out of six Americans will suffer from a serious pulmonary (lung) disease at some time in their lives. Of those afflicted, however, many patients don’t realize a respiratory therapist can help them overcome breathing problems and breathe easier — all the while increasing their quality of life.
As vital members of the healthcare team,…
Chronic lower respiratory disease is the third leading cause of death, behind cancer and heart disease in Ohio. Chronic lower respiratory disease is a broad term that includes a variety of diseases that affect the lungs, like: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), emphysema (a type of COPD), chronic bronchitis and non-reversible asthma.
Roughly one in six Americans will suffer from some pulmonary disease in their lifetime. Most of those affected usually associate…
Lung nodules are abnormal clusters of tissue that appear as “spots” on chest X-rays and CT scans. All lung cancers starts as a nodule; however, these spots are very common and almost 95 percent of them are not cancerous.
Lung cancer is a very tragic disease. It has the lowest 5-year survival rate of all cancers and leads to more deaths that the next 3 deadliest cancers (colorectal, pancreatic and breast) combined.
Most lung cancers are not diagnosed and treated at an early stage, contributing to the low survival rate. However, early detection, by low-dose CT screening, can increase that rate by up to 20 percent in high-risk patients.