It’s no secret that our lungs are essential for providing oxygen to the body. But did you know that diaphragmatic breathing can improve your lung capacity? Diaphragmatic breathing, also known as abdominal or belly breathing, is a deep breathing exercise used by athletes and yogis alike to maximize their performance. In this article, we’ll discuss why diaphragmatic breathing is beneficial, how to perform it correctly, and how it can improve your overall lung capacity with lungs exercise.
Benefits of Diaphragmatic Breathing
Diaphragmatic breathing has several benefits; it helps reduce stress and anxiety levels, encourages proper posture and muscle relaxation, and increases your physical endurance during exercise. This type of breathing also helps clear the airways because as you inhale deeply through your nose and exhale slowly through your mouth you are supporting natural mucus flow. Additionally, a study conducted in 2018 suggests that diaphragmatic breathing can help reduce inflammation and improve respiratory health long-term.
How to Perform Diaphragmatic Breathing
Diaphragmatic breathing is easy to learn but may take practice before you master it. Here are the steps for performing diaphragmatic breathing correctly:
● Lie down on your back with one hand on your chest and the other on your stomach
● Take a deep breath in through your nose while contracting your stomach muscles
● Hold the breath for two seconds then slowly exhale using pursed lips
● Repeat these steps 5–10 times until you feel relaxed
When performed correctly, you should feel like there’s an ocean wave moving up and down beneath both hands as you breathe in and out steadily. If at any time during the exercise you feel lightheaded or dizzy then stop as soon as possible.
Improving Your Lung Capacity with Diaphragm Breathing Once you become comfortable with diaphragm breathing techniques then try increasing the length of each breath from two seconds to four or five seconds per inhalation/exhalation cycle. As you practice over time, challenge yourself further by incorporating some dynamic exercises such as running or jogging on a treadmill after each round of deep breaths. When done regularly, this will help strengthen the muscles within your lungs which will increase their capacity over time meaning more oxygen to fuel all of life’s activities!
Conclusion: Diaphragmatic breathing is an effective way to bring awareness to how we breathe throughout our day-to-day lives while also helping us get the most out of our bodies when exercising or doing physical activity. It is important to remember that shallow chest breathers will not receive all of the benefits associated with diaphragm breaths so make sure that when practicing this technique that both hands are feeling like they are riding an ocean wave up and down in unison! With regular practice combined with dynamic exercises designed to strengthen lung muscles over time; anyone can increase their lung capacity through diaprhagm breathes! So why wait? Deepen those breaths today!
