Vital lung capacity is the total amount of air your lungs can hold. As you age, your lung capacity gradually decreases, and with it, the average and normal lung capacity changes as well. However, other chronic lung diseases, such as COPD and asthma, and smoking can affect your lung function, reducing vital lung capacity dramatically.
How to Improve Lung Volume?
You can effectively improve and maintain your lung volume capacity by focusing on your breathing and training your lungs and respiratory muscles through breathing techniques and exercises. Most people underestimate the importance of focusing on improving their vital functional capacity.
Your lungs are responsible for inhaling oxygen and exhaling carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide leaves your lungs, and oxygen enters your lungs, delivering it to your heart, brain, and muscles. You require good vital lung capacity to ensure a high functioning respiratory system.
Therefore, you should incorporate breathing exercises into your daily routine. The higher your lung capacity, the higher the oxygen levels in your body. Comprised vital lung capacity causes shortness of breath, hyperventilation, and difficulty catching your breath.
If you find yourself losing your breath and can’t work out for longer durations like other people, you need to calculate your vital capacity by visiting your doctor to undergo lung function tests.
Calculating Vital Capacity
Vital capacity indicates respiratory function based on the following three pulmonary volumes. They include:
Lung Volume |
Female (L) |
Male (L) |
Meaning |
Inspiratory Reserve Volume (IRV) |
3.1 |
1.9 |
It’s possible to forcefully inhale additional air after the normal tidal volume inspires. |
Tidal Volume (TV) |
0.5 |
0.5 |
The amount of air you can inhale and exhale during relaxed breathing at a rate of twelve to twenty breaths each minute. |
Expiratory Research Volume (ERV) |
1.2 |
0.7 |
The extra air that can be taken during forced exhalation after the normal tidal volume expires |
The Formula to Estimate Vital Capacity: Vital Capacity = Inspiratory Reserve Volume + Tidal Volume + Expiratory Reserve Volume
Vital capacity is the total amount of air you can expel after maximum inhalation. In adults, normal values are between 3 to 5 liters and depend on weight, height, gender, age, and ethnicity. For instance, a 20-year-old will have a better vital lung capacity than a 40-year-old.
Lower than normal lung vital capacity suggests the person has a respiratory condition. However, in some respiratory conditions such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, the vital capacity may be slightly decreased or normal.
The Importance of Calculating Vital Lung Capacity
- Diagnoses certain underlying lung conditions
- Determines the severity of respiratory muscle damage in neuromuscular disease
- Determines the best treatment option for Guillain-Barre syndrome
- Determine the best treatment option for managing a myasthenic crisis
Whether a test determined you have poor lung capacity or you found yourself losing your breath while partaking in physical activity, you can improve your functional lung capacity by performing exercises and changing your diet.
Strategies to Improve Your Vital Lung Capacity
You can use the following strategies to improve your vital lung capacity:
· Core and Upper Body Training
Routine core and upper body training can improve your bone strength and strengthen your shoulders, chest, and back muscles. You can perform deadlifts and chest and shoulder presses, for instance. Doing so will help you take full breaths and maintain an optimal breathing posture.
· Increase Intake of Fruits
Eating flavonoid and antioxidant-rich fruits such as tomatoes, apples, and bananas can reduce the rate at which your lung function declines. You should eat four servings of fruit each day.
· Perform Aerobic Exercise
Why should you perform aerobic exercise when it can’t increase lung function? Although it can’t increase lung function, it can help you improve your vital lung capacity, which is the amount of oxygen you inhale per breath.
You need to include resistance training in your workout routine. You can perform hills when going out for walks or hold light hand weights while walking. You can also use a random or interval setting when walking or running on the treadmill.
This will increase the variability and intensity of your exercises, and in return, increase your heart rate and make you breathe harder, which then can improve your vital lung capacity.
· Use a Respiratory Training Device
You can use a respiratory training device to improve your respiratory performance health conditioning. The device trains your inspiratory and expiratory muscles at the same time and then adjusts the levels accordingly. You don’t have to have a poor vital lung capacity to use it either, but anyone who wants to increase their physical performance without having to pause in between to catch their breath.
We want you to perform these workouts and eat healthy to improve your vital lung capacity, but if the last option appeals to you and you want faster results, you can get a respiratory training device. The Orygen Dual Valve can provide you with results if you use it four days each week. Make changes to your lifestyle and notice your vital lung capacity increase.