Lung capacity growth

[Reinier]

Is it not true you can increase your breathing volume by cardiovascular exercise? just how does this happen... I take it your ribcage does not expand. there is no space in between the lungs and the pleura or whatever.
i dont think the diaphram would go further down either.
How is this possible? does the lung deflate further than usual, does the ribcage not move in and out optimally in most people?

how big is this difference? If you have a couch potatoe and an aerobic athlete of the same height breathe out and measure the volume what kind of difference will you see?

[RG570]

i think your efficeny at using the oxygen increases, that would be my best guess

[Delphi]

The total lung capacity can be broken down into several volumes and capacities: http://www.fpnotebook.com/LUN59.htm

You can increase your vital capacity (amount of air you can forcefully exhale after a full inspiration). Most of it involves decreasing the residual volume, which is the amount of air left in the lungs after full exhalation. You can also increase the inspiratory lung volume to some extent.

Pearl divers and patients with emphysema (COPDers) are examples of two groups of people who have increased lung volumes- the divers by constantly having their lungs fully expanded voluntarily, and the COPDers by being unable to exhale fully due to loss of elasticity of their bronchioles by disease. Both groups have their lungs overexpanded for many hours a day, if not all day long. Both groups have expanded ribcages, mainly in the anterior-posterior dimension.

This brings up a side issue, can you increase your chest size by doing straight-arm pullovers and pulldowns a la Stuart McRobert's suggestions in Beyond Brawn? To my knowledge, no one has conclusively proven it's been done by measuring chest girth and/or lung volumes before and after a program of these exercises. My guess is that the few minutes a week that your lungs are expanded doing these exercises is not sufficient to appreciably enlarge the rib cage. I am willing to back down on this point if someone can prove these results in a controlled study, not by offering anecdotal evidence. Claiming that one's chest is bigger after doing these for a few months is not good evidence in my opinion, as the increase in chest circumference could be due to increase in size of the muscles around the ribcage. I want to see lung volumes before and after before I believe it. And, if the chest is larger from these exercises, then the lungs necessarily have to have greater volumes. Unless someone is claiming that the chest is bigger and the lungs are now just flopping around loosely in the chest.

[Reinier]

so you can enlarge the ribcage itself by sucking down air and holding it long/often enough...

and trained people breathe out further. how come they can do that?

[Delphi]

Development of their accessory breathing muscles- abs and intercostals.

[Delphi]

I've thought more decreasing the respiratory reserve versus increasing the inspiratory lung volume. Not sure I can back that up with data. Any takers? Maki?

[Reinier]

Originally posted by Delphi
Development of their accessory breathing muscles- abs and intercostals.

What are the intercostals? Diaphragm?

[entrrt]

diaphragm= muscle under the lungs that pulls down and "creates" a vacuum effect to pull in air.

intercostals= muscle lining the rib cage

[Reinier]

Ok i just never heard the word intercostals before