Everybody knows that the lungs are a pair of organs that allow your body to take in oxygen and release carbon dioxide, but did you know how important it is to have good lung capacity? Poor lung capacity can be a sign of an underlying medical condition or illness. Lung capacity can also indicate whether or not someone is healthy enough for strenuous physical activity. In order to test your own lung capacity, you have to read this article carefully!
Why should you test lung capacity?
It’s important to test your lung capacity for many different reasons. First, it will determine your level of fitness. It can also give you an indication of whether or not you should see a doctor for persistent chest pain.
When to Test Lung Capacity?
There are many different times to conduct this test. You can do it when you first wake up in the morning, before and after physical activity, or even before and after completing a breathing exercise. Just remember whatever time is most comfortable for you.
How to Test Your Lung Capacity?
You can easily test your lung capacity by following these steps:
Step 1: If you have a device that shows lung capacity, the first step would be to determine how many liters of air your lungs can hold. You can do this by blowing into the device until it is full of air, then continue to blow for another ten seconds. Your lung capacity is now labeled on the screen.
Step 2: For those with no lung-capacity testing device available, follow these steps instead. You will need a stopwatch or timer for this part of the test. Start timing when you take in a deep breath through your mouth and go all the way down to your diaphragm so that your lungs are full of oxygen. Hold your breath for fifteen seconds, then exhale completely through your mouth for another fifteen seconds. The number of seconds that your last breath is held for will be your lung capacity.
Step 3: If you want a more advanced method, try blowing into a jug or bottle with water up to the point where the liquid surface drops below its neck when you inhale and exhale through it in quick succession. Do this three times to determine your lung capacity in liters.
However, these are only estimates of the lungs’ capacities. All it takes is one person with extra-large lungs to give you an inaccurate reading. Lungs account for about 2% of the human body’s weight, creating less space in our chests than what seems necessary for this important organ.
Conclusion
The best way to test lung capacity is by measuring your body’s ability to take in oxygen. It can be done with a simple Atemgerät that takes less than five minutes and requires no equipment. If you’re feeling short of breath, it may not just be because of the weather or allergies, if you want to get an idea about how fit your lungs are, measure them using this method!