Take a deep breath. Your lungs are literally pumping fuel — oxygen — into your bloodstream every minute. They’re vital to healthy living, and the longer they stay in good shape, the longer you’ll be able to stay independent and active.
The good news is that improving and keeping up good respiratory health is relatively easy to do, and it all starts with getting the blood pumping through aerobic activity. Even people with disorders related to respiration are generally able to participate in low-intensity varieties of aerobic training. On top of all that, these types exercises are fun!
Here are five different aerobic exercise for those looking to build up and maintain their respiratory health.
1. Walking
Daily 10-15 minute walks might seem like small, inconsequential drops in the bucket — but this couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, a short walk every day can vastly improve your respiratory health.
These walks aren’t Olympic-speed-walking-style. You don’t want to overwork or overstress yourself — instead, simply walk briskly and quickly enough to break a bit of a sweat and get that heart rate up. Remember: you want to be walking as fast as you are able to while still being able to hold a comfortable conversation.
Walking is gentle, low-impact, and accessible to anyone with sufficient mobility. In addition to strengthening your lungs, walking can help you reduce weight, lower your blood pressure, improve your mood, and also decreases your risk factor for several serious conditions such as type 2 diabetes.
2. Jogging
If you’re already comfortable walking every day and you feel like cranking it up a notch, feel free to move on to running or jogging. There are plenty of good exercises when it comes to cardio workouts, but jogging is one of the — if not definitively THE — best. In fact, human beings have evolved to be some of the best runners in the animal kingdom when it comes to endurance.
Like walking, jogging is generally accessible to the public, though it may require a little training before you’re comfortable going substantial distances. The trick is to work your way up little by little, jogging short distances at first, and to slowly turn up the intensity over time. Plenty of websites, apps, and personal trainers specialize in just that.
Stick to a consistent schedule, and running/light jogging should improve your overall fitness, stamina, and energy levels. Not only does chronic jogging increase respiratory health, as well as raise good cholesterol, it’s been proven to reduce your chances of contracting many conditions and diseases as well.
3. Social Sports
Social sports come in many different shapes and sizes, and include activities such as racquetball, disc golf, regular golf, and basketball. All of these activities allow you to have fun while exercising, and courts social interaction and friendship. The trick here, like with walking, is to be as active as you’re comfortable being while still being able to hold a conversation.
These workout ideas hinge on the combination of aerobic exercise with the fun of playing a friendly game. Think about it: disc golf might seem like a walk in the park, but think about how much distance you’re going to cover while throwing those discs. To that end, remember that just about anything can turn into an aerobic exercise, which is great for the respiratory system.
4. Lung Exercises
When it comes to exercises that improve respiratory health, there’s nothing more on-the-nose than lung exercises, which can enhance stamina and lung capacity. Most people who are not athletes don’t perform them regularly — and even then, it’s not likely that many athletes do either — but they are highly beneficial and easy enough that anyone can do them. David Blaine successfully performed lung exercises as training to accomplish the feat of holding his breath for 17 minutes.
As is the case with jogging, there are online tutorials and resources that fully explain a wide variety of different lung strengthening exercises, and most of them are easy to perform. Even those who have respiratory problems that exclude them from strenuous activities are usually able to perform these types of exercises. Lung exercises will help just about anybody breathe deeper, more fully, and easier.
Another added benefit of doing lung exercises is that it forces you to monitor your respiratory system. If you didn’t know whether or not you had a problem before, simply focusing on lung exercises might illuminate the truth either way. Perhaps over time, you’ll realize that your conditions are seasonal — for example, humidity levels in winter can drop to as low as 10 percent, while general comfortable humidity level for people is about 40 to 60 percent.
5. Tai-Chi
Tai-Chi is a 2000 year old, physical artform that’s accessible to just about anybody willing to learn it. It allows you to concentrate on your breathing while learning about how your body moves and works. It’s soothing and stress-free.
Tai Chi, much like Yoga, involves turning movement into full-body poses and helpful stances, which might bring you more muscular benefits than pulmonary benefits. Nevertheless, doing Tai-Chi is an ideal way to increase your capacity for relaxation and peace of mind. Coupled with increased aerobic exercise, practicing this ancient martial art can help to promote drastic change in your overall health. Most experts recommend finding a Tai-Chi instructor, and there are plenty of books and videos out there to get you started.
Final Overview and Benefits
The real key is to get your blood pumping a little bit, and to increase your heart rate without going too hard. Your cardiovascular system is linked to your respiratory system, and one will improve with the other, no matter what exercise it is. The benefits of strengthening both systems are many, and include reducing body fat as well as “strengthening your cardiovascular systems, which is essential for maintaining a positive airflow while sleeping,” according to Robert J. Hudson with SnoreNation.
Just remember: your lungs are extremely important to your long-term health. With or without respiratory conditions, one should consider picking up one or even a few of these exercises.
As always, ask your doctor if you’re concerned about starting any of these routines. With a little bit of committed time and effort on your part, your lungs will be healthy and pink for many years to come.
Need A Massage? Learn How To Give One To Yourself And Your Loved Ones
Receiving a massage, whether it’s given by someone else or self-administered, can help loosen your muscles and establish a better connection not only with your body but also with the people you love.
