lungs stretched out bigger?

[Lil Dragonfly]

My friend says that one's lungs never grow any bigger, even with breathhold training

Is it true?

 

[Bill]

That's probably one of those statements that is true as far as it goes but...
If you define 'grow' as the ability to hold more air. It's false for most of the population.

 

[watts]

They can stretch.

 

[Kars]

Lungs don't grow, but the volume of your chest does.

And the diaphragm will get more flexible an get a bit lower when relaxed.

 

[efattah]

You can definitely increase your total lung capacity, dramatically in many cases.

In my case the thing which most increases my lung capacity is 1:4:2 yoga pranayama (nadi shodhana) alternate nostril breathing. This, for some extremely strange reason, stretches my chest/lungs way more than pack stretches or more traditional exercises.

In an untrained state, I get
FVC (no packing) 7.20L
FVC (w/packing) 8.70L

After doing 2-4 weeks of the nadi shodhana breathing exercise, I get:
FVC (no packing) 8.05L
FVC (w/packing) 10.90L

So my volume without packing increases by 0.85L, and my packing volume goes up by 2.20L.

 

[Don Paul]

This, for some extremely strange reason, stretches my chest/lungs way more than pack stretches or more traditional exercises.Quote: efattah.

I learned this from the late Jacque Mayol a very long time ago.
For some strange reason it has worked for me as well.:friday

More then anything it helps me work through sinus issues after a cold, and
helps me relax.

Thanks for posting your data Eric.

Cheers, Don Paul