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personal best...lung capacity

Thread Status: Hello , There was no answer in this thread for more than 60 days.
It can take a long time to get an up-to-date response or contact with relevant users.

king pete

Well-Known Member
Nov 24, 2001
25
3
93
has anyone had their lung capacity measured. I did a diving med. the other day and had it tested. i had a cold at the time and was not allowed to pack. got 7.5litres . Nearly failed the med. though because i could only expire 74% of total capacity in the first second. bastards.
 
TLC=tiny lung capacity

Pete
No wonder I'm not the world champ. Everyone else has huge lungs and 20-30 years less 'wear and tear' on them.
I did a pool check and managed to exhale 5.3 litres. Formula is 1.24 x VC= 6.6 almost. Maybe it's better not to know.
Bill LOL
 
measuring lung capacity

Well, I almost have all the pieces of plexiglas siliconed together for my lung capacity measuring device. The way I figure it at just under 5 3/8 inches square I should have a pint per inch of length. So.. Bill, why do you take your in the pool measurements times the 1.24? I remember seeing a bunch of formulas for calculating sinus capacity, residual, , vital, etc, and all of that stuff but don't remember the 1.24. Is that because it's awful tough to exhale all of your air... what about reverse packing.. does that count?

Fred
 
lung volume

Fred
If I got it right, the maximum amount that you can exhale is called Vital Capacity. The amount still in your lungs is called Residual volume. The sum is Total Volume. The ratio is assumed to be about four to one. You need some expensive equipment to measure Total Lung Volume.

Bill
 
Hi,

Adjustment must be made for altitude if you are attempting to estimate total lung capacity, meaning at sea level one atmosphere of adjustment needs to made.

Good luck with the device,

FD48
 
I don't get it?
Why do you need to adjust for altitude?

6 liters in your lungs will result in 6 liters in a bucket / bag / whatever?
Pressure is different allright, but that comes only into account when you inhale at sea level and then exhale few hundred meters higher into the measuring device.

Or am I missing something here
:confused:
 
total lung volume

Hi,

If you do not adjust the lung volume for surface pressure you do not get total lung voume, but rather partial lung volume at ambient pressure. As I understand it spirometers have this correction built into them. What you get with the bottles and tubes in a water displacement context results in a underestimate of total volume. Does this make sense?

Best wishes,

FD48
 
Well, using my water displacement method for measuring lung capacity will still do what I want very accurately... and that's measure any increase I may aquire over time. Only wish I would have put it together months ago as I sense my capacity has already increased quite substantialy.
Fred
 
Re: total lung volume

Originally posted by freediver48
Hi,

If you do not adjust the lung volume for surface pressure you do not get total lung voume, but rather partial lung volume at ambient pressure. As I understand it spirometers have this correction built into them. What you get with the bottles and tubes in a water displacement context results in a underestimate of total volume. Does this make sense?

Best wishes,

FD48

If I read this right, volume is volume and no correction is necessary if all readings are done at the same altitude and time. The spirometer needs a correction factor because it measures the mass of the air, not the volume. I think.
Bill
 
Raw Spirometer results need to be corrected for room temperature. The air inside the lungs is near body temperature and is close to being saturated with water vapor.

Once the air reaches the spirometer, it cools down towards room temperature, and some of the water vapor condenses out on the walls of the spirometer. There are published correction factors for this (and they are not negligible for most room temperatures.)

If you are using a water displacement technique, the same kind of thing may happen. In addition, air in the lungs contains a some non-negligible percentage of CO2. Some of this CO2 might dissolve in the water (depending on the exact technique used), causing additional inaccuracy.

When using water displacement, some of the inaccuracy can be eliminated by using water that is around 100F (near body temperature).
 
liters, inches, and pints - great day, got back into the pool!

Today I was able to try out my lung capacity measuring device.. using water displacement. I made it out of plexiglass and it worked out that every 1/2 inch of length is .25 liters. It's 5 3/8" inches square or very close to that and is long enough to measure to 10 liters. Not a bad size for carrying around to the pool. What a hasstle to get everything siliconed together just right and the holes drilled for filling with water and the fittings for blowing into. Anyway.. only 4 liters with a normal breath of air but by packing I hit 5.75 liters. Only tried it several times as I needed to get a workout in. That sure shows me just how important that packing is even if it does take time. I always wondered if it was worth the time to keep on packing... now I know.

Fred
 
how to inhale

In these "in water" measurements, there is a big difference, where you inhale. The water may compress your chest while you are inhaling. If the inhale is done so that your body is in water, you can not take as full breath as while standing out of the water.
You can test this, sit in the shallow pool, only your head above the surface. Take a full inhale, now hold your breath and stand up. Next try to inhale more, you will notice, that you can take more air.
By this way you can even test, how many packs is needed to compensate the "in water" effect.
Furthermore, with your simple measurement device, you can test what is the volume of your each pack, by comparing these "in water" and "out of water" measurements and the count of compensation packs.
 
good plan

Teppo,
thanks for the suggestion. I know I could feel the pressure of the water on my chest as I inhaled. Didn't think to inhale out of the water and then see the difference. Next time I get an opportunity, will do. I would imagine that's why I saw the great increase in packing as that would surely have offset the pressure of the water. Ain't this stuff fun???....

Fred
 
I have been frediving for 4 months.
Now,I have 7,2 l capacity,but I am a tall(193 cm) guy.
 
Hey guys!
Half a year ago, my buddy and I wanted to find out how big (or small) our lungs were.
So I took a condom (unused, he he), blew it up without packing, and pressed it underwater into a cylindric vessel we normally use for cleaning up the floor. We measured the difference in the height of the water and calculated a vital capacity of 6.9 litres.
Next week I went to the doctor and said I want to make a lung test. They asked if I was ill, "No!" They asked if I had asthma or something else "No! I just want to make a routine check, see if my lungs are ok." If I had told them about the freediving, I probably would have to pay - no way!!!
So we made the test: 7.1 litres vital, 10.4 litres total, height 1.86m, weight 80kg - the doc was quite amazed: I exhaled 6.4l per second, and all values were beyond 100%, reaching from 107 to 210%. So I left with a bright smile on my face - and went for some diving.
So all in all the condom idea isn`t bad at all for a quick test.
BTW, we have a freediver in Germany they call "The 14l man".
His real name is Hubert Maier- he was best in static at the 2001 championships.
I wonder if he has 14litres vital or total? Vital would be extreme!
 
Originally posted by Chefkoch
.
BTW, we have a freediver in Germany they call "The 14l man".
His real name is Hubert Maier- he was best in static at the 2001 championships.
I wonder if he has 14litres vital or total? Vital would be extreme!

HI, Hubert has 10 litres on a full breath, 14 litres after packing. A lot, in either case!
Cheers,
Erik Y.
 
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