Hey everybody it’s Doctor Jo, and today I’m going to show you some Breathing exercises to strengthen lungs that may help with things like COPD, asthma, emphysema, and even bronchitis. so let’s get started. for the breathing exercises, one of the great training tools is using inspiratory muscle training. and this is really great for things like COPD and asthma, and all those other things because the muscles that you use to breathe in, are the things that help us breathe in, so if they’re weak or if they’re not working properly, that’s when you have all those other issues. so a lot of research shows that that inspiratory muscle training, the building up those muscles, is what really helps with breathing.

so if you’re having a hard time breathing, I’m going to show you some exercises that help with that. and the way to really do that inspiratory muscle training is kind of just restricting airflow coming in. Breathing exercises to strengthen lungs so you have your lungs and those muscles have to work harder to get that air into your lungs.

So a great tool that you can use for that is a high-altitude training mask. and the folks at perpetual air sent me their mask. so I’m really just going to talk about it today as a rehab tool to help increase those muscles and strengthen the lungs and everything, Breathing exercises to strengthen lungs but what’s so great about it is you can see here that once you put it on, and I’ll put it completely on in a second, sounds like Bane, it makes it a lot harder to breathe.

So your muscles have to work harder to get that air in. so this is a great tool because you’re exercising those muscles that sometimes are hard to figure out how to exercise. you can walk, and you can do exercises, but to get that extra training you want to reduce that airflow, and the perpetual air really does that. and what’s super great about this mask is it has four different levels on each side.

so it restricts the airflow even more. so if you do one on this side it makes it a little bit harder to breathe. you can do them together and you can go all the way up to four and that makes it even more restricted. So it’s just more exercise for your lungs and those muscles around your lungs. and so you also have these which go in here to make it more as well.

so you would start off with these, and if you get strong enough where you can get to four on each side and you want it even more restricted, then you can add those in as well. so if you have an ailment like COPD, asthma, bronchitis, emphysema, I would start off with your exercises without that mask, but once you get going you can definitely put this on to get better training and really start getting some better breathing. and then when you’re doing your everyday activities, and you don’t have the mask on, it makes it that much easier to breathe because your muscles have been trained for that. so the way this work is pretty neat because this one particular has the way you can put it around it opens up and then this part is nice and smooth. so this one goes kind of over your head and then there’s an adjustable strap in the back.

So I’m going to put it on. can you hear me now? And so I’m gonna breathe in. and so you can see that I’m having to work a little bit harder for that. so I’m going to go into the exercises now.

I’m just gonna do the first one with the mask and then I’m going to do the other ones without the mask because I really want you to do the exercises first without the mask, Breathing exercises to strengthen lungs, and then if you’re progressing and you’re doing well, then you can get the mask and do it. so the first one, the first one is you’re going to breathe in just for about two seconds with your mouth closed and then out for four seconds with your lips pursed like that. almost like you’re sucking through a straw. but when you have the mask on you don’t necessarily have to purse your lips because it’s doing all of that for you, but really try and breathe in those two seconds nice and strong, and then four seconds breathing out.

So you’re really just working those muscles in the lungs. Breathing exercises to strengthen lungs so you can see if you’re doing it along with me, even if you do it without the mask, but just breathing in a little bit and blowing out it gets you winded pretty quickly. so I’m gonna do it one more time without the mask on so you can see what I’m doing with my lips. so breathing, in mouth closed. so you’re really just trying to get all that excess air out, and you’re pursing your lips to make it harder to. so the great thing about the mask is it goes both ways, not just the blowing out, so that’s why I really like the concept of using the mask for these things.

Breathing Exercises To Strengthen Lungs