TRUETEXAN once bubbled...
I was just wondering if there was any proof that breath holding exercises strengthened lungs.
Well Truetexan, my first comment has to be that since the lungs are not muscle there is no way that they can be "strengthened".
I suggest that what you are aiming at is a way of increasing respiratory efficiency, or minute volume (SAC). That is, using the lungs to move greater volumes of gas with each breath and perhaps take more breaths per minute.
If your lungs are healthy regular aerobic exercise will make the respiratory muscles stronger, to inhale more, faster with each breath and perhaps to breath faster but the limiting factor, in the vast majority of individuals, is the lack of ability to breath out any faster since this is totally depended on airway patency, which you cannot change significantly.
For instance, when asthmatics suffer an attack, all that happens when they try forcibly to breath out is their smaller, unsupported, airways collapse because the pressure in the chest (outside the airways) is much greater than the pressure within them (atmospheric). Indeed the more an asthmatic tries to overcome his attack by breathing more forcefully, the worse he makes it! Airway patency is also the limiting factor is healthy individuals and is usually measured by a peak flow meter, or a spirometer.
When you let go of an inflated toy baloon, the unsupported part of the nozzle vibrates as it opens and closes due to the venturi effect. It can be deflated much more quickly if the nozzle is held open by piece of tubing, but there is no way you can strengthen the smaller airways in your lungs!
This is not to deride the considerable benefits of exercise to improve everall cardivascular and respiratory fitness. :doctor:
Ty mentions a party trick we did as inquisitive children. If you hyperventilate and blow off all your CO2 and then hold your breath, the build-up of CO2 (to reach the overwhelming reflect threshold to breath) takes longer than it takes to use up the oxygen in your blood stream. You become hypoxic and momentarily lose conciousness! (Not to be recommended). Thankfully, once you become unconcious you can no longer fight reflex respiratory drive and breath normally again.
Breath holding practice, does increase this CO2 threshold, as indeed does scuba diving. By regularly exposing the chemorecptors to higher levels of pp CO2 they learn to treat such high levels as "normal" and reset the "thermostat".
I am not sure that this means it is wise to do so intentionally. :boom:
