October is National Healthy Lung month and with that comes the opportunity to think about a part of your body that we rarely pay much attention to, but without which we couldn’t live very long! Currently, lower respiratory diseases are the 3rd leading cause of death. As such, we must stay proactive in fighting against these diseases.
What exactly do our lungs do?
• obtain oxygen for the heart, muscles, and brain
• filter out carbon dioxide
• protect against pathogens
• predict your longevity (according to the Framingham Heart Study, one of the oldest and largest ongoing medical studies in the world, “your lungs are the number one predictor of death.”)
At around the age of 30 your lung capacity, by nature, begins to decline. By 50, 40% of lung capacity will be depleted. Slowly, you’ll feel tired doing daily activities (from a lack of oxygen reaching your heart, muscles, and brain) and if you don’t work to prevent this decline, your ability to stay active deflates along with your lungs.
Decreased lung capacity can lead to:
• decline in metabolic function
• decreased ability to perform endurance activities
• increased risk of heart attack and stroke
• fatigue/lack of energy
• decreased focus, concentration and memory
• increased inflammation
What’s the good news? Lung capacity can be regained!
Exercise is one of the primary ways you can ‘turn back time’ for your lungs! Challenging the cardiovascular system can start to reverse the changes aging and a sedentary lifestyle have made to the lungs. To begin this effect, exercise needs to be strenuous enough to make you out of breath at various points. If you do not push yourself to this point, you will not make improvements and your lung capacity will continue to decrease with age.
The average person can improve lung capacity 5-15% with frequent intense aerobic activities. The President’s Council on Exercise recommends high intensity aerobic activity AT LEAST 3 times a week for 20-40 minutes (more than 3 days is recommended, if possible).
Here are ways to challenge your lungs:
• HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training)
Anyone can do this in their daily cardio workout. Increase your speed for 30 seconds and go back to a normal speed for a 1-minute recovery interval, repeat.
• Change incline/resistance
If you do your cardio on a treadmill or elliptical it is easy to fall into a rut. Challenge yourself by increasing the incline or resistance for 5 minutes out of every 10 minutes
• Switch it up!
Your body/lungs can get used to the same stimulus being applied day after day. If you usually do 30 minutes on the elliptical, try switching to 30 minutes on the row machine. If you are not challenged by machines anymore, try one of the many aerobic classes our facility offers. Don’t just stick to what is comfortable!