# Breathe Harder?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breathe-harder/360373>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [June 12, 2006, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breathe-harder/360373 "2006-06-12T02:59:06Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![koawala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bb73d2/32.png) [@koawala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koawala)\
**Post date:** [June 12, 2006, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breathe-harder/360373/1 "2006-06-12T02:59:06Z")

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I have seen devices that supposedly help strengthen your lungs by breathing into what looks somewhat like an asthma inhaler. This is promoted as improving your lung capacity to improve exercise abilities. Is this a useful device or another waste of plastic?

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**Author:** ![Alex\_Dubinsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dbc845/32.png) [@Alex\_Dubinsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alex_Dubinsky)\
**Post date:** [June 12, 2006, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breathe-harder/360373/2 "2006-06-12T03:26:08Z")

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I do not have specific information, but from what I understand the only thing they improve is your strength at blowing (chest muscles and so on). What restrains you during excercise is your lungs’ ability to absorb the oxygen and cope with irritation, not so much their physical ability to breathe in and out. If you want to increase lung capacity, I would think you’d want a device that forces air into your lungs and stretches them out. For diving or whatnot.