I think what you're really talking about here is breathing using your diaphragm. The diaphragm is often pushed on by the lungs, so you need to strengthen it. Exercises for the core and intercostal muscles can help as actually exercising the diaphragm by using it for every breath. Expanded lungs don't mean that they work better unless you're an athlete and have developed bigger lungs through years of aerobic exercise, like long distance runners.

Lung capacity can expand through exercise for healthy people. I’m not sure if the same can be said of folks with COPD.

My understanding is that your inhale expands the lungs as much as possible (capacity) and that your exhale contracts the lung as much as possible to force the carbon dioxide (inhaled / used air) back out.

With so much of our lungs being damaged tissue or dead air zones where you can inhale to fill the lungs up, but then the air gets trapped in dead zone pockets, refusing to be expelled, most folks can’t get more capacity without first dealing with those dead or damaged zones, @A MyCOPDTeam Member. Treatments such as:

- Lung ablation
- Lung Volume Reduction surgery
- Bulletectomy
- Zephyr Valves, etc, etc., etc.

are all aimed at either removing the bad lung tissue, or creating a vent which allows you to bypass the dead air pockets and use the remaining healthy parts to the best of your ability to cycle healthy air through the functioning part of your lungs and block off or trim the unhealthy parts of your lungs.

Hoping this layperson explanation helped. Please talk to your respiratory therapist or your pulmonologist for a more in-depth and accurate explanation for the answers you are seeking.

Happy Saturday night, 12-AUG-23

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A MyCOPDT...

I think its best to push as much air out as you can since that's the problem with copd. Breath through your stomach. I have to remind myself all the time but it works the best. Inhale with your stomach let it do the work not your lungs. You can recover faster like that too. Think of yourself playing a wind instrument, your stomach can help expand your lungs. I hate this copd, I hate it.

@A MyCOPDTeam Member, I doubt that you are making your lungs longer, though I suppose that's a possibility. I think rather you're exercise is resulting in your lungs being far more efficient than they were. In either case, what's important is that your breathing is better, and you're able to do more. That's great!

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A MyCOPDT...

Core strengthening, stand on one foot and alternate feet, 5 times a day. Start off doing 10 seconds each foot for 2 weeks, then increase the time to 15 seconds for 2 weeks. Go up by 5 seconds every 2 weeks until you reach a minute. By then, you should have increased balance. You can stand on one foot at the grocery store, washing dishes, talking on the phone, etc. Always make sure you have a wall or something to support you, to keep you from falling over.

Another exercise is to stand sideways, 2 feet from a wall, stand on one leg and lock your knee, squeeze your kegel muscle for 20 seconds. Alternate legs, use the wall to maintain your balance. When beginning, do it once a day for 2 weeks then twice a day the following weeks.
Breathe easy.😊