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When you have healthy lungs, breathing is natural and easy. You breathe in and out with your diaphragm doing about 80 percent of the work to fill your lungs with a mixture of oxygen and other gases, and then to send the waste gas out.

• Vital Capacity: This is a measure of how much air the patient can hold in their lungs and then blow out. Vital capacity is an indirect measure of the strength of the breathing muscles. This is typically measured by a spirometer.
• Pursed lip breathing: Simply breathe in through your nose and breathe out at least twice as long through your mouth, with pursed lips.
• Posture: Sit up straight. Good posture can help promote lung movement. Breathe in deeply through the nose in a slow, controlled fashion. Breathe out through pursed lips. Ideally, the exhalation should be twice as long as the inhalation.

• Two quick breaths: The goal is to focus on activating the diaphragm. Take two successive quick breaths and then exhale slowly with pursed lips. Goal: 5 minutes.
• Triplicate breathing: The goal is to increase lung expansion, stretch the rib cage, and exercise the diaphragm. Take three consecutive breaths allowing more air into your lungs with each breath. It should take 3 to 5 seconds to take the three breaths. Exhale with pursed lips. Goal: 5 minutes.
• Breath holding: The goal is to strengthen inspiratory muscles by taking a deep breath. Breathe in through your nose, hold for 5 seconds, then exhale with pursed lips. Goal: 5 minutes.
• Diaphragm weights: The goal is to strengthen the diaphragm by adding resistance. Lay in a reclined or supine position. Place a weight (preferably sand bag weights) over your stomach (below ribs and above belly button). Make sure the weights are safely balanced. Goal: 5 minutes.