Discussion: Increase Lung Capacity?

i can ride my bike all day long, hike all day long, but can't run more than 1/2 mile at a time without getting winded. any suggestions on increasing lung capacity/breathing technique?

Probably the most specific exercise I occasionally try to do is Belly Breathing:

...Roll your shoulders forward slightly (also known in stuffy circles as slouching) and let them relax. As you breathe in, push out with your stomach and at the same time push down and out with your diaphragm. This allows maximum room for your lungs to expand and draw in precious oxygen.... Once you get comfortable with how this feels, focus on how many strides you can cover between inhales. Initially, four strides (eight total steps, two steps per stride) will probably be just about your limit, but after a little practice you should be able to reach eight strides. Give it some time, it will start to feel more natural....

I'm no expert, but I'm going to guess your breathing difficulty is just a symptom of lacking running-specific conditioning. You are obviously not unfit, but you are using different muscles at different intensities than when biking/hiking. I would forget about breathing technique unless it seems like a medical issue (see doctor). Walk/run combo workouts are one way to build up to continuous runs. You shouldn't have much problem finding plenty of literature on beginning-running programs.

I second ken's walk/run combos.

One thing that really helped me was finding a long hill and just getting up it however I could. I sometimes run as easy as I can on the hill for as long as possible, but even better seems to to be running fast and walking to recover when necessary. A heart-rate monitor really helps because you can objectively say, "My heart rate is too high, I'm walking now." Without the HRM, I feel like I'm slacking off. If you don't have a hill, just run fast then walk. My explanation is that shuffling along in a slow run is inefficient, and working a little on leg speed gets you over a hump. Don't go nuts, just a little speed play. (Running fast feels really good, and it seems to shock my joints less.)

One weird thing, that I hesitate to mention, is that I sometimes have to stop about 400m into a run because of almost a panic attack. My best guess to explain that is that my body for some reason delays ramping up my breathing, and I get too much CO2 building up (hypercapnia). I do better when I consciously breath deep when I start out. Usually, this only happens to me once. After the first little attack, it gets better, and I can run continuously for much longer.

Finally, run several times a week. This is my biggest problem. I see real improvement from 4 days a week versus 1 or 2 days a week. I saw a lot of improvement when I started doing 35 minute workouts instead of 20 minute workouts.

In a similar vein, for the general audience: how do the rhythms of your breathing and running synchronize? That is, do you breath at random times during your run, or perhaps at a particular rate. I always have a set pattern (consciously or otherwise) while I run. On regular training runs, I typically take 4 strides per inhale; while orienteering, I typically take 2 or 3 strides per inhale (depending on conditions). Am I an anomaly, or do others adopt similar behavior?

nah yeah running brething rythms (as far as i know) are with us all. i think its to do with how the impact of running affects your breathing.
all these suggestions are good, swimming is another great one, as well as high alltitude training (makes your blood thicker too). would not suggest oxygen deprivation while exercising (other than breathing techniques as above). this will lower your aerobic capacity and make your body rely on anaerobic respiration (causing the build up of lactic acid)

mosquito, slow down! It's a generalization, but most new runners run too fast. Their heart rate skyrockets and they have to call it quits. Easy advice would be to start slow, run/walk, PE, blah, blah, blah. Here's one more piece of advice: since you probably already have a HRM, just wear it. Do some heart rate based training.

There's plenty of info available to choose what "zone" to work out in. An article at cool running:
http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_1/234.shtml
is a good enough place to start.

If you get a nice one, you'll be able to review the data afterwards on your computer. You can analyze how you felt and the corresponding heart rate. Hills will show. Try it on your bike. I bet you're riding with a low heart rate.

On a couple points made...

"Belly Breathing" - that must be a walking pace as when I'm running "easy" it's 4 steps while I breath in, 4 out, maybe 5. Getting to 8 would suggest there isn't much work going on. (and I notice iamsinht has a similar pattern) I posted an observation about my breathing this fall and found a "middle" ground of 3 and 2 did well for a higher effort but not a strain.

Work up to it - it is better to be below your threshold of "getting sore for 2-3 days afterwards" because if you can practice every other day, you make up for not going to such an extreme that you get sore and have to stop for 3 or 4... I have had good success with the ideas in the book "Run Less Run Faster" this year and now work out about every other day.

And lastly - running is not walking;-) you've got to practice what you want to do, so if you want to run for an hour at an O meet, you've got to build up to do that on at least a weekly sort of basis.

'Lore of Running', for me that's the ultimate running guide, if you want to get deep into the science. (beware its only for people with time on their hands to read through all the reasearch, studies and examples given ) It follows systematic thorough approach towards every aspect of running, recovery etc... for any distance you might desire.

question is: how old are you. and how hard are you biking/walking. it is possible to walk all day/bike all day easy, i.e. not approach your anaerobic limit, but a lot harder to run easy (unless you are a gazelle).

And the older you get the more pronounced this effect will become and the body just does not process/deliver oxygen as efficiently. Thats when deep abdominal breathing can be helpful - when you are an old geezer sucking desperately for air. Because it will relax the airways and drive air into the deep recesses of your starving lungs.