Can playing whistle increase or improve our lungs capacity ?
I quit smoking Dec 2004 after 20 years of it and I was just wondering if there is anything in this idea??
I do run out of ‘puff’ a bit as I play, but I need to learn better technique and as I have only been playing a very small amount of time, this should improve naturally. (I hope? )
I’ve heard a similar exercise to playing whistle is advised for asthmatics- blowing out against resistance to improve breathing. It opens the small airways. I would think jogging or swimming would be more specific to really boosting lung capacity. 
Tony
just quiting alone will increase you lung capacity
there are some deep breathing excercises that you can do
be careful though they can make you light headed
my former choir director had us doing the excercise every week I know they helped me.You start out by breathing in to a count lets say to seven
fill your lungs to capacity then breath out through pursed lips counting.
The youngest and healthiest guy in the choir could get to about twenty five before running out of air.Start with a low count then try to regulate your breathing out see if it works good luck
bob
One good practice technique is to take in a deep breath through your nose, hold it and then let it out slowly through your mouth… then take another, trying to take in a bit more air and holding it a bit longer. Do this for a series of three breaths each time. It’s kind of like Yoga… you won’t be able to increase much at a time, but over time, you will see a marked increase in your capacity.
Two things you might want to try:
Here’s one called the Phone Book Workout:
1.Open up the phonebook to any old page. Find a phone number.
2.Set a steady tempo in your head, or set a metronome to about 40 bpm (slow)
3.Through a wide open mouth, breath down (in) for one count.
4.Through pursed lips or on a hiss, blow for the number of beats represented by the first digit of the phone number.
5.Repeat steps 3 and 4, using the next digit for blowing.
Then try doing the whole thing slower. Then try doing the inhales in only half a beat, while keeping the throat nice and open, as if yawning. The semi-randomness of the exhales helps, because musical phrases vary widely in length.
Another option is to get a disposable spirometer from you doctor or a medical supply place. Set the flow down low and try to keep that annoying little ball floating near the top. Time this, multiply by the setting it’s on, and you get lung capacity in litres. You’ll see over time the increase in capacity, and the excercise of keeping that ball hovering will help with control. If you want some resistance, tape a suitable straw to the inlet tube. This is kinda fun, if you’re warped like me.
Here’s the spirometer. Mine cost ~$8.
i started playing the whislte for that very reason. fortuneately, i quit smoking about 8 years ago, then i had heart surgery about 3 years ago. i’m really into multi-tasking and killing two birds with one stone. i did my breathing exercises and then learned the harmonica too. after that it was the whistle, then the flute. besides working on breathing, it’s pretty darn difficult to eat while playing.
i think a lot of how effective whistling would be is based on how and what you are playing. standing and/or good posture might help and playing long sustained notes might be more effective too, that’s just my guess. but for using lung power, out of the 3, i’d vote for harmonica to improve the lungs. you gotta work breathing in and out.
Hi Monkey,
I do a similar excercise to the one mentioned by annie.
There’s also a philosophy with it - it goes like this:
Air - without it we’d die within a few minutes.
Water - without it a few days and we’re history.
(all the other things) …
Air is our best friend - enjoy it.
3 times in the morning and 3 times at night.
Breathe in as far as you can go - feel how it opens your shoulders, how it straightens your back.
Hold it there without closing your throte - count 2
Breathe out - way way out as far as you can stand. do this counting 4
Hold for 2 - try not to cough just yet
Breathe in again for 4. As you breathe-in feel the 2 big muscles build from bottom to top - like pillars from your groin to your collarbones.
Hold 2, breathe-out 4 (the pillars un-build from top to bottom)
Imagine the pillars support a heavy wieght - go smoothe, strong and steady - don’t let it drop or topple.
After 3 times - cough. If you have trouble counting even time - use your own heartbeats.
Always only 3 times - in natural breathing the out-breath is much shorter than the in. If you do this exercise too much it interferes with the natural breath and becomes difficult to relax.
Never close your throte while doing this - it can stress the lungs and heart. Also never hold your breath when lifting heavy things - that can shorten your life.
That’s it - as time goes along increase the count - you should achieve 8 for the breathe-in/out and 4 for holding - always holding for half as long as the breath. After not too long you will feel the pillars harden, when they are like steel rods you have mastered the most important and over-looked thing in human life - lots of good stuff will happen.
There’s a lot more to this exercize - I don’t need to tell you because when you get this far you will already know.
Playing a woodwind will help this along - steer clear of instruments with excessive backpressure (Oboe is about the limit, the Turkish Zurna is just asking for trouble).
Hope this helps
An instrument that builds lung power?
GHB
That’ll do it.
GHB for sure. I had an inhaler when I was a kid. A year or two of GHB was the end of that. I would imagine whistle couldn’t hurt.
A fellow I know plays the Bulgarian pipes (I forget the proper name) - very similar to the GHB in appearance (and, according to him, in difficulty of play).
He let me try them - it felt like I was trying to inflate a truck tire. While still attached to the truck. With a heavy load in the bed. I used to play sax and oboe and compared to his pipes they were a piece of cake.
If blowing against resistance helps build lung power, playing the whistle is like a light, high-rep endurance workout. Playing the GHB and relatives is like powerlifting.
Like Mutepointe I had a heart attack 3 years ago requiring bypass surgery. They gave me that stupid spirometer. I decided to play whistle instead. I bought a flute. My cardiologist says I have made remarkable recovery. I would rather play whistle than blow in that stupid spirometer.
Ron
I was talking to a fifer who briefly delved into the world of whistles. His complaint was that it didn’t use enough of his air capacity and he was having to vent.
Maybe we should take up fifing?
tyg
Interesting replies 
that spirometer thing looks like a potheads bong 
What is a GHB? ?
and I did play harmonica for a while, but i’m not a great fan of its sound when i play it..
Great Highland Bagpipes - abbreviated to GHB to avoid confusion with the Uillean Pipes. (The latter, since bellows-driven, probably doesn’t do much for lung capacity. But it can be played indoors without breaking windows and glassware or deafening the listeners.)
aha! I love the sound of the pipes. it must be part of my celtic ancestry, but they ‘do’ something to me whenever i hear them.
Oh, I love the sound of both varieties of pipes. But the GHB is best enjoyed outdoors from a reasonable distance. Like a few dozen yards.
I’ve only heard them played indoors once, and it’s not an experience I’d like to repeat. The piper stood in the doorway of the pub while his confederate sold charity raffle tickets (and the glasses on tables and bottles on shelves danced about). I think everyone in the pub bought a ticket - it was the only way to get them to move on. The horror, the horror . . . 
I was wondering the same thing about playing the whistle and lung capacity.
I’ve been using a powerchair for 34 years and it’s done nothing to maintain my lung capacity.
I find myself running out of breathe quite easily playing my Waltons, though I’ve only been playing for 10 days now.
I practice at least an hour a day, so with luck I might actually see some amount of increased lung capacity or at least better control.
I’ve only heard them played indoors once, and it’s not an experience I’d like to repeat
Try 12 or so circled around you, indoors.(Scottish Tenor drummer here) Yes, it can be painful.
There used to be a restaurant in Newport, RI called the Bagpiper. They had a piper dressed in kilts strolling from table to table playing GHBs. Casual conversatiion was not easy.
Ron