Lung Capacity

Once you have a reading, use the charts to gauge your performance. Aim to repeat the test three times, and use your best score.

Lung volume is the total amount of air that you can breathe out after taking a deep breathe in.

Lung volume usually depends on your age, sex and height - being largest at around 20-25 years.

Men normally have bigger lungs than women and taller people generally have larger lungs than shorter people.

Factors such as fitness and smoking will also effect your scoring.

The fitter you are, especially with aerobic based exercises such as swimming - running - cycling will all help increase your lung volume.

There is not really a lot worse you can do to your body than smoke - the tar deposits in your lungs, reducing the size of your lungs and greatly impairing the function that you need them to perform.

Quiting smoking will help your body to begin the repair process that you have created and over a short amount of time give you greater gains in both lung strength and volume.