Singing has the magic of making you feel enthusiastic and relaxed at the same time. But did you know that it is also a great exercise for your lungs? Well, singing does more than just uplift your spirits- it can increase lung capacity and even improve symptoms of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). So, if you are looking for a fun and healthy way to enhance your lung health, singing is the way to go.
Arpit Waghmare (49), a businessman and consultant from Bengaluru, has been singing for the last thirty years. He is also an active member of the choir. “I have noticed that I can hold my breath for quite a long time compared to an average person,” says Waghmare.
There are certain notes in music which need you to hold your breath longer when you sing. “When I train new choir singers, I have noticed that experienced singers can hold their breath for a longer time to sing such high notes compared to amateurs.”
Singing and lung health
Singing is a mechanism wherein the air is expelled out through the vocal cords by prolonging expiration (breathing out) and taking deeper inhalation (breathing in), says Dr Viny Kantroo, a pulmonologist in Apollo Hospitals, Delhi. “Singing facilitates the gaseous exchange of air in a better manner than talking, which requires lesser amount of energy for breathing in and out,” she mentions.
Chinmayi Sripada is a 38-year-old professional singer and voice artiste from Hyderabad who has lent her voice to numerous songs in the South Indian and Hindi film industry. “I have been trained to be a classical musician since I was three. But I do know that my breath control is very good,” Sripada tells Happiest Health.
She adds, “Singing can definitely improve lung health as it means management of breath and projection of your voice which helps develop breath control.”
Dr Kantroo says that singing promotes healthy lungs. “Increased lung capacity can depend on usage. The more you exercise your respiratory muscles when you sing, the more strength you gain.”
A certain amount of mucus in people with healthy lungs helps to wipe out harmful particulate matter and toxins out of the lungs. This is a natural cleansing mechanism of your lungs at play. Dr Kantroo explains, “If you’re breathing and expiring deeply, as one does while singing, this mechanism gets enhanced and helps in cleansing of the lungs.”
Chronic lung conditions affect breathing
On a call with Happiest Health, Rachel B Goldenberg, a vocologist from Ontario who holds a doctorate in musical arts, mentions that people with healthy lungs have a natural elastic recoil mechanism that facilitates normal breathing. “However, people having chronic lung conditions have impeded airflow into the lungs either due to an obstructive or restrictive lung condition. The impeded air flow damages this recoil mechanism, resulting in a disordered breathing pattern,” she explains.
“Obstructive lung conditions like asthma, COPD and cystic fibrosis [an inherited disorder which causes mucus build-up in lungs and digestive system] cause problems in exhalation of air as there is something blocking the lungs. It is typically mucus in the inner airways. Restrictive conditions like pulmonary fibrosis involve difficulty in stretching the lungs for proper inhalation,” says Goldenberg.
Singing helps people with chronic lung conditions
‘Sing for my life’ might just be a song by the pop musician Sia. However, Elaine Bower, a 79-year-old retired assistant from Ontario, does sing for her life. “I was diagnosed with COPD four years back. I started singing when I came across a class on singing for lung health.”
“For me, singing is a deep breathing exercise. It helps me breathe easier,” says Bower, who wears a nasal cannula to breathe. She is one of the participants in Goldenberg’s class on ‘singing for lung health.’
People with obstructive lung conditions like COPD have excessive mucus in the respiratory tract. The pressure oscillations created during singing make that mucus less sticky and more viscous. “This helps in clearing out the mucus from the airways and makes breathing easier,” explains Goldenberg.
Singing as a form of exercise
Singing utilises your lung capacity in a similar way as exercise does; although the difference between the two is that singing involves controlled expiration as compared to exercising. “When media popularised the concept of singing during the pandemic, few people with long COVID [continuation or development of symptoms after initial SARS-CoV-2 infection] reported to have post-exertional malaise, which is extreme fatigue. Thus, it is advised that people with chronic lung conditions should sing under supervision for better lung health,” mentions Goldenberg.
Takeaways
- Besides uplifting your mood, singing also improves lung health. It is a deep breathing mechanism involving longer inhalation and exhalation that results in improved lung capacity and enhanced cleansing of the lungs.
- Singing helps people with chronic lung conditions like COPD and asthma by clearing out the blockage in the airways, which is typically mucus in case of obstructive lung conditions.
- Singing is a form of exercise and should be done with caution by people with lung conditions like long COVID.
