How Exercise Changes Your Breathing: Investigating the Link

 

What Happens to Breathing During Physical Activity?

When you exercise, your muscles work harder and need more oxygen to produce energy. At the same time, they release more carbon dioxide as a waste product. To keep up, your breathing rate (how fast you breathe) and breathing depth (how much air you take in) increase.

Think of your lungs like bellows: During exercise, they work faster and harder to keep your body fueled.

 

Why Does Breathing Change?

1. More Oxygen Needed:

   • Your muscles need more oxygen for energy.
   • Your breathing gets deeper to bring in more oxygen-rich air.

2. More Carbon Dioxide Produced:

   • Muscles produce extra $CO_2$ during exercise
   • Your brain detects this and signals your body to breathe faster to get rid of it.

Key Point: Increased $CO_2$

 

levels are the main trigger for faster, deeper breathing during exercise.

 

Investigating How Exercise Affects Breathing

You can investigate how physical activity affects breathing by measuring breathing rate and depth before and after exercise.

Steps for an Investigation:

1. Measure Resting Breathing Rate:
   Count the number of breaths you take in 1 minute while sitting still.

2. Do Physical Activity:
   For example, jump up and down for 1 minute.

3. Measure Breathing Rate After Exercise:
   Immediately after exercising, count the number of breaths you take in 1 minute.

4. Compare Results:

   • Breathing rate should be higher after exercise.
   • Breaths will also feel deeper.