Wk 4 Response

Response, by address a limitation or dysfunction of this system that may hinder exercise performance. Us3 the Bold Word to answer this Please. Should be at least 100 words in length and include one additional scholarly resource. 

I think it is great that you want to take charge of your life and put more time in for exercise. Running a 5K is a big achievement for anyone who wants to make exercise regular. It activates many parts of your body and improves your overall quality of life. More specifically, your Respiratory system is one of the main systems that comes into play with this change of pace. Comprised of your nasal passage and mouth, air travels in down your trachea that lead to your bronchi, which make up your lungs. The assistance of your diaphragm enables you to breathe. Your lungs are remarkable tissue because they are made up of millions of sacs called alveoli and have a remarkably large surface area (Katch, McArdle, & Katch, 2015).

It is important to understand how this system works because it actually outputs different responses when your resting and when you are exercising. There are some key takeaways that I just want to mention. The first is tidal volume, or the air that moves during inhaling and exhaling. Normally at rest this sits at around a range of .4 to 1 liter of air per breath. This does fluctuate though when you exercise as additional parameters will directly affect it. Tidal volume also changes as your breathing rate, or minute ventilation, goes up and down. The minute ventilation is actually a calculation of the amounts of breath per minute you take with the tidal volume included in those breaths. At rest, your minute ventilation is normally 6 liters; however, with intense exercise, it can increase to 100 liters (Katch, McArdle, & Katch, 2015). The simple way to understand this is by breathing harder and longer during exercise, the number of breaths per minute increases and the amount (TV) does so too. This process ultimately impacts your air flow because deeper breathing provides greater ventilation at more than 85% when compared to a 70% resting rate. As the tidal volume, or air moving in increases, so will the ventilation.

As you understand this process, you will understand how it translates to your running capacity. The air we breathe in ultimately can reach ventilation limits and that is mostly due to oxygen expiration. Looking at gas exchange, volumes of oxygen usually remains at 40mm Hg with carbon dioxide at 46 mm Hg. With exercise this will greatly reduce your oxygen pressure down to roughly 3 mm Hg and heighten carbon dioxide near the 90 mm Hg mark. Due to this, transport of oxygen may be impeded because of pressure changes (Amann, 2012).