Exercise and Your Respiratory System

Your respiratory system mainly consists of the airways, the lungs, and the respiratory muscles. The respiratory muscles include the muscles of your chest wall (internal and external intercostal muscles) and the diaphragm. Sometimes, the neck and the abdominal muscles also help breathe. The respiratory muscles produce respiratory movements hence the inhalation and exhalation. During inhalation (inspiration), they help expand your lungs and create a low pressure within the lungs compared with the environment. Therefore, the air moves into the lungs from the outside. While in exhalation (expiration), the respiratory muscles reduce the expansion of your lungs, increasing the pressure within the lungs than the environment. Consequently, the air moves to the outside from your lungs.

The airways contain the mouth, nose, throat, windpipe (trachea), right and left bronchus, bronchioles, and terminal bronchioles (the airways and their branches). These airways consist of smooth muscles. These muscles are able to constrict and dilate (bronchoconstriction and bronchodilation) according to the external and internal stimulations hence regulate the airflow through the airways. The terminal bronchioles end with the alveoli, which are sacs like structures, where gas exchange occurs.

The basic function of your respiratory system is gas exchange. The respiratory system brings air into your lungs. It helps remove oxygen from the air and absorb into the blood. Then, the blood brings oxygen to all tissues throughout the body. This oxygen helps produce energy during aerobic physical activities and exercise. Usually, the tissues produce carbon dioxide as a waste product during their metabolism. This carbon dioxide is removed from the tissues by the blood. Your blood stream brings carbon dioxide into the lungs. Then, the respiratory system helps eliminate carbon dioxide into the air. Therefore, the respiratory system regulates the carbon dioxide level in the blood and maintains the acid-base balance in your body. Your lungs create a large surface area between the external environment and the blood. Consequently, it facilitates a fast and efficient gas exchange.

Your respiratory system also helps regulate the body temperature (thermoregulation) and produce your voice.

Some diseases of the respiratory tract significantly affect the performance of exercise and sports. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a chronic inflammatory disease within the lungs. It includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis. It is a progressive respiratory disease and worsen gradually with time. In COPD, the airways and alveoli lose their elasticity and are destroyed slowly. The airways become swollen and inflamed, producing more secretions (mucous). Therefore, COPD can greatly restrict your lung functions. The pulmonologists, respiratory and physical therapists, and clinical exercise physiologists help control the condition. They work collectively to improve the lung functions hence the quality of life. Sometimes, physical exertion can induce an asthma attack known as exercise-induced asthma, which is triggered by an immune response. Exercise induced-asthma causes constriction of the airways, resulting in breathlessness, cough, and wheezing. It is a transient and reversible condition. The duration, intensity, and type of the physical activity are linked with exercise-induced asthma in susceptible people. Tobacco smoking, dust, cold temperature, and moulds can also trigger this condition. An exercise-induced asthma attack can significantly reduce the exercise performance. You can minimise the occurrence of exercise-induced asthma by avoiding the triggering factors as much as possible.

Therefore, your respiratory system is an essential factor for a successful performance of athletics and sports. During high-intensity physical activities, your skeletal muscles break down carbohydrates and raise the production of lactic acid in the body. This process increases the acidity hence low pH in the tissues and the blood. However, the body should maintain its pH value within the normal range or an acceptable range. This acidity occurs due to an accumulation of hydrogen ions (H+) in the tissues and the blood. These excess hydrogen ions react with bicarbonate ions (HCO3-) in the body, resulting in the formation of carbon dioxide. This process lowers the acidity in your body, increasing the pH value and also the concentration of carbon dioxide. Then, the respiratory system helps eliminate the excess carbon dioxide from your body, maintaining the acid-base balance. Usually, regular physical activities and exercise improve the lung functions. Therefore, they increase the sport, athletic, exercise, and physical activity performance further.



Related Links:

Exercise and Your Muscles
Exercise and Your Skeletal System
Exercise and Your Cardiovascular System
Exercise and Your Urinary System 
Exercise and Your Digestive System
Exercise and Your Nervous System