I have always thought that one cannot store O2 in the body.How is a "debt" created then?? It seems to me that a better description would be "Oxygen need".......
Some of us are puzzled by the following questions:
1. At what point during a short race does the discomfort of not breathing become a real need ?
2. We all know that you can swim faster at free and fly without the breathing process interfering with our stroke. We also know that swimming a longer distance requires a constant O2 intake. Is this a time thing or a distance problem ?
Emmet, and others, weigh in here will you ??
Bert
Parents
Former Member
It has been a few years since my last pulmonary phisiology class, but as I recall, and see in practice, the main stimulous to breath is the accumulation of carbon dioxide (CO2) and not the lack of O2. Very deep in the brain is an area that controls breathing, and when CO2 accumulates in circulation, it increases hydrogen ions which stimulate this respiratory center, causing us to breath. The brains main desire is to eliminate CO2 first. Sure the muscles need O2 for metabolism, but that feeling of "air hunger" is most likely due to the high levels of CO2 produced during exercise stimulating the respiratory center. The best way to get rid of this excess CO2 is to take slower deeper breaths, not fast little ones.
I don't know if this answered any of your questions, but I thought I would throw in my 2 cents.
Any one else?
It has been a few years since my last pulmonary phisiology class, but as I recall, and see in practice, the main stimulous to breath is the accumulation of carbon dioxide (CO2) and not the lack of O2. Very deep in the brain is an area that controls breathing, and when CO2 accumulates in circulation, it increases hydrogen ions which stimulate this respiratory center, causing us to breath. The brains main desire is to eliminate CO2 first. Sure the muscles need O2 for metabolism, but that feeling of "air hunger" is most likely due to the high levels of CO2 produced during exercise stimulating the respiratory center. The best way to get rid of this excess CO2 is to take slower deeper breaths, not fast little ones.
I don't know if this answered any of your questions, but I thought I would throw in my 2 cents.
Any one else?
