Breathing & Exercise
Breathing & Exercise Objectives
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Describe how muscles move during inhalation and exhalation.
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Calculate lung capacity based on breathing data.
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Explain how aerobic exercise can impact breathing capacity.
We all know we’re supposed to exercise regularly. Understanding the biological impact of aerobic exercise on the heart can be motivating to keep moving.
Breathing is movement, and it involves two groups of muscles: the intercostal (rib) muscles) and the large diaphragm that separates the chest (thoracic) and abdominal body cavities.
Yawning
Heimlich Maneuver
Exercise increases breathing muscle strength and the amount of air that enters alveoli when inhaling. This results in increased oxygen in the blood and cells throughout the body.
You can measure lung capacity, and monitor changes, with a spirometer.
If you have ever been in the hospital for a while and have experienced a decline in respiratory capacity, you may have been sent home with a device like this.
A lab experiment we used to do was blow through a straw into water that included the indicator Bromothymol Blue. The water would turn bright blue in the presence of carbon dioxide.
Then science knowledge advanced on the potential toxicity of certain chemicals, and now blowing through a straw into a chemical bath is strongly discouraged :).
This is the end of the Respiratory System guide. The material from this guide and corresponding lecture, as well as the next Urinary System Guide, are assessed on the weekly quiz.
Check your knowledge. Can you:
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describe how muscles move during inhalation and exhalation?
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calculate lung capacity based on breathing data?
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explain how aerobic exercise can impact breathing capacity?
Go back to the Respiratory Disorders Page
Go back to the Respiratory System Guide Overview
Respiratory System Lecture Guide Contents
The material from this guide and corresponding lecture is assessed on the weekly quiz.
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This week’s overview
This Guide
Respiratory System
