Welcome to Dan’s Brain Lab - a monthly email that is sent out every month to inform and educate on current health and wellness topics while highlighting certain information Dan finds important and worthy of sharing. This month's topic is "Pulmonary System Adaptations with Exercise".
The respiratory system is often neglected when it comes to exercise training and I do think it is one of the more important organ systems that is active during exercise as well as our daily life. People often talk about either the cardiovascular system or the muscular system and sometimes, the respiratory system will be linked to the cardiovascular system when people call it the cardiorespiratory organ system. In addition, when people think of exercise adaptations, the usually think of adaptations associated with the muscular system or the cardiovascular system and don't realize that the respiratory system as well as every other system in the body also goes through significant adaptations.
There are a few measures that we can do in the BioPhys lab at PHP that give us an idea in terms of the efficiency of the respiratory system of an individual. With the Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) test, we can see an individual's tidal volume which is the amount of air that one breathes in and out during a normal breathe. Typically, in healthy adults, males are around 500ml while females are around 400ml. Below is an image of all the different types of measurements associated with air volume in the lungs.
A few months ago, I had mentioned aerobic capacity and that is also a measurement that tells us about the respiratory system as well as the cardiac system. There are other measurements that we get from both the VO2 Max and RMR test but its even more important to highlight that these measurements can be changed with training and exercise specifically tailored to target a specific tissue to drive a certain adaptation.
Specific cardiovascular exercise protocols are able to increase ones tidal volume due to the demand of the body needing more oxygen. In addition to that, exercises that place an emphasis on breathing and ribcage mechanics can improve respiratory rate, tidal volume, aerobic capacity, and other aspects relative to the respiratory system.
Keep this in mind and if you have any questions or would like to get started on your journey to a longer and healthier life, feel free to contact me