Question

1. As lactic acid accumulates a person will develop an oxygen debt. This is why people often breathe heavily immediately following exercise. The standard definition of oxygen debt is the amount of oxygen that blood and tissue require to be restored to pre-exercise levels. What two major actions need to be corrected by oxygen returning to its pre-exercise levels?

Answer 1

The amount of extra oxygen consumed during recovery phase of exercise is called oxygen debt and is proportionate to the extent to which oxygen deficit occurred during the exercise. In other words, the oxygen deficit which occurs during the exercise is repaid during the recovery phase in the form of oxygen dept. The extra amount of oxygen consumed during the recovery phase is used:-

• To remove the excess Lactate collected due to anaerobic glucose breakdown.
• To replenish the ATP and phosphoryl creatine store.
• to replace the small amount of oxygen that have come from the myoglobin
• To resupply dissolved oxygen in the tissue fluid and blood.

For the above functions, oxygen debt is necessary hence respiratory rate increases.