Investigating Oxygen Debt During Aerobic and Anaerobic Exercise

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Investigating Oxygen Debt During Aerobic and Anaerobic Exercise

Introduction

During this experiment I am aiming to investigate the oxygen debt in

two people after exercise. During exercise energy is needed in the

muscles. Energy comes from food which is converted into glucose and

for the most efficient energy supply muscles also need oxygen. When

energy is produced using oxygen this is called aerobic respiration.

The formula for aerobic respiration is:

glucose + oxygen = carbon dioxide + water + ENERGY

During aerobic respiration the waste products are carbon dioxide.

Carbon dioxide is carried away in the blood and water is taken away by

sweating from the body.

When muscles do extra work more oxygen and glucose is needed, so more

blood must be pumped to the muscles causing the heart to beat faster.

Eventually more oxygen is needed in the muscles than is being inhaled

by the lungs so the muscles begin to work anaerobically. This means

oxygen is no longer used in the equation and the glucose forms lactic

acid. The formula for anaerobic respiration is:

glucose = lactic acid + ENERGY

During anaerobic respiration the waste product is lactic acid. Lactic

acid is a poison and causes muscle ache and eventually cramp. Lactic

acid burns up some of the energy being produced, therefore anaerobic

respiration only produces half the amount of energy that aerobic

respiration does. The only way to get rid of it is by oxygen breaking

it down, and the oxygen required to do this is know as oxygen debt.

The debt is the amount of oxygen consumed in recovery above what would

normally be consumed at rest in the same length of time.

The two people that will be taking part in the test are Lucy and Amy.

Lucy performs regular training for netball and for running and Amy

regularly trains for swimming. Lucy will be slightly fitter as she

completes more intensive training and she will also perform better on

the running tests because the muscles groups that are required for

running will be stronger than Amy who uses different muscles groups

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