As your body responds to stress--be it exercise, fear, excitement or other factors--it begins a chain reaction that helps you physiologically cope with the situation at hand. You will notice that as your heart rate rises, your respiration rate rises and you inhale more oxygen; all of these physiological responses operate in direct correlation with each other and the amount of stress your body experiences. It is your body's way of looking out for itself and adapting to a situation that could be potentially threatening.
Heart Rate
As your body expends more energy, you will notice your heart rate begins to rise. Most often, this occurs due to exercise, though stress, fear, excitement or other extreme emotions may also cause your heart rate to increase. As your heart rate rises, your sympathetic nervous system--the system that controls your body during stress--redirects your blood and increases its flow to your major muscles.
Blood
Your body transmits oxygen to your muscles and organs through your blood. As your heart rate increases, your blood flow also increases, sending extra oxygen throughout your body and targeting the muscles that need it most. If you are exercising, this increased blood flow and extra oxygen allows you to continue exercising; if you are running from a predator, the added oxygen lets you keep running, according to Planet Scicast. Without the extra oxygen, your muscles will tire and your body will tell you to stop moving.
Carbon Dioxide
The oxygen you inhale powers your muscles and organs. As your body burns the energy within the oxygen, it creates carbon dioxide as a waste product. As a result, there is a direct correlation between the amount of oxygen you inhale and the amount of carbon dioxide your body produces. But your brain does not register how much oxygen you consume; instead, it monitors the levels of carbon dioxide in your body. When your body has too much carbon dioxide, the brain reacts.
Medulla
The part of your brain that controls your respiration rate is your medulla, and it does so based on how much carbon dioxide it detects in your body. As your medulla senses more carbon dioxide, it knows your body is using extra oxygen and directs you to increase your respiration rate. This increased respiration rate directly correlates with an increased heart rate, allowing more oxygen to enter your bloodstream to be carried to the muscles that need it, according to the Science Museum of Minnesota.
Increased Respiration
As your heart pumps more blood--and therefore, more oxygen--through your body, your respiration increases. The increased respiration is an involuntary reaction to stress, meaning that it happens automatically. However, you have voluntary control over your increased respiration. You can breathe in and out more frequently than usual or you can breathe deeper than usual; either method will provide you with the oxygen needed to satisfy your muscles and your increased heart rate.
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