If you've participated in an exercise or athletic activity, you probably noticed the increase in the rate and depth of your breathing. An increase in respiratory rate occurs during times of exertion, be it playing a game of basketball or walking up a steep flight of stairs. Working muscles are fueled by a series of oxygen, requiring chemical reactions that occur within muscle cells. As your muscle activity level increases during exercise, your muscles' demand for oxygen rises, and this triggers an increase in your rate and depth of respiration.
Step 1
Measure your resting respiratory rate by sitting comfortably and, using a stopwatch or a clock with a second hand, counting the number of respiratory cycles that occur within a 60-second time period. One respiratory cycle will include an inspiration, or breathing in, and an expiration, or breathing out. A normal respiratory rate will usually fall somewhere between 12 and 18 respiratory cycles per minute.
Step 2
Begin a very mild activity such as walking at a slightly brisk pace, doing light housework or climbing one flight of stairs at a normal walking pace. After 30 seconds of such activity, sit down and measure your respiratory rate once again. This moderate level of exertion may have caused a slight elevation in your respiration. For well-trained and fit individuals, this level of activity may have only a negligible, if any, effect on respiratory rate. If your fitness level is poor, this might be enough of a stress to elevate your respiratory rate by 10 percent to 20 percent.
Step 3
Engage in a vigorous activity such a running, cycling at a moderately quick pace or swimming for a period of 5 to 10 minutes. Sit down and, once again, measure your respiratory rate. Vigorous activity of this type should be enough to elevate the respiratory rate of most individuals. The amount of increase will be related to both the level of physical exertion and the fitness level of individual.
Step 4
Allow your body to return to its resting state by gradually decreasing your level of activity. After a brief rest period of three to five minutes, measure your respiratory rate one final time to determine if it has returned to the level of your starting resting respiratory rate.
Things You'll Need
- Clock or stopwatch
References
- "Exercise Science: Understanding and Evaluating Physical Fitness and Health"; W. Rosenberg and C. Cullen; 2007.
- "Control of Respiration"; University of Utah; 2010.
- "Exercise Physiology, 6th Edition"; William McArdle, et. al.; Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2007.
