According to an article in Scientific American, regular exercise leads to physiological changes that include improved cardio-respiratory functioning. The U.S. government encourages adults to perform 30 minutes or more of moderate-intensity physical activity most days of the week. Your cardiorespiratory system gathers oxygen that you breathe, puts it in your bloodstream and transports it to working muscles throughout your body for energy. Regular exercise may have long-term effects on your breathing.
Increases Lung Capacity
Long-term exercise may enhance lung capacity. According to a tutorial from Washington University's Department of Chemistry, your metabolism becomes more active during exercise. This metabolic activity involves breathing faster and deeper to provide a necessary supply of oxygen to your body. Strenuous exercise eventually exceeds the amount of oxygen that your breathing supplies to your body. The tutorial suggests that long-term habitual exercise may increase lung capacity over time. Higher lung capacity may enable exercising longer and harder because you're able to meet the oxygen demands of more vigorous activity.
Suppresses Airway Swelling and Constrictions
A long-term effect of exercise may include suppressing respiratory airway contractions or airway swelling, which occurs in people with asthma. According to the Mayo Clinic website, the respiratory airway in people with asthma narrows and swells. Asthmatic people produce extra mucus cells and experience difficulty breathing. An article on the Health Central website suggests long-term exercise may help control asthma and reduce hospitalization of cancer patients. The article references a study, which indicates that exercise may improve breathing capacity in people who have mild asthma. The article recommends long-term exercise activities such as swimming and yoga, which may help reduce airway swelling that contributes to difficulty breathing. The article references a study that suggests that regular yoga activity may reduce or eliminate the need for asthma medications.
Slows Lung Degradation
Long-term exercise may slow degenerative lung functioning that occurs in people with conditions such as emphysema. Emphysema is a factor of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. COPD limits the amount of airflow during exhalation. The condition occurs when air sacs at the end of smallest air passages gradually deteriorate. Airway obstruction also contributes to emphysema and makes breathing increasingly difficult. Long-term exercise activity such as walking may benefit people with emphysema. According to an article on the Health Central website, a person with emphysema should walk for 15 minutes three or four times a day. The article references a study that indicates long-term walking may improve breathing, walking capacity and quality of life for people with emphysema. The article also suggests exercise activities such as yoga or martial arts for people with emphasema, because these activities emphasize breathing techniques and balanced movements. According to the Mayo Clinic website, treatment for conditions such as emphysema involve a pulmonary rehabilitation program that includes exercise training, because exercise can help slow the decline of lung functioning that occurs with this condition.
