You may take your lungs for granted, but they actually play a large role in your ability to complete tasks. Your lungs' capacity to take in oxygen will determine how much work you can do, and potentially how healthy you are. If you are an athlete, your lungs are an important part of your training; exercise increases your oxygen needs. Understanding the importance of lung function and capacity may help to motivate you toward higher fitness goals.
Lung Physiology
Your lungs are are attached to external openings in the nose and mouth via the trachea, and house a network of alveoli. Alveoli are small sacs that distribute oxygen to the surrounding blood vessels for transport to the rest of your body. Your lungs expand and contract via external forces; during normal inspiration these forces are the movement of the diaphragm, and movement of the chest wall by the intercostal muscles. According to Anaesthetist.com, there is gentle resistance upon inspiration -- friction from gas flow and elastic resistance of the tissues and muscles themselves. You have to work to expand your lungs; the strength to do so is largely stored in the muscles and tissues surrounding your lungs. Exhalation requires almost no effort, and is considered a passive movement.
Gas Exchange
The purpose of the lungs is mainly to take in oxygen and then place it into circulation in order to feed cells around the body. Air, which is full of other gases in addition to oxygen, is brought into the lungs through the nose and mouth, and passed through to the alveoli. The alveoli are capillary rich, and will exchange oxygen for carbon dioxide in the blood. The oxygen is carried by the red blood cells while the lungs exhale the carbon dioxide waste product.
Aerobic Exercise
Aerobic exercise is intended to increase the amount of oxygen that is circulated throughout your body. According to UMM.edu, aerobic exercise causes the heart to pump blood more quickly and with more force than normal. As blood is pumped faster, it must be oxygenated more quickly, which increases respiration, or your breathing rate. If you have recently begun an aerobic exercise program, you know that it takes time and effort to build your capacity for increased respiration. When you first start, you may experience shortness of breath because when you exercise, your muscles and other organs require more oxygen. Your muscles, as well as your lungs and heart, can be "trained" to take in more oxygen.
Muscles And Oxygen
Skeletal muscle mass is one of the main factors in maximum oxygen consumption, according to Nismat.org. The larger the mass of exercising skeletal muscle the greater the potential for increasing whole body oxygen consumption. In other words, if you have more muscle or a larger body, you will need to take in more oxygen to fuel your muscles. Without oxygen your body cannot perform many functions, some of which are essential. If you are an athlete or are involved in sports, your lung capacity will likely be a determining factor in your performance level.
V02 Max
V02 max is your maximum oxygen consumption, states Nismat.org, and is a measure of human performance. Your ability to consume oxygen, or V02, is directly correlated to your performance. The higher your V02 max, the greater your ability to work. Highly trained athletes will typically have a higher level of oxygen consumption. The site states that professional football players average about 50 ml oxygen/kg/min while elite soccer players average around 60 ml/kg/min. The average untrained male and female's V02 max are about 40 ml oxygen/kg/min and 35 ml oxygen/kg/min, respectively. With a higher V02 max, you can potentially perform longer, reaching fatigue more slowly.
