Changes in Lung Volume with Exercise

1
Changes in Lung Volume with Exercise
Jill Vinzant, Paige Kindle, Brad Haiar, Rob
Garness, Ryan Raisanen
Group Members
Introduction
Results
Breathing is an automonic function of the nervous
system, and the breathing pattern adjusts itself
around normal daily activities, such as exercise.
In other words, breathing rate changes to match
the metabolic demands of the body. If the
muscles are stressed during exercise, they
require more oxygen to carry out their metabolic
functions and to produce ATP for energy through
cellular respiration. The tidal volume (TV) of
ones lungs is the amount of air that normally
exchanges oxygen in your lungs. The average
tidal volume in a 152 lb., 18-year-old male is
4.750L. Subjects of this physique, or as close
as possible, were tested in this experiment, so
this information was useful in providing a
statistical basis for analysis. The inspiratory
reserve volume (IRV) is the extra air beyond
the tidal volume. The expiratory reserve volume
(ERV) is the extra air breathed out beyond
normal expiration. These two reserve volumes are
important because they serve as a backup and are
used by the body to adapt to stressful
situations. In our experiment, we will obtain a
subjects tidal volume and take measurements from
the inspiratory reserve volume and the expiratory
reserve volume. The difference between the two
gives the total lung volume. This measurement
will be used to test the changes in total lung
volume with exercise. We think that total lung
volume will increase after a brief cardiovascular
workout (running around the building), slightly
decrease after one minute of rest, and finally
decrease back to the resting volume after two
minutes of rest.
The total lung volume (maximum lung volume minus
minimum lung volume) measurements are displayed
above. The control set shows the total lung
volume while the subject was at rest. The means
from this data were used to produce the bar graph
showing the total lung volume results.
The bar graph displays the results from the
calculated mean of each set of data from the four
subjects.
As seen from the chart, the total lung volume
increased considerably immediately following
exercise, then decreased one minute after
exercise and decreased below the control
(resting) total lung volume two minutes after
exercise. The average of the resting lung volume
was 2.819565 L, which increased considerably to
3.07847 L following exercise. The volume
returned almost to resting one minute after
exercise, at 2.88193 L, and decreased even
further to 2.587617 L two minutes after exercise.
The p values were all greater than 0.05, but
interestingly increased dramatically for the
measurements taken one minute after exercise.
The p value following the run was 0.375, and
after one minute it jumped to 0.749. Our best p
value appeared following two minutes of rest, at
0.256.
Materials and Methods
The table above displays the calculations from
the total lung volume data set. The standard
deviation for the measurements taken at
increments following the run was considerably
lower than the control or the data immediately
after the run, and this holds true for the
standard error (square root of the standard
deviation) as well. The P-values were all
considerably greater than 0.05. All
measurements are in Liters
We used the BioPac program for lab twelve to
perform this experiment. We set up the BioPac
system according to directions in the BioPac
manual, and calibrated as instructed. When the
calibration was complete we replaced the
calibration equipment with the equipment
necessary to carry out the procedures. The
apparatus was then ready for us to begin taking
data. The first set of data we collected was the
control set, with which we compared all of our
other data. Every trial used the same pattern of
breathing. The resting subject was instructed to
breathe normally for three breaths, inhale as
deeply as he could, exhale just to the point of
normal breathing, breathe normally for three
breaths, exhale completely, and breathe normally
for three breaths. Once the control data was
obtained, we began testing the first of our four
subjects. All subjects were 18-year-old
nonsmoking males in good health. The control
measurements were first taken with the subject
simply standing still. Each person then quickly
ran two laps around the halls of Churchill-Haines
Laboratories. When the subject returned, we
immediately repeated the breath measurements in
the same pattern as in the control. Also, we
took measurements following one and two minutes
of rest after exercise. Once we had collected all
of our data we used the BioPac program to measure
the total lung volume in each step of each trial,
which was found by subtracting the minimum lung
volume (when the subject exhaled) from the
maximum lung volume (when the subject inhaled
deeply). We then used Excel to analyze the data.
The measurements for each subject were averaged
to analyze control data, as well as the data
collected immediately, one minute, and two
minutes following the exercise. The averaged
data set was used for calculations and results.
Discussion
As hypothesized, the total lung volume increased
following a brief cardiovascular exercise. One
minute after completion of the exercise, our
hypothesis was still true, as the lung volume was
still greater than that of a resting lung.
However, we were surprised to discover that the
lung volume was lower than resting two minutes
following exercise. We expected that the total
lung volume would return to resting after this
period, but in reality it was considerably
lower. The results of our experiment were
accurate enough to confirm our hypotheses, that
total lung volume would increase immediately
following cardiovascular exercise and still be
greater than the resting volume one minute after
exercise, as well as point out the flaw in the
hypotheses, that the volume two minutes after
exercise was actually lower than the resting
volume. The total lung volume increased
immediately following exercise because the
muscles required more oxygen to undergo increased
cellular respiration, as more energy (in the form
of ATP) was needed for exercise. One minute
following the run, the total lung volume was
still greater than that of resting because the
muscles had not yet obtained enough oxygen for
regular function. The total lung volume was
lower than resting two minutes possibly because
after exercise the body more efficiently uses the
oxygen entering the lungs. If this is true, the
body does not need to work as hard to breathe.
Another possible explanation for these results is
that the body takes in more oxygen than necessary
immediately after the lung (this could be
confirmed by the fact that the total lung volume
expanded greatly after exercise and was still
larger than resting one minute after exercise)
and thus has more oxygen that will be circulated
to and from the muscles to reach homeostasis.
With the increased amount of oxygen replenishing
muscles in the body, it is less necessary for the
lungs to take in large or even average amounts of
oxygen. Our experiment would be more accurate if
we tested the same individual for each trial,
instead of using different individuals and using
an average of their data. We could also test the
lung volume for a longer time after the run to
see at what time the lung volume returns to the
beginning resting volume. An experiment could be
done with smokers to compare their data to our
data, which is from non-smokers. Finally, an
experiment could be done with women to compare to
ours, which was done with all men.