Respiratory System Essay Athletes prefer to train in high-altitude locations as a competitive strategy to improve their training potential. Exposure to high-altitude could advance and improve an athlete’s quality of training. Oxygen availability is lower at high-altitude but being exposed to the high-altitude causes the body to acclimate to this type of atmosphere. As the body acclimates to the high-altitude, it improves the delivery of oxygen to the muscles and this leads to the theory that consuming more oxygen will lead to a better performance. Strenuous exercise for any amount of time causes the body to use up oxygen in order to produce energy. This kind of exercise is referred to as aerobic exercise which means that the lungs have an increase in gas exchange because more oxygen is taken in and more carbon dioxide is loss. The body automatically produces erythropoietin, a hormone that stimulates the red blood cell production which carries oxygen to the muscles. The more blood cells built up, the more oxygen can be delivered to the muscles. Other benefits while the body acclimates to the high-altitude includes an increased amount of small blood vessels, an increased buffering capacity that enables the body to manage built up of waste acid, and finally it changes the muscles structure and function. Nonetheless acclimating to high-altitude is not easy. There are other effects that could cancel out the above benefits. For instance, the built up of red blood cells production causes the blood to become thicker, resulting in a sluggish blood flow. This will make it more difficult for the heart to pump blood throughout the body thus reducing the amount of oxygen needed for the body’s tissue and cells. At very high altitude, further problems can develop such as loss of appetite, ceased process of muscle repair and increase work of breathing. Typically athletes hyperventilate at high-altitude as a surviving mechanism. The lungs function is to expose blood to fresh air increasing the breathing rate that then will increase the flow of fresh air past the blood. This means that when an oxygen component is taken away by the blood, a fresh one is quickly replaced. This also means that there’s more oxygen available to be taken up into the blood. When exercising, more energy is required by the body, which means that the body tissues take in more oxygen than they do when resting. Consuming more oxygen means that the body will also produce more carbon dioxide because of the increased metabolic rate. Another reason why the body produces more carbon dioxide is because during exercise, a shift from fat to carbohydrate utilization takes place. For example, during a strenuous exercise the body will burn carbohydrates excessively and produce 1.0 liter of carbon dioxide for every liter of oxygen consumed (DiMenna, 2011).

References
Simpson, A. (2007). Altitude training. Altitude.org. Retrieved from http://www.altitude.org/altitude_training.php
DiMenna, F. (2011). What effect does exercise have on the amount of carbon dioxide released by the blood?. Livestrong.com. Retrieved from http://www.livestrong.com/article/524672-what-effect-does-exercise-have-on-the-amount-of-carbon-dioxide-released-by-the-blood/