Take a close look at this pair of inflated horse lungs! The horse stands out as a supreme athlete when compared to other species. At maximal exertion, a horse can breath more than twice per second and it boasts a total lung capacity of about 55 liters, compared to about 6 liters in an adult human male. The size of these massive lungs allows a horse to increase its oxygen uptake by nearly forty times during exercise, compared to about six to eight times greater during exercise in an elite human athlete. These astounding numbers, when compared to human physiology, are part of the reason why we use the term “horsepower” to measure the engine power of an automobile. When we have a good workout, we rip our muscle fibers apart. Our cells then work to repair the damage, allowing our muscles to grow back bigger and stronger. Our lungs are essential in supplying these muscles with oxygen during this process because exercise causes a 35-fold increase in oxygen uptake to our muscle tissue. The average human takes about 700 million breathes in his or her life time; individuals who exercise regularly over the course of their life can inherently breath upwards of about 750 million times! This rise in oxygen delivery compared to our non-exercising counterparts is believed to play a role in improved learning and memory functions, a decreased risk for Alzheimer’s disease, strengthened heart and lung function and has been proven to lower the risk for at least thirteen different types of cancer.
How’s that for some Friday gym motivation?
Written by Student Doctor: Navpreet Singh Badesha ©11/11/2016 All Rights Reserved.
Photo Credit: Caribbean Medical University
Inspired by MEDspired Athlete: Michael Young
This research was published in the National Library of Medicine.
Factors affecting the oxygen consumption of a horse can be found here.
