Physiology Lab Report

Title of report: Cardiorespiratory Effects of Exercise

The cardiorespiratory system serves several crucial functions during exercise one is

that it ensures proper circulation of oxygen around the body and especially to working

muscles. The process oxygenates the lungs while delivering nutrients to the body's active tis-

sues. The cardiorespiratory system overworks to meet the body's demand for nutrients, oxy-

gen, and energy with exercise. As an individual exercises, the demand for oxygen increases as

the metabolic process speeds up oxygen utilization while creating waste. The body uses more

nutrients during exercise. In the process, the temperature rises. Therefore, the respiratory sys-

tem carries oxygen into the body and removes carbon dioxide. Efficient performance of the

cardiorespiratory system requires regulation of body changes while meeting the body de-

mands during an exercise. The oxygen is then utilized to produce ATP in the Mitochondria.

Since aerobic respiration is responsible for the production of energy in the body, VO2 can be

used to determine participants' energy expenditure. VO2 can be reported in relative terms

(ml/kg*min) or in absolute terms (L/min). Oxygen consumption depends on the body tissues'

ability to obtain oxygen from the bloodstream and ventilate. Besides, the alveoli have a cru-

cial role in obtaining oxygen from the air. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a waste product of cellu-

lar, metabolic processes and is released by the body.

The RER is the ratio between CO2 produced in the process of metabolism and the

oxygen used by the body. Humans tend to take in a lot of oxygen compared to the amount of

CO2 they exhale. Considering the modern diet, an average RER for an individual at rest is

about 0.8. The RER tends to increase with intense exercises as CO2 production becomes

more significant, and the body utilizes more oxygen than it releases CO2. An RER that goes

beyond 1.15 indicates an endpoint of the VO2 Max Test. An RER of 0.7 indicates that the
predominant energy source in the body is fat, and 0.85 RER represents a mix of carbo-

hydrates and fat, while a 1.0 RER means that carbohydrates are the predominant energy

source.

Fats and carbohydrates play different roles in fueling exercise. Carbohydrates are

graded as the highest efficient fuel source due to their less oxygen requirement than fats.

Therefore, it is vital in exercise-intensive events when the body process sufficient oxygen. Fat

is a fuel source for light intensity to moderate-intensity exercise. Half the energy utilized in

these activities comes from aerobic respiration. During exercise, the body breaks down stored

fats into fatty acids to be transported into the bloodstream to fuel the muscles. For fats to fuel

exercise, there is a need for sufficient oxygen to be consumed simultaneously.

Fat and carbohydrate are the main substrates that enable the body to produce energy

during exercise for the ATP synthesis system. During exercise, both carbohydrates and fats

are utilized. As such, these substrates indicate the intensity and duration of exercise. The ex-

periment aims to measure carbohydrate and fat utilization by increasing exercise intensity.

Various literature has examined the body's need for fats and carbohydrates in meeting

its demands. Nicholas et al. examined the effect of exercise intensity on the loss of abdominal

adipose tissue. In a randomized trial, obese subjects (n=112) were assigned to a 20-week ex-

ercise intervention of equal energy deficit, including calorie deficit and calorie deficit plus

moderate-intensity exercise. The exercise program involved treadmill walking at 45-50% of

VO2 max or 70-75% of heart rate reserve, and diet was restricted to 400 kcal per day. Cycle

speed and grade were adjusted on an individual basis to ensure subjects were at their pre-

scribed exercise intensity. Results showed that all subjects in both groups had similar total

weight loss about 25% was abdominal visceral fat, with the calorie-restricted only group los-

ing more lean mass.

varies between individuals. Trained individuals had maximum fat utilization at 75% of VO2

max, while untrained individuals had maximum fat utilization at about 50% of VO2 max. The

significance of this study is that every subject is different, so this study will find the most ef-

ficient exercise and intensity to burn the most adipose tissue. Finding an exercise intensity

that produces maximal fat utilization will depend on individual VO2 maxes and differ

between subjects.

This study will find what exercise and its intensity allow the subjects to utilize the most

body fat. The purpose of this study is to determine what exercise intensity for both treadmills

walking on an incline and a cycle ergometer will produce the highest fat utilization. The sig-

nificance of our study is that it will inform people what exercise intensity they should be ex-

ercising at to burn the most fat during their workout. Looking at past studies and the literat-

ure, we hypothesize that non-aerobically trained individuals will have maximal fat utilization

at lower intensity exercise.

Methods

Following those who have signed an informed consent the experiment included male

and male participants. Data collection followed COVID 19 safety measurements. According

to the Stadiometer and Scales, one male participant aged 18 weighed 62.5 kg and 184cm tall.

Each participant underwent three stages with three sets of exercises for five minutes on the

ergometer. In each stage of the exercises, power was increased (0W, 20W, and 80W). The

process involved the collection of expired gas to Douglas bad at the end of every exercise.

The gas volumes were analyzed using the Harvard dry gas meter. The polar heart rate monit-

ors recorded the heart rates of each participant.

 Rest - 0

 V light -70 watts

 Light- 140 watts

 Moderate – 210 watts

Each of the eight participants runs for four mins, and at the end, we will collect the gas as

they exhale or breathe out. The process can be broken down into three mins for gas collection

and 1 min collection period. During this period, one can record O2 and CO2 levels- collec-

tion. The process requires wearing a face mask to enable participants to breathe freely into

the collection system by blowing through the system. They are essential tools that aid the pro-

cess of gas collection:

 Filter – sterilizes

 Bags – used for three different types of exercise (1-4 as above)

 Pipe system – feed into different bags (allows to switch between different bags)

The pipe system is connected to a gas analyzer, which draws air in from the atmosphere re-

cords the CO2 and O2.

Results

The RER of the experiment maintained an upward trend rising from rest, very light,

light, and moderate exercise. For instance, for participant 1 mentioned above, the RER at rest

was 0.77 before exercise. At the beginning of very light exercise, the RER rose to 7.9, then

8.0 during light exercise, and 0.91 for moderate exercise. Consequently, the percentage of fat

energy decreased as the carbohydrate energy increased gradually. The rise in RER is attrib-
uted to the rise in the power output. At the rest stage 0.77 for this participant, the percentage

energy from carbohydrate and fat were the same at 50%. At 20W and 80 W, a significant dif-

ference is observed in the ratio of fat and cryohydrate produced. It is recorded that the BMI

of these participants was 22.5 mg. This highlighted the participant to have come from a

healthy population. The collected data follow the instructions that have been discussed within

the method section.

Discussion

The RER increases with an increase in the intensity of exercise. As the intensity of exercise

increases, the fat and carbohydrate ratio displays a significant difference. With an increase in

RER, the percentage of carbohydrates decreased as that of fat increased. Throughout the pro-

cess of increasing energy intensity, the heart increased. With increasing exercise intensity, the

participants relied on carbohydrates as a source of energy. Hyperventilation happens when the

body produces more CO2 than O2 consumption. VO2 and VCO2 averages increase from rest

to very light to light exercise and finally record the highest RER in the moderate exercise

stages.

The limitation of this experiment is that the sample size was too small. There is a need to en-

large the sample size to widen the scope of analysis and utilize a significant average of the

participants. Besides, the use of the bike is another limitation. Maintaining the load displays

no variation due to peddling at a constant speed, maintaining the set workload. There is also

the aspect of resistance. More friction is needed to peddle. Lack of climate control may also

later the results by altering the body utilization of energy amongst the participants. Also, the

eight participants do not have the same ability to peddle and bike against time. Some had the

expertise and experience, while others found peddling a major challenge. During data collec-
tion of data, there were negligible measurement errors that could later the accuracy of the res-

ults.

Conclusion.

Doing light exercise is beneficial in losing fat than doing moderate exercise. Looking

forward, future studies should include both aerobic and anaerobic trained individuals. This

would allow the researchers to compare results between the two groups and compare findings

to this study and previous literature. Also, a study with more subjects and more variability in

their subjects (age, gender, physical activity levels, etc.) would produce more accurate data

for a larger population.

Future studies should also compare RER data for exercise intensities among different

age groups and gender groups. This would give good data for the public to titrate their indi-

vidual exercise intensity to their specific age and gender. Studies similar to this one are very

important because the public is very concerned with burning fat. Everyone wants to lose

weight and be healthy, but the exercise intensity may be too high or too low for maximum fat

utilization. It would be very beneficial to be able to adjust your exercise program to allow for

maximum fat utilization, but this requires knowing what factors like age, gender, training,

and physical activity levels will do to an RER at a specific workload. Future studies should

highly consider these factors while conducting a study about determining maximum fat utiliz-

ation exercises.

Appendices
 1. Fig1 indicates a variation of respiratory exchange ratio (RER) as the participants

switch from rest to very light exercises, to light exercises, and finally to moderate ex-

ercises.

RER
1.20

1.00

0.80

0.60

0.40

0.20

0.00
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

RER Rest RER Very Light RER Light RER Moderate

2. %fat usage and % carbohydrate usage

%fat usage and % carbohydrate usage

9.00
8.00
7.00
6.00
5.00
4.00
3.00
2.00
1.00
0.00
-1.00
1 6 11 16 21 26 31 36 41 46 51 56 61 66 71 76 81 86 91 96 01 06
1 1

CHO Ox. (g.min) FAT Ox. (g.min)

Fig 2 shows the relationship between percentage fat usage and carbohydrate usage

during exercise.

3. Total energy expenditure

25.00

20.00

15.00

10.00

5.00

0.00
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Total EE Time in (s)

Fig 3 indicates the total energy expenditure during the exercise.

4. CHO AND FAT OXIDATION RATE

FAT OX rate and CHO Oxidation

FAT Ox rate CHO Ox.(g.min)

In Fig 4, the body switches to burning carbohydrates – high level ( line on the graph) lower

blue line on the graph indicate losing fat rather than losing carbohydrates.
 VO2, VCO2 and RER MEAN
3.5

2.5

1.5

0.5

0
1 2 3 4

VO2 VCO2 RER

Fig 6: Represents the relationship between VCO2, VO2 and the RER average