Article, 11th November 2005.
Lungs & muscles
Have you noticed that when you go for a run, or undertake some other form of physical exertion, that one of either your lungs or muscles might "request" a break before the other?
Having wondered about this myself, and after observing my own feedback from the body, I asked David if he would kindly put the whole question into some form of order, and perhaps also identify if any other issues are relevant to which part of the body "goes" first.
As always, here is the full transcript of both question and answer...
James Blacker:
"Hi David, and all,
"I have noticed that when I go running or do similar exercise for as long as I can, say, one of either my lungs or my muscles seems to give out and cause me to feel the need to stop before the other.
"Noticeably, whilst I was unfit, the lungs would cause me to stop quite soon, whilst on most days, at that point, the muscles were okay to continue.
"And it seems more the case now that I am fitter that the muscles and joints start to ache long before the lungs are demanding a rest or breather.
"I was wondering if all reasons for the body indicating the need to stop or pause during such 'go for as long as you can' physical activity could be put down to a very short list? Other than these two being the element which needs a stop first the only other things I can think of that might be the cause are fueling, either dehydration or no calories/energy to burn, or a simple mental will not to continue (for whatever reason).
"...or physical injury, such as a sprained ankle, which i am not overly interested in for the purposes of this inquiry into which 'departments' of the body might 'go' first.
"I am hoping that there is some insight here to add to our further skill of knowing, understanding and listening to the body. Not for the purposes of high endurance events, per se, but just as an insight.
"As I say, for me, this was something I became aware of just seeing if I could do a two mile jog round the block whilst I was getting fit."
David Heard:
"Hi James,
"A common confusion. But let's start at the beginning. It isn't lungs v muscles. Wrong concept. They are part of the same beautiful system and are totally synergistic.
"But to your situation: yes, it probably started out as shortage of breath before muscle fatigue. Then as you get fitter your heart and lungs (the cardio vascular system) can cope better with the demands made on them, and as you rightly say it is then the muscles that determine the length of the session.
"However there are two component parts to that statement. First there is the strength of the muscles; then the fuel for the muscles.
"As you probably know we store fuel called muscle glycogen that is converted with the presence of oxygen (aerobic) into energy.
"So you have multiple processes and all interlocked - the efficiency of the heart and lungs in the uptake of oxygen and the release of carbon dioxide; the muscle strength; and the fuel content.
"The to further complicate it there is the presence of lactic acid (a by product of energy production) and its absorbtion back into the 'fuel' system.
"After a longer period of exercise then we have the added dimension of rehydration - as you rightly state.
"All of this will be tempered by the tolerance of the athlete to symptoms and the effects of these processes. What you are calling "the mental will".
"As to furthering our ability to 'listen to the body' I think you are demonstrating that very well. The development that you chart it seems to me a result of doing just that - listening to the body and interpreting the feedback.
"While I am a great believer in this there is a cautionary note: in the case of rehydration it is too late to wait until you feel thirsty. Programme your rehydration just as you would the petrol tank in the car i.e.don't wait until you are literally running on empty."
© James Blacker and David Heard, 2005.
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