Do People Who Exercise Regularly Have a Greater Lung Capacity?

Question:

Do people who exercise regularly have a greater lung capacity?

Problem:

Unhealthy lifestyle habits of not completing sufficient amounts of exercise daily can inevitably lead to large scale ramifications upon the lungs functions in a decrease production of air.

Aim:

To determine whether those who exercise have a greater lung capacity?

Background information:

Physical activity allows the body to enhance and maintain overall health and wellness to sustain a healthy lifestyle through regular physical fitness. Exercising works your lungs and heart and improves endurance, enabling the body to use oxygen more efficiently to then develop stronger breathing. One example of physical fitness that supports your lungs is Aerobic activity which is split into 2 categories. Moderate aerobic activity consisting of 150 minutes a week participating in activities such as walking, swimming or mowing the lawn or engaging in 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity such as running, dancing or bike riding.  More health benefits are achieved from active participation in physical activity and will with time strengthen the body making the lungs stronger which will hence decrease shortness of breath.

Regular exercise strengthens and tones the heart and lung improving efficiency and transportation of blood and oxygen throughout the body. From regular exercise it enables the pulmonary system to increase the maximum amount of oxygen that the lungs input and output. Exercising develops the lungs and makes them healthier. A greater lung capacity is sought through exercising and is most predominant relevant in athletes freedivers, singers and wind-instrument musicians.

Why men and women separated

A survey in 2014 showed that ‘65.3% of Australians aged 15 and over were sedentary or had low levels of exercise’. Not being physically active has serious implications on the body and can increase numerous health risks. These can include Coronary Heart Disease, stroke, high blood pressure, breathlessness, flabby body, little energy, stiff joints, osteoporosis, poor posture, being overweight. Researchers based in the Cleveland clinic underwent a study on 122,000 patients who participated in testing between 1991 and 2014 on whether lack of exercise is worse than smoking. Researchers found that not exercising can pose a greater risk on one’s health and ultimately lead to being worse for you than smoking and diabetes. Cardiovascular diseases are amongst some of the most common diseases impacting the lungs function as a result of easily correctable problems which include, unhealthy diet, lack of exercise and being overweight.

Exercising has diverse benefits on the body. When exercising the muscles work harder and leads the body to use more oxygen. The body becomes more efficient in getting oxygen into the bloodstream and transporting it throughout the body. During exercise the muscles work harder resulting in a higher demand in oxygen to be produced making the bodies circulating speed up to take the oxygen to the muscles to keep moving. The body cops with this extra demand by increasing breathing to about 40-60 times a minute. In figure 2, it highlights the function of the lungs when breathing 40-60 times a minute. Without exercise, people will have a reduced lung function and a large part of their breathing is used for breathing reserve.

Figure 1: In this chart, it outlines a few factors that contribute towards larger and smaller lung capacity. In the larger coloum ‘fit’ is seen and in teh smaller volume coloum ‘obese’ is seen.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lung_volumes

Figure 2: In figure 2, the diagram illustrates the function of the lungs breathing in and out. The image labels parts of the lungs and gives a brief outline on the lungs function when completing this task.

https://www.askdoctork.com/how-do-breathing-exercises-work-to-relieve-stress-201211083638

Hypothesis:

A person who exercises regularly will have a greater lung capacity than someone who is irregular with physical activity. This is because the stronger the heart and lungs get, the more efficient the flow of oxygen into the bloodstream becomes resulting in less time short of breath.

Variables:

Equipment:

-          2 x 30cm ruler

-          18 x Ballon

-          6 x Water bottle

-          Recording chart

Risk assessment:

Method:

Step 1: Grab a balloon

Step 2: Call forth participant

Step 3: Blow up x1 balloon to 20 cm in diameter 2 or 3 times to stretch it (tip: release air each time)

Step 4: Give participant 2 minutes break to catch breath back

Step 5: Position participant standing up to receive the best result

Step 6: Prepare participant before indulging in activity with a 3-second countdown

Step 7: Take the biggest breathe you can by inhaling, then blow out all the air you can into the balloon in one blow.

Step 8: Tie up the end of the balloon to hold in the air exhaled

Step 9: Repeat steps 1 through to 8, 3 times per person for a reliable test

Step 10: Allow for a 1-minute break

Step 11: To prevent any dangers give participant water to be hydrated

Step 12: Place the balloon on a flat surface

Step 13: Grab x1 ruler to measure the diameter of the balloon

Step 14: Grab another ruler and aline it on top of the balloon with the ruler standing up vertically to collect the measurement

Step 15: Record data into the results table in seconds

Step 16: Calculate and add up all results gathered to create an average.

Results:

 Formulae for the conversion of diameter to cm^3:

Discussion

Would have liked more people in that age bracket to receive a wider range of results

Very quick

Why I chose the 40s bracket

Following through with the specifics of the method allowed for the results to be accurate

The background research conducted further proved

include a summary of your results, which includes describing patterns or trends in your results. 

Use your scientific knowledge from the research you did at the beginning of the report to explain the relationships, patterns or trends in your results (this is probably the MOST IMPORTANT THING IN THE WHOLE ASSIGNMENT). You may need to do some additional research to explain the trends in your results.

Suggest how your experiment/investigation could have been improved to reduce this experimental error.

The aim of this experiment was to determine what wind speed will power more energy. The results show that when more wind power is added and more force is pushed against the blades more energy is made. Whereas when low or no wind is added there is less force pushing against the blades creating only a small amount of energy. This shows that the more wind speed added to the blades, the more energy is created proving that high wind speed creates the most amount of energy. From the results of my experiment, it was shown that medium and high speed creates a similar amount of energy. This is due to a stronger wind force against the blades, producing more energy. The blades bending back in the experiment was a difficulty as they impacted the motion of the blades and created an impact on the energy being created. This default could’ve been fixed if the length of the blades were shorter and the material stronger. These improvements are necessary to benefit the production of efficient electricity to provide a sustainable amount of energy that will supply for households.

The aim of this experiment was to determine whether those who exercise have a greater lung capacity. The data from each of the trails were documented into the results table and with each category the results from the trails are turned into averages. The results showed that those people who exercise regularly will have a better lung capacity. Whereas, a person who exercises occasionally or not at all will have a smaller lung capacity. From the results in the trial it displayed that the participants both in men and women in the categories occasional exercising and not at all had closer results together than with the regular exercing results. This trend is due to the fact that the regualr exercise

Accuracy:

Collecting results from each category of exercise participation with 2 people involved, allowed for more accurate results. Having 2 people in each category of regular exercise, occasional exercise and does not exercise enabled the experiment to gather better, more accurate averages. In the experiment, the averages were taken out from each of the results of the trial and plotted on a column graph. A more accurate way to analyse the results documented. Through calculating the average it allowed for the results to be analysed clearer. However, measuring the diameter of the balloon using the manual method of 2 rulers would have altered the results due to human error.

Reliability:

Throughout the experiment to receive the most reliable results from the tests, each trial was conducted and repeated 3 times over per person as it allowed for a reliable conclusion of results. Reliability is improved by repetition so by completing each test 3 times over per person it ensured that the experiment was going to be reliable and the data gathered was fairly similar within there categories making the results consistent.

Validity:

To ensure the experiment was a fair test there was an independent variable which was the regularity of exercise so an aspect of the experiment was changed. However, the experiment also consisted of a variety of controlled variables that made the experiment valid which were; the age bracket, same test completed, weight bracket, amount of times test taken so the experiment maintained parts that stayed the same. Through these variables, they are relevant in the experiment for finding and answering the question, do people who exercise regularly have a greater lung capacity?

Newman question

1. The problem that you decide to solve must be complex and unique.

2. Evaluate the relevance of the findings of your experiment on society and/or the environment.

This is where you discuss the impact of your SRP on society. Discuss possible applications of your research findings in the world and propose areas that, if you had time and motivation, you would research further. Discuss the following:

-          Why your experiment was important?

-          How was your experiment relevant to people in society?

-          What benefits did your SRP have for society?

-          Are there any ethical or moral implications of this experiment?

Some starters for this section might include:

My research showed that…This is important because…

My research has relevance to society because…

The implications of my research are…

Throughout this experiment the question the task sought to answer was ‘Do people who exercise regularly have a greater lung capacity?’. From this question the experiment began to indulge in investigating a problem. Does unhealthy lifestyle habits of not completing sufficient amounts of exercise daily, inevitably lead to large scale ramifications upon the lungs functions in a decrease production of air. My research showed that not only does exercise improve and strengthen your lungs but enhances efficiency of blood flow through organs and muscles and helps at getting oxygen into the bloodstream and transporting it to the working muscles. This is important as exercise reduces numerous health risks such heart diseases and allows for the body to manage high blood pressure. My research in this experiment is relevant to society today as the work addresses and highlights topical issues with health in the world. Unhealthy eating and lifestyle habits are amongst the world’s worst medical problems resulting in hundreds and thousands of patients sick or dying from illnesses like heart disease. Illness such as heart disease are as a result of easily correctable problems such as exercising and eating healthy. Exercising is the best known method to maintain fitness levels and assists the body in strengthening and enhancing efficient in transporting blood and oxygen around the body. 

Conclusion:

Overall, throughout the experiment it can be concluded that a person who exercises regularly will have a greater lung capacity than someone who irregularly or not at all exercise. It is evident in the results shown in the table that shows a clear illustration that there was a larger output of oxygen by participants that exercise regularly. During the course of the experiment 3 trials were completed by each participant or each category of exercise participation to gather consistent reliable results. The averages were used and converted into diameters to plot on the bar graph to give a more accurate representation of results. The results were collected in a valid format and enabled the experiment to find a relevant answer to the question, do people who exercise regularly have a greater lung capacity. The background research conducted further lead to support in proving the hypothesis.  Specifically, the more regular a person works out the stronger the heart and lungs will become,  making the flow oxygen through the bloodstream more efficient resulting in less time short of breath. Less time short of breath ultimately means a greater lung capacity. Hence, it can be supported and proven with a high level of confidence that the research conducted throughout the findings in the experiment are all in favour of supporting the hypothesis.

Bibliography

• https://www.webmd.com/lung/copd/copd-and-exercise-breathing-and-exercise-programs-for-copd#1 20.6.19
• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4818249/ 20.6.19
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• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4818249/ 25.6.19
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• http://www.annclinlabsci.org/content/42/3/320.full 28
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• https://medlineplus.gov/benefitsofexercise.html 29
• https://www.livestrong.com/article/480176-the-effects-of-exercise-on-lung-capacity/ 29