Beware of “Oxygen Debt”
Huh?
Most people think of debt as a financial depletion.
The truth is that in physical training and exercise lingo ?oxygen debt? is a bonafide term used to describe what happens when we suddenly stop intense physical exercise, activity or exertion and continue to breathe very heavily. We may call it ?trying to catch our breath?.
Whether we are faithful members of a trendy gym or prefer to shape up with a home-video workout, we all know what this feels like. In essence, when this happens, our bodies are quickly taking in extra oxygen to ?repay? the oxygen debt we?ve just rung up.
?Oxygen debt? occurs when the demand for restorative oxygen is greater than the supply. In layman?s terms, it means that when our neuro-muscular and respiratory systems work hard (generally in physical exercise), we breathe in great amounts of oxygen, but can?t absorb enough of it to balance the level of physical exertion we have experienced.
Technically – for those who like to get up-close-and-personal with explanations – ?oxygen debt? results when our anaerobic energy system takes over, producing undesirable amounts of lactic acid (which we excrete), to calm us down. The amount of oxygen ?owed? to our bodies to recover this imbalance is called the ?oxygen debt?.
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Comparisons, of course, can be drawn in other aspects of our lives, that don?t necessarily involve physical activity, but emotional or psychological activity, instead. Naturally, our advice is to dole out your personal oxygen supply, carefully, to those people, places and things with which you enjoy positive relationships and associations.
Don?t over-extend yourself and risk throwing your hard earned success from mastering The Oxygen Plan into happiness shortages or imbalances in your overall well-being.
Be careful out there.