If you need to inhale at a slower rate than most people, is your body using oxygen more efficiently, or do you just have abnormally large lungs or something?

Question

i.e. Non-athlete having a resting breathing rate of 5-10 in comparison to the standard 12-20.

In: Biology

Answer 1

There are many components to getting the oxygen to the cells; the process only starts at the lungs.

The blood has a large role, and for example hemoglobin concentration (red cell count) increases for people living at high altitude on mountains, as the body adapts to lower levels of oxygen up there. A mountain person coming down to visit someone at sea level may breathe like you during the visit.

And the health of your heart and blood vessels also plays a large role in delivering oxygen to the cells; aerobic exercises are very good for you.

Answer 2

Some athletes can develop larger lungs; but that’s the extreme 

In general someone who exercises more; had stronger and more efficient cardiovascular and respiratory systems

You could also measure: vO2 max to see the efficiency 

Answer 3

Needing oxygen is not the driving force behind how often/how deeply you breathe. There is a lot of oxygen in the air, and as long as your lungs are healthy, you will be able to get enough oxygen. So, breathing slower isn’t a sign of using oxygen more efficiently, since it doesn’t matter. What you *are* doing when you breathe less is getting rid of less CO2. If you make more CO2, you need to breathe more and vice versa. Too much or too little CO2 can affect the pH in your blood, so your body is good about making your you’re breathing enough to get rid of the right amount of CO2 (this is all assuming your lungs and everything else are healthy)

Answer 4

I have asthma and my resting heart rate and respiration rate have been higher than average for my whole life.

Answer 5

Or you’re just using your lungs more efficiently.

For example musicians who play wind instruments (trumpet, trombone, tuba, sax, clarinet, flutes etc) tend to have extremely efficient breathing, but not super great VO2max values. It’s about being able to utilize diaphragmatic breathing effectively.

If you hold a hand over your belly, can you feel yourself breathing? If so you’re using, at least to some extent, diaphragmatic breathing. A lot of people don’t, and use mainly intercostal breathing (expanding the chest cage) leading to shallower breaths.