Respiration in Reboundology

Pulmonary ventilation increases rapidly after the beginning of rebounding and reaches a plateau which is determined by the height, the speed, the force, and the relative amount of the bounce. Arterial blood lactate concentration is not the cause of this increased oxygen uptake as it is with other forms of exercise. The Higher ventilation is augmented by a rise in both the amount of air sucked in with each inhalation and the breathing frequency. Bouncing brings on greater pulmonary action.

This is one of the reasons that rebounding exercises may help tobacco and marijuana addicts to cut down on their smoking. There is an increased aerobic metabolism during the exercises with increased ventilation and gas exchange in the lungs becoming necessary. Adequate alveolar ventilation, sufficient numbers of red blood cells in the pulmonary capillaries, and normal ratios between ventilation and perfusion are factors of importance. The large ventilation during rebounding leads to a considerable increase in the energy expenditure of the respiratory muscles and respiration will become a limiting factor for smokers.

Unless they are absolutely intent in pursuing their death wish, which makes them blind to their reduced ventilation capacity, the smokers will recognize their need to take in more oxygen per liter of air consumption. Tidal volume increases in both the inspiratory and expiratory direction during rebounding aerobics. But a smoker will have so damaged his alveoli (while he continues as a persistent smoker), he won't be able to utilize the required oxygen. This is because the total ventilation is divided into the ventilation of "dead space" and that of the alveoli.

At a given total ventilation, a higher breathing rate as is necessary in rebounding, is concomitant with lower alveolar ventilation. There is a tendency of the "physiological dead space" to increase with smoking. The alveolar ventilation increases from 70 percent of the total pulmonary ventilation at rest to about 90 percent of total ventilation during rebounding. If physiological dead space has been pathologically created from smoking, the smoker will realize an inadequate alveolar expansion. Simply, he won't perform well at all on the rebound unit. Thus, rebounding is a test of the extent of damage a smoker inflicts on his ability to breathe and extract oxygen from the air. While performing rebounding aerobics, the forces against which the respiratory muscles have to work are:

(1) elastic forces in the tissues of the lung and chest wall, (2) flow resistive forces in the airways and tissues, and (3) inertial forces which depend upon the mass of the gas and the tissues. The work done against inertia is negligible At rest most of the respiratory work is done against elastic forces. With increasing ventilation; during rebounding, the flow resistive work rises rapidly.

The oxygen cost of breathing for the same ventilation is about 40 percent higher when you rebound than when you sit in a comfortable chair. At a ventilation of sixty liters per minute (1/min), 4 percent of the total energy you expend is used for breathing. During a vigorous bouncing session with ventilation's of 110 to 120 1/mm the corresponding value rises to at least 9 percent. That's the amount of energy you use to breath.

Pursuing the highest and most rapid bounce for a prolonged period on your rebounding device, the maximal possible ventilation you could expend would be between 130 and 170 1/min. The work of breathing is not a limiting factor for rebounding under other than extreme conditions such as performing at a high altitude or inhaling the smoke of perhaps sixty cigarettes a day.