Learn how to learn how to control the second wind and trigger this process in the body exactly when you need it most. If you switch to a fast run without warming up, then very quickly the person will have shortness of breath and an increase in heart rate. Surely every person has come across an unpleasant feeling when the body becomes heavy, breathing becomes difficult, and the heart, as if ready to jump out of the chest. At such a moment, you just want to fall to the ground and rest. However, at a certain moment, if you continue running, a second wind appears and the feeling of oxygen starvation passes, and the heart rate returns to normal.
At the same time, the second wind may not open, but a dead center appears when it becomes impossible to continue running. The second wind does not always appear and can be not only good in nature, but also bad. Today we will talk about what a second wind is from a scientific point of view and how you can overcome the blind spot.
Second breath - what is it?
The second breath is called a special physiological effect, which is characterized by an increase in working capacity after powerful fatigue caused by intense physical activity. For example, for marathon runners, the second wind most often appears closer to the finish line or in the second half of the distance. Here it is necessary to clarify that most often the second wind is observed in an untrained person.
This is due to the fact that lactic acid is rapidly excreted in athletes and muscle tissue does not acidify at the beginning of work. Also, scientists have found that the second wind opens faster in trained people and manifests itself in the form of normalization of the work of psychological functions and the desire to continue active activity.
At the beginning of the article, we talked about the second concept associated with the second breath - dead center. It should be understood as a certain state of the body, manifested under the influence of intense physical exertion. Most often, it appears a few minutes after the start of intense physical activity.
At this moment, an unpleasant feeling appears, accompanied by dizziness, shortness of breath, pulsation of blood vessels in the head and a persistent desire to stop physical activity. If you are working for a long time at high intensity. And in some situations and of medium intensity, a special type of fatigue may appear against the background of a sharp drop in working capacity. Most often, a dead center appears at the moment when the body's oxygen demand exceeds 1500 milliliters.
Here are the main signs of a dead center:
- rapid shallow breathing;
- high heart rate;
- the pH of the blood decreases;
- the process of sweating is active;
- high ventilation oxygen equivalent.
This condition can be characterized by a significant deterioration in the work of basic psychological functions, for example, the clarity of perception sharply decreases, memory and thinking work worsens. There is also a decrease in attention and a slower reaction. In the course of scientific experiments in a dead center state, subjects gave more incorrect answers to control questions.
Speaking about what a second wind is from a scientific point of view, it is necessary to consider in more detail the state of the dead center, since they are related. The dead center condition occurs due to the fact that the cardiovascular system takes a certain amount of time at the beginning of a workout to reach the required level of performance. Only in this case can the muscle tissues receive a sufficient amount of oxygen.
If the intensity of the load turned out to be excessive from the very beginning of work, then the body's need for oxygen exceeds the capabilities of the cardiovascular system. This, in turn, leads to the accumulation of a large amount of lactic acid and other metabolites of energy metabolism in the muscle tissues. In order to prevent the appearance of a dead center state, it is necessary to increase the intensity of physical activity gradually.
In a situation where you have already found yourself in a state of dead center, it is possible to overcome it only through willpower. If you continue training, then after the dead center and the second wind is activated. This state indicates that the body was able to adapt to physical activity and it was able to meet the energy needs of the muscles.
Scientists have found that difficulty breathing, which is one of the symptoms of a dead center condition, is associated with a narrowing of the gap between the vocal cords. As a result, the amount of air that can enter the lungs is reduced. This, in turn, leads to irritation of the receptors located on the surface of the vocal cords.
Second breath and the body's need for oxygen
Speaking about what a second wind is from a scientific point of view, it is necessary to consider this condition in relation to the tissue oxygen demand. To begin with, the breathing process is an exchange of substances between the external environment and our body. At rest, all energy processes proceed with the direct participation of oxygen and are called aerobic.
However, under the influence of physical exertion, the body can switch to anaerobic energy supply processes, for which oxygen is not required. For example, an athlete needs about seven liters of oxygen to run a distance of one hundred meters, and a maximum of 0.5 liters can enter the body. Most of the athlete is simply not able to breathe.
Although at this moment breathing quickens and the heart rate increases, oxygen deficiency is still created and the body turns on the anaerobic regime. Thus, he begins to work on debt, which is then repaid due to shortness of breath and a strong heartbeat after the physical activity is removed.
Second wind at the molecular level
Under the influence of physical exertion, the muscles work to their maximum capacity. The main mechanism of energy supply in this situation is the process of glycolysis or oxidation of glucose. As mentioned above, in a normal state, this requires oxygen.
If the load turned out to be excessive for the body and an oxygen deficiency is created, then anaerobic glycolysis is activated. It is characterized by the process of converting pyruvic acid (pyruvate) to lactate. This substance is known to many as lactic acid. This reaction does not require oxygen, and the large amount of lactate that accumulates in the muscles causes a burning sensation and subsequent fatigue.
Talking about what a second wind is from a scientific point of view, it is necessary to consider this state at the molecular level. When, under the influence of physical exertion, the body begins to experience a deficiency of oxygen, then a metabolite of glycolysis, BFG (bisphosphoglycerate), appears in erythrocytes. This substance is capable of interacting with hemoglobin and changing its affinity for oxygen.
The tetrameric hemoglobin molecule has a cavity formed by the amino acid residues of the protomers. It is to this cavity that BFG joins, while reducing the affinity of hemoglobin with oxygen. In addition, BFG has a significantly greater ability to diffuse into tissues. Due to an increase in the flow of oxygen to the muscle tissues, aerobic glycolysis is replaced by anaerobic glycolysis, and lactic acid is burned in the Krebs cycle.
If we talk about what a second wind is from a scientific point of view and consider the macro level, then this condition arises due to a sharp release of blood from storage. In addition, the process of production of red cells by the inert brain, liver and spleen is accelerated. If a person is at rest, then not all blood circulates through the body and part of it is in special "reservoirs".
The most significant blood stores are located in the abdominal cavity. Under the influence of strong physical exertion, the liver and spleen are stretched, and this happens precisely due to the blood that makes up the reserve. The problem is aggravated by frequent shallow breathing. At this time, the diaphragm contracts slightly and additional vacuum is practically not created in the chest cavity.
As soon as physical activity becomes excessive, the blood supply is turned on to work to reduce the oxygen deficiency. As a result, a large amount of blood is supplied to the internal organs, which does not have time to flow from them. All this leads to the fact that the size of the liver and spleen increases significantly and the blood presses on its capsules.
At the same time, the concentration of cortisol increases, under the influence of which the spleen capsule begins to actively contract and throws a large amount of blood into the general bloodstream. Surely you had to experience pain in the abdomen after high-intensity physical activity. At the moment, there is no exact explanation for this phenomenon, and scientists have only a few hypotheses.
Thus, if we summarize all of the above, then we can draw certain conclusions. Let's start with the fact that the second wind speaks of insufficient physical fitness of a person. This is not some kind of prohibitive level achieved during long training sessions. In contrast, trained athletes are not familiar with this condition. It is also necessary to say that the second wind may not open if there is not enough time for this. For example, you ran a distance until the moment when the body activated its defense mechanisms.
