Anaerobic Respiration

During vigorous exercise such as running a race, the muscles initially respire aerobically.
However, the muscles soon used up all the available oxygen. In spite of the increased breathing rate
and heartbeat rate, the blood cannot supply oxygen fast enough to meet their requirements. The
rate at which oxygen is used by the muscles exceeds the amount of oxygen supplied by the blood.
The muscles are in a state of oxygen deficiency, and an oxygen debt is incurred.
As such, the muscles obtain extra energy from anaerobic respiration because oxygen is not available.
During anaerobic respiration, the glucose molecules break down partially into an immediate
substance called lactic acid instead of carbon dioxide and water. Because glucose is not completely
broken down, the energy released during anaerobic respiration is much less than the energy
released during aerobic respiration. In fact, for every molecule of glucose, anaerobic respiration
releases only two molecules of ATP or 150kJ of energy per mole of glucose. In contrast, aerobic
respiration generates 38 molecules of ATP or 2898kJ of energy per mole of glucose. Thus, in terms of
energy yield, anaerobic respiration is less efficient than aerobic respiration.
Much of the energy is still trapped within the molecules of lactic acid. The accumulation of lactic acid
can reach a high level of concentration which can cause muscle cramps and fatigue. This contributes
to the exhaustion a person feels during and after a period of intense exercise. The person needs to
breathe more deeply and rapidly in order to inhale more oxygen. The excess oxygen is used by the
body to oxidise the accumulated lactic acid to carbon dioxide and water.
Oxidation of lactic acid occurs mainly in the liver where a portion of it is oxidised to produce energy
while the remaining ones is converted into glycogen for storage in the muscle cells. The oxygen debt
is paid off when all the lactic acid is removed. This happens through the increased breathing rate
after vigorous exercise. Therefore, an oxygen debt is the amount of oxygen needed to remove lactic
acid from the muscle cells.