The Breath of life/Is sitting all day the problem

The oxygen we breathe is vital for staying alive because we use it to create energy. Tiny capillaries, (the smallest type of blood vessel), transport oxygen to the 50 trillion cells that make up your body. You use about 550 liters (968) pints of oxygen per day.

There is more than enough oxygen to go around so where’s the problem?

In his book “Breath” James Nestor talks about two different types of energy we use for survival. One,  from oxygen, called Aerobic Respiration, (a chemical process in which oxygen is used to make energy from carbohydrates/sugars), and the other called, anaerobic energy, (energy generated only with glucose (a simple sugar).

He goes on to say:

So when we are using aerobic respiration, which means exercising whether walking, the gym, cycling, mountain hiking, swimming, running etc. on a routine basis we are getting the oxygen rich energy which keeps us alive and looking towards our future. When we don’t exercise or do very little we end up using the backup anaerobic energy which piles on the lactic acid and creates the feeling that we cannot do exercise. Sitting in an office environment and driving and other sedentary type actions equals lactic acid buildup.