Ever find yourself setting out on a swim, ride or run and find yourself much more out of breath than you should be? If so I would like to introduce you to TOD or Temporary Oxygen Deficit often referred to as Oxygen Debt (OD). Simply put OD occurs when we are using more oxygen to perform a task than our body can take in. Activity at this level can be performed for limited period only as that debt will need to be paid sooner rather than later. TOD, as the name suggests, is a temporary OD and often the activity can be maintained at that level or above.

TOD occurs because of the time it takes to both increase blood (which carries the oxygen) flow to the muscles and to increase the activity of the enzymes that extract the oxygen from our blood. If we begin exercise without increasing the blood flow to the muscles and not allowing the enzyme activity to increase our bodies will not be getting sufficient oxygen for that level of exercise.

The good news is that our blood flow will often increase to the required level and the effect is temporary. The more you lower the intensity at the start and allow your body to ‘catch up’ to your oxygen consumption the shorter the period of TOD will be. The other good news is that a lot of (if not all) TOD can be avoided by doing a good warm up. If you can get the blood flowing before undertaking exercise you will probably have a much better outcome.

Happy training,

Peter