Breathing is an essential part of life, but we rarely have to think about it until it becomes difficult. Exercise challenges our respiratory system in several ways, and breathing during exercise may be harder for some than for others. During this talk, we will discuss contemporary issues related to how humans breathe during exercise. In particular, we will focus on recent advances on the influence of sex and aging on the respiratory response to aerobic exercise. The overarching goal of the session will be to explore how the lungs are built for exercise!

Presented by Dr. Yannick Molgat-Seon  who is an exercise physiologist with a particular interest in respiratory physiology. The overarching aim of his research is to improve our understanding of the influence of respiratory factors on exercise performance in healthy humans across the lifespan and in patients with chronic respiratory disease. To accomplish this aim, Dr. Molgat-Seon employs an integrative approach involving in vivo assessments of respiratory, cardiovascular, and muscular function during whole-body exercise. Current projects are focused on determining the effects of sex-differences in respiratory system morphology on the integrative response to exercise in healthy adults and how this might be modulated by the healthy aging process.