When you exercise hard your muscle cells can become short of oxygen. The cells can still get energy from glucose but without using oxygen, this is anaerobic respiration. this reaction produces lactic acid instead of carbon dioxide and water because the glucose is not broken down completely.
GLUCOSE ---> LACTIC ACID (+ENERGY)
Muscle fatigue is when there is a build up of lactic acid in the muscles. This can cause the muscles to stop contracting efficiently. Blood flowing through the muscles removes the lactic acid.
The build up of excess lactic acid is a problem after exercise and in order to break it down properly into carbon dioxide and water, oxygen is needed. The amount of oxygen needed to get rid of all the lactic acid is known as an oxygen debt.
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