Scientific Explanation of Chi Kung No. 5 : The Human Heart at Resting

The heart is the major organ of the circulatory system. It is the only interface between the respiratory system and the rest of the body. It pumps blood into the arteries, capillaries, and veins for circulating nutrients and oxygen throughout the body. Without the heart, the rest of the body will not function. Therefore, let's find out some basic facts about the heart at resting.

At resting, a healthy heart beats on its own and maintains beating 60 to 80 times a minute. It has a steady cardiac output for maintaining normal blood pressure. It is very undesirable for the heart to beat faster than normal. The heart beats faster only if there is a change in blood pressure or blood content of oxygen. However, more oxygen can be provided without making the heart beating faster by voluntary breathing. Let's study the heart muscle contraction at resting to find out why!

The heartbeat was done by myocardium contraction, continuously, in a biochemical-mechanical loop. Myocardium contraction is the mechanical movement of the heart. The energy for contraction was generated by a biochemical process.
The mechanical formula for myocardium contraction:
Cardiac output = Stroke volume x Beat rate
1. Stroke volume is the amount of the blood pumped by a ventricle per beat.
2. Beat rate is the number of beats per minute
3. Cardiac output is the total blood pumped away from a ventricle per minute.

At resting, the stroke volume is the ventricle filled with blood at maximum per beat. Therefore, each burst sending blood from the arteries to the capillaries is at maximum force; so there will be no high pressure build up at the walls of the arteries. Unfortunately, the oxygen in the blood was not at maximum due to normal breathing. It would be ideal if the oxygen is maximum in the blood when the left ventricle was full. Let's look at the next formula to see how that can be done.

The biochemical formula for cell respiration:
Glucose + O2 ==> H2O + CO2 + Heat + Energy

The biochemical formula indicates that energy is an oxygen dependent. Hence, the more oxygen the more energy are generated. At resting, there were no other movements but myocardium contraction. Normal breathing is just providing a regular amount of oxygen for the heart and the rest of the body. However, through Chi Kung meditation can increase the amount of oxygen into the lungs by abdominal breathing. Since the heart was beating at the resting rate and more oxygen were given, therefore, there were no change in blood pressure nor lack of oxygen. In the event, the heart has more oxygen than enough to generate the energy needed for contraction. Hence, the excess of oxygen will be delivered to the rest of the body.
The heart at resting, with additional oxygen can be provided without any constrain by voluntary breathing is a perfect exercise. Fortunately, it can be done by meditation in Chi Kung providing more oxygen to the heart for energy and still at the resting condition without beating faster or additional constrain.