Respiratory rate is mainly affected by how much oxygen the body needs and how the brain and lungs respond to that need. Two very clear everyday factors are exercise and anxiety, and both can change how fast and how deeply a person breathes.

Exercise or physical activity

  • During exercise, muscles use more oxygen and produce more carbon dioxide, so the brain responds by increasing the respiratory rate and the depth of each breath.
  • This faster, deeper breathing helps deliver more oxygen to working muscles and clears extra carbon dioxide, which is why people pant or breathe heavily during a workout or even brisk walking.

Anxiety and emotional stress

  • Anxiety activates the body’s “fight‑or‑flight” response, sending signals from higher brain centers that can make breathing faster and more shallow, sometimes leading to hyperventilation.
  • This rapid, shallow breathing can lower carbon dioxide levels in the blood and cause symptoms such as light‑headedness, chest tightness, or tingling in the fingers and around the mouth.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.