Name: Josh Lavery
The Long Term Responses to Exercise
Cardiovascular
Cardiac hypertrophy
Cardiac hypertrophy is when you exercise aerobic endurance for a long period of
time, which makes you heart become bigger and stronger. The bigger and stronger
your heart is, the better your aerobic endurance is as you are always doing
continuous training so that your body is used to the physical demands of
cardiovascular exercise. A sporting example of this is: Mo Farah who is a famous
long-distance runner, his heart is very strong and big as he has trained cardiac
hypertrophy for a very long period of time.
Increase in stroke volume
Stroke volume increases when you exercise to increase the circulating blood in your
system so that your body can respond appropriately to exercise. Stroke volume is
determined by the amount of blood that is pumped per beat. A sporting example that
shows the increase of stroke volume is greatly beneficial for rowers such as Adam
Neil. This is because his heart is supplying more oxygen with every beat so he can
continue to work at a very high intensity without getting fatigued.
Increase in cardiac output
Cardiac output is the volume of blood pumped out of the body each minute. The
increases reflect our body’s response in meeting critical physiological needs. To
determine the increase of cardiac output, you multiply your stroke volume by your
heart rate which will equal the cardiac output.
Decrease in resting heart rate
When you exercise regularly for a sustained amount of time, your heart rate
decreases when resting compared to when you have been exercising for a short
period of time. This is why more elderly people who do not get regular exercise can
have problems with their increasing heart rate while resting.
Capilliarisation
Capilliarisation is increased by exercise/aerobic endurance. The capillaries are small
blood vessels which carry nutrients and oxygen to their target areas, where they are
utilized by the body. It is also defined as a better network to deliver oxygen to the
working muscles.
Increase in blood volume
The increase in blood volume defines the amount of blood circulating around the
body which increases due to cardiac output because of the increase of stroke
volume.
Reduction in resting blood pressure
The reduction in resting blood pressure is where the resting blood pressure
decreases when your cardiovascular endurance increases. As a sporting example:
Paula Radcliffe is a prime example as she has elite cardiovascular endurance, so
her resting blood pressure is very reduced and at a healthy status.