IMMEDIATE EFFECTS OF EXERCISE

When you exercise or take part in a strenuous sport you will notice several changes taking place in your body: Your heart beats stronger and faster Your breathing quickens and deepens Your body temperature increases You start to sweat Your muscles begin to ache

1. YOUR HEART BEATS STRONGER AND FASTER During exercise it is mainly ADRENALINE that produces changes in the heartbeat. Adrenaline is a hormone which causes the heart rate to quicken.

2. YOUR BREATHING QUICKENS AND DEEPENS You breathe quicker so as to get more oxygen into the lungs. An efficient heart can then transport this to the working muscles. Training can be of great benefit to the Respiratory System. The capacity of the lungs is increased, which allows more oxygen to be taken in per breath.

Problems produced by exercise vary according to the type of sport or event. Problems for the sprinter are different from those of the middle distance runner. A short distance sprint may cause little problem to a trained sprinter, but a games player, who has to repeatedly sprint, needs to train to cope with this.

The middle distance runner may not be running fast enough to get out of breath, but if they have to run up a steep hill, as in x.country, they may get somewhat breathless. The same could be said for the 5000m runner required to produce a sprint at the end. The problems of a Marathon runner are quite unique. Here the emphasis is on stamina. It is not more oxygen that is needed but stored food. The problem may not lie in getting breathless, but in having enough stored up glucose and fat in reserve to keep going.

3. YOUR TEMPERATURE INCREASES When we exercise, our muscles are working and they generate heat, so our body temperature rises. Body temperature is regulated by heat radiating from the skin and water evaporating by sweating. When we shiver, our muscles are working to produce heat in order to raise our body temperature.

4. YOU START TO SWEAT As we have just seen, some of our energy is turned into heat. The body will tolerate a small rise in temperature, but very soon we begin to sweat. If the conditions are hot, we sweat more and produce less urine. We also lose salt as well as body heat and water. We have to replace the salt so that the body stays the same, otherwise we will get CRAMP.

It is now common to see drinks being taken during football, tennis, cycling and many other games that go on for a long time, in which competitors sweat a lot. This prevents DEHYDRATION.

5. YOUR MUSCLES BEGIN TO ACHE As we now know, in order to work, muscles need energy. Energy comes from food, which is mainly converted to GLUCOSE (Sugar) To work more efficiently muscles also need plenty of oxygen. Glucose and oxygen are brought to the muscles in the blood.

Wastes such as carbon dioxide are carried away in the blood. This process of getting energy is called RESPIRATION. Glucose +oxygen = Energy + CO2 + Water When muscles do extra work more Glucose and Oxygen are needed, so more blood must flow to the muscles. So the heart beats faster.

Eventually it becomes impossible to get enough oxygen to the muscles, so they use a different method of getting energy. Glucose is still used, but now there is a waste product called LACTIC ACID. LACTIC ACID is a poison. After a while it will make the muscle ache, and the muscles will stop working. The athlete has to rest while the blood brings fresh supplies of oxygen to the muscles.

EXERCISE PHYSIOLOGY- IMMEDIATE EFFECTS OF EXERCISE

EFFECTS OF REGULAR TRAINING AND EXERCISE THE HEART PUMPS MORE BLOOD PER BEAT. THE RECOVERY RATE BECOMES QUICKER. THE RESTING PULSE RATE BECOMES LOWER. THE NUMBER OF CAPILLARIES INCREASES. THE CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM BECOMES MORE EFFICIENT.

EXERCISE PHYSIOLOGY- LONG TERM EFFECTS OF TRAINING

Some idea of fitness can be gained from the resting pulse rate ( RPR ) because with training, our heart gets bigger and stronger, and it can supply the same amount of blood with fewer beats. However, the RPR does not tell the whole story because it is just as important to know how long the pulse rate takes to get back to normal This is known as our RECOVERY RATE and the quicker this happens the fitter we are.

LONG TERM BENEFITS OF EXERCISE It reduces the risk of coronary heart disease. You can work harder for longer Exercise improves the Cardiovascular system and helps to reduce blood pressure. As we saw earlier, it helps to reduce stress and burns off excess calories.

If we are keen to get fit, this will probably motivate us not to smoke If we are keen to get fit, this will probably motivate us not to smoke. Smoking is the biggest cause of CHD. So this is a longer-term effect of exercise. Over a period of time we can see that the heart of a fit person will beat far fewer times. This makes it much more efficient and causes less stress to be put on the heart. This is also a long-term effect of exercise.

With training the heart muscle increases in size, thickness and strength, the chambers increase in volume and so the whole heart gets bigger. Therefore we can work harder for longer. This is yet another long-term effect of exercise.

FITNESS BENEFITS

REVISION