Cardiovascular System
The cardiovascular system is responsible for a vast set of adaptations in the body throughout exercise. It must immediately respond to changes in cardiac output, blood flow, and blood pressure. Cardiac output is defined as the product of heart rate and stroke volume which represents the volume of blood being pumped by the heart each minute. Cardiac output increases during physical activity due to an increase in both the heart rate and stroke volume. At the beginning of exercise, the cardiovascular adaptations are very rapid: “Within a second after muscular contraction, there is a withdrawal of vagal outflow to the heart, which is followed by an increase in sympathetic stimulation of the heart. This results in an increase in cardiac output to ensure that blood flow to the muscle is matched to the metabolic needs”. Both heart rate and stroke volume vary directly with the intensity of the exercise performed and many improvements can be made through continuous training.
Another important issue is the regulation of blood flow during exercise. Blood flow must increase in order to provide the working muscle with more oxygenated blood which can be accomplished through neural and chemical regulation. Blood vessels are under sympathetic tone, therefore the release of noradrenaline and adrenaline will cause vasoconstriction of non-essential tissues such as the liver, intestines, and kidneys, and decrease neurotransmitter release to the active muscles promoting vasodilatation. Also, chemical factors such as a decrease in oxygen concentration and an increase in carbon dioxide or lactic acid concentration in the blood promote vasodilatation to increase blood flow. As a result of increased vascular resistance, blood pressure rises throughout exercise and stimulates baroreceptors in the carotid arteries and aortic arch. “These pressure receptors are important since they regulate arterial blood pressure around an elevated systemic pressure during exercise”.
Read more about this topic: Cardiorespiratory Fitness
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