Effects of Exercise on Body

A study was carried out to investigate the effects of exercise on the body. Exercise causes many homeostatic factors to kick in, in an effort to maintain internal homeostasis. How exercise affects some of these homeostatic factors can be determined by measuring, observing and monitoring certain parameters. For the purpose of this study, the factors in which I had to look at included temperature, pulse rate and breathing (respiration) rate. In doing the experiment, I will be able to see firsthand the effects exercise has placed on the body i.e. deeper breathing and thereby will provide me with a general picture of how the body works and reacts in conjunction with exercise.

When we exercise, our muscle cells are more active and require more energy and oxygen to move and so we need to breathe more air. In order for this to happen, the air travels down the trachea, through the bronchi and bronchioles and finally into air sacs called alveoli where the oxygen is diffused through the thin walls into the blood vessels called capillaries. At the same time, carbon dioxide is diffused through the wall from the blood vessel to the air sac and back out the same way the oxygen came in. The oxygen is then transported around the body through the blood vessels and into the muscles. At this stage, the deoxygenated blood goes to the heart and lungs to become oxygenated. This supplies oxygen to all the body tissues. As more energy is needed in the muscles more oxygen is needed in the blood and as a result, respiration increases. Basically when we exercise, our muscles need more oxygen and fuel to continue working. To allow continuation, our heart rate increases to get more fuel and oxygen to the muscles more quickly. Our breathing rate increases to increase the supply of air to the lungs, so that more oxygen can be absorbed and supplied to the muscles. Depending on how hard we exercise, our heart will speed up accordingly to give the muscles the power it needs to keep