Heart, Lungs, Muscles, Joints and Body Temperature?
After exercise, you’ll find your body experiences immediate and more gradual effects.
The minute you start training, you’ll notice more frequent muscle contraction, raised body temperature and pulse, and deeper breathing known as tidal volume. Longer-term effects occur as the body adapts to regular exercise, including your heart getting larger, bones becoming denser and the vital capacity of your breath deepening.
Bones, Joints and Muscles
Immediate effects when first exercising:
Muscles contract more often
Blood flow to muscles increases
Muscle temperature rises
Little effect on bones and joints
Effects of regular training:
Muscles increase in size (hypertrophy)
Muscular endurance improves
Muscles, tendons and ligaments around joints get stronger
Joints become more stable and flexibility at joints increases
Bone width and density increases
A gymnast bent backwards.
(Flexibility at joints increases with regular training)
The Cardiovascular System ( Heart)
Immediate effects when first exercising:
Heart contracts more often – increased heart rate.
Heart contracts more powerfully – increased stroke volume, which is the volume of blood pumped from heart with each beat.
Blood diverted to muscles, eg it is diverted from the digestive system to the muscles.
Blood temperature rises.
Blood vessels near skin open to allow heat to be lost. Effects of regular training:
Heart muscle increases in size and strength.
Cardiac output increases. Cardiac means relating to the heart so this is the amount of blood that the heart pumps out to the body.
Lower resting heart rate, quicker recovery from exercise.
Reduced risk of heart disease.
Increased number of capillaries in muscles.
Increased volume of blood and red blood cells.
The Respiratory System (Lungs)
Immediate effects when first exercising:
Increased rate