Cardiovascular System- Adaptations Flashcards
State the 7 adaptions to the cardiovascular system
1) Cardiac hypertrophy
2) Increase in resting and exercising stroke volume
3) Decrease in resting heart rate
4) Reduction in resting blood pressure
5) Decrease heart rate recovery time
6) Capillarisation of skeletal muscle and alveoli
7) Increased blood volume
What is cardiac hypertrophy and what does it enable to happen?
An enlargement/thickening of the walls of the heart. This hypertrophy enables greater strength of contractions, increasing the volume of blood being pumped out of the heart per contraction (stroke volume).
State the definition of stroke volume?
Stroke volume is: ?The volume of blood pumped out the left ventricle per contraction
How does the increase in stroke volume change during rest and exercise and how does it become more efficient?
During rest and exercise, after prolonged endurance training, stroke volume will increase. The impact of this is the increase in the efficiency of oxygen and nutrient delivery.
How do you calculate Cardiac Output?
Cardiac Output = heart rate x stroke volume
Why does cardiac hypotrophy reduce resting your heart rate?
The result of cardiac hypertrophy and an increase in stroke volume through long-term exercise is that your resting heart rate falls.
How does your blood pressure change during and after exercise and what can this indicate?
Exercise causes your blood pressure to rise for a short time.
However, when you stop, your blood pressure should return to normal. The quicker it returns indicates a higher level of fitness.
What is heart rate recovery and what can this show?
Heart rate recovery is a measure of how much your heart rate falls during the first minute after exercise.
The fitter you are, the faster your heart rate will return to resting levels due to the efficiency of their cardiovascular system.
What affect will increased blood volume have?
Your blood volume represents the amount of blood circulating in your body. It varies from person to person, but does increase due to training. An increase in blood volume will:
Enable the delivery of more oxygen to working muscles.
Regulate body temperature.
Delay the onset of fatigue.
Enable activity at a higher intensity for longer duration.
Explain the capillarisation of skeletal Muscle and alveoli means?
Long term, aerobic exercise will lead to an increase in the number and size of capillaries at the skeletal muscles and alveoli.
Blood flow to these areas increases due to increase in number and size and as a result, the movement of gases (gas exchange) and transportation of nutrients (such as glucose).
