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The Benefits of Cardiorespiratory Exercise

Improves Mental Health

The efficacy of exercise to reduce stress and improve mental well being is well founded and supported even though the underlying mechanisms to these changes are speculative. Although no cause and effect relationship has been found, there is a growing body of research that describes biochemical induced changes to mood following exercise. Regular physical exercise stimulates the central nervous system, which increases the transport of oxygen to the brain as well as cerebral metabolic activity of various neurotransmitters including dopamine, serotonin, nor epinephrine, and acetylcholine.

Heart Size

In response to increased work demand, the heart’s mass and volume increase with training. Cardiac muscle, like skeletal muscle, undergoes hypertrophy as a result of chronic endurance training. Of the chambers of the heart, the left ventricle changes the most in response to endurance training. Left ventricular wall thickness and mass also increase, increasing the strength potential of that chambers contractions

Stroke Volume

As a result of endurance training, stroke volume shows an overall increase. A major factor leading to the stroke volume increase is an increased end-diastolic volume, probably caused by an increase in blood plasma and greater diastolic filling time.

Heart Rate

Resting Heart rate can decrease considerably as a result of endurance training. After endurance training, sub-maximal heart rates always decrease when one is exercising at the same rate of work, generally by 10 to 20 beats/min. or more.

Blood Flow

The increase in blood flow to muscle is one of the most important factors for increased aerobic endurance capacity and performance. This increase is attributable to better capillary supply (both new capillaries and greater opening of existing capillaries), more blood being diverted to the active muscles, and increased blood volume.

Blood Pressure

Following endurance training, arterial blood pressure is reduced at the same sub-maximal exercise work rates, but at maximal work rates, systolic blood pressure is increased and diastolic pressure decreased.

Blood Volume

The increase in blood volume following aerobic endurance training is attributable to increases in both plasma volume and red blood cell volume; both changes facilitate the delivery of oxygen to active muscles.

Pulmonary Ventilation

No matter how efficient the cardiovascular system is at supplying adequate amounts of blood to tissues, endurance would be hindered if the respiratory system didn’t bring in enough oxygen to meet oxygen demands. After training, pulmonary ventilation is essentially unchanged or slightly reduced at sub-maximal work rates. But maximal pulmonary ventilation is significantly increased.

Arterial-Venous Oxygen Difference

Increase in arterial venous oxygen difference is attributable to a more effective distribution of arterial blood away from inactive tissue to the active tissue, so that more of the blood coming back to the right atrium has gone through active muscle.

Lactate threshold

The increase in lactate threshold is a major factor in the improved performance of aerobically trained endurance athletes. This increase allows them to increase their race pace; it has been clearly shown that lactate threshold is highly related to race pace.

IDEA Health & Fitness Association