Physiology And Injuries In Sports — Physical Education STD 12 Commerce — Question

Long Term Effects of Exercises: After doing exercises for a long time, certain adaptations take place in our cardiovascular system. These are called long term effects of exercise. The various long term effects of exercises are stated below.

1. Increase in the Size of Heart: When we perform regular exercise, the muscles of the heart increase in size and strength. In fact, the left ventricle adapts to the greatest extent. The heart walls grow stronger and thicker. Recent studies show that the myocardial wall thickness also increases'
2. Decrease in Besting Heart Bate: Regular exercise decreases the resting heart rate. If a 10-week training programme is given to an individual whose initial resting heart rate is 72 beats per minute, after this training time, his resting heart rate may be reduced up to lb beats per minute. After regular exercise, the heart finally becomes more efficient. It does not require to beat so quickly to supply blood to the body at rest. It has been noted that highly conditioned athletes can have their resting heart rates in the 30s.
3. Stroke Volume Increases at rest: Regular exercise helps in increasing the stroke volume at rest. The stroke volume at rest remains up to 50-70ml/beat in untrained individuals, 70-90ml/beat in trained individuals and 90-110ml/beat in the best endurance athletes.
4. Increase in Cardiac Output: Regular exercise tends to increase the cardiac output. The cardiac output in untrained individuals may be 14-20 litre/minute and 25-35 litre/minute in trained individuals and in the best athletes, the cardiac output can be as high as 40 litre/minute at rest.
5. Increased Blood Flow: In response to the need to supply the muscles-with more oxygen during exercise, the body increases its number of capillaries. The existing capillaries also open wider. The blood redistribution becomes more efficient and effective. As a result of above-mentioned facts there is an increased blood circulation in the body.
6. Decrease in Blood Pressure: Regular exercise decreases the blood pressure (systolic and diastolic blood pressure) by up to 10mmHg at rest.