1. LONG TERM EFFECTS
OF EXERCISE ON THE
BODY SYSTEMS
Physiology of Fitness
Andrew Roberts

2. Long Term Effects of Exercise on
the Body Systems
 What body systems
do we mean?
1. Cardiovascular
2. Respiratory
3. Energy systems
4. Muscular
5. Skeletal
6. CREMS
 As you exercise
regularly your body
adapts – you become
fitter – more able to
cope with the
demands of exercise.
We are going to look
at what changes
occur in the heart,
lungs, muscle,
skeleton and energy
systems.

3. Learning Outcomes
 Identify the 5 main body systems that are
affected by long term exercise
 Describe 3 key changes to the cardiovascular
system after long term exercise (e.g. after 6
weeks)
 Identify 2 changes to the energy systems as
an adaptation to long term exercise
 Examine and record our current level of
cardiovascular fitness

4. Long Term Effects of Exercise on
the Cardiovascular System
What is the
CV system?
The heart
and blood
vessels of
the
circulatory
system
 Task
 In pairs list what aspects of the
cardiovascular system may change
as a result of regular long term
exercise?
 In fours, compare results and see if
you can add to your original list.

5. Heart
 Cardiac Hypertrophy
The heart increases in its size
and blood volume.
The wall of the left ventricle
thickens ..why?
to increase the strength
potential of its contractions
In sedentary, middle aged
individuals it may be as high
as 100 beats/min. Normal heart
rate (HR) 60-
80 beats / min
Elite endurance
athlete’s HR
28 – 40 bpm

6. CV system cont...
 Increase in Stroke
Volume
SV = The amount of blood that
can be pumped by the heart
per beat.
This means the heart can now
pump more blood per minute.
Why is this beneficial?
Increased blood flow allows for
faster and more efficient
delivery oxygen and nutrients
 In untrained individuals
stroke volume at rest it
averages 50-70ml/beat
increasing up to 110-
130ml/beat beat during
intense, physical
activity.
 In elite athletes resting
stroke volume averages
90-110ml/beat
increasing to as much
as 150-220ml/beat

7. CV system cont...
Increased Cardiac
Output (CO)
SV XHR= CO
As SV and HRincrease
during exercise CO will
increase.
In a trained heart both SV
and HRhave increased
capacity.
SV does increase to a
point – howeverthe
significant increases in
CO are caused by a
biggerincreases in
Untrained REST MAXEXERCISE
SV 60ml/beat 120ml/beat
X X X
HR 70 beats/min 130 beats/ min
= = =
CO
Elite REST MAXEXERCISE
SV 100ml/beat 200ml/beat
X X X
HR 40 beats/ min 180 beats/ min
= = =
COheart rate
4200ml/min 15600ml/min
4800ml/min 36000ml/min

8. CV system cont...
Discussion Eg An untrained student’s heart rate
was measured at 140bpm while
running 6mph on the treadmill
After 6 weeks of exercise (running for
30 mins 3 times per week) I would
expect HR to
1. Why?
2. What physiological changes would
have occurred?
increasedecrease

9. CV system cont...
 Decreased resting
heart rate
With regular training your
resting HR falls.
Also your HR returns to
normal quicker after
exercise.
How could you measure
these improvements
over your 6 week
program?
 Capillarisation
 Capillary networks
increase to your cardiac
and skeletal muscle.
 This improves blood
supply to the active
muscles and improves
the muscles’ efficiency

10. CV system cont...
 Increase in Blood
Volume
 Your blood volume is the
amount of blood
circulating in your body
 It increases as an
adaptation to regular
exercise
 It increases as a result
of capillarisation
 Reduction in
Resting Blood
Pressure
What are the 2 measurements
of BP?
1. Systolic
2. Diastolic
Research shows that the quicker
your BP returns to normal the
fitter you are.
How could you measure this?
Regular exercise can contribute
to lowering BP.

11. CV system cont...
 Decreased
Recovery Time
 HR recovery is a
measure of how much
your HR falls the first
minute after exercise.
 Fit people can recover
more quickly. How?
 The CV system has adapted
and become more efficient
through the demands of
regular exercise
 Increased Aerobic
Fitness
 This occurs as a result of
what kind of training?
 Aerobic training e.g.?
 Running, cycling...
 Aerobic fitness refers to
endurance, or the ability to
sustain work for prolonged
periods.
 How can you measure an
improvement in aerobic
fitness?

12. Recap
TASK
 In pairs, recall at least 3 key changes to your CV
system as a result of long term exercise?
1. Cardiac hypertrophy
2. Increased SV
3. Increased CO
4. Decreased resting HR
5. Capillarisation
6. Increase in blood volume
7. Reduction in resting BP
8. Decreased recovery time
9. Increased aerobic fitness

13. Long Term Effects of Exercise on the
Energy System
Task  In pairs
 Exercise can cover a wide range of
meanings ....what exercise are we
considering? On a flip chart write exercise in
the middle and jot down what exercise means to
you.
Type Intensity Frequency Duration

14. Long Term Effects of Exercise on the
Energy Systems
 Type Intensity Frequency Duration
 What systems does our body use to supply
energy to our muscles?
 ATP-CP
 Lactic Acid energy system
 Aerobic Energy system
1-10 secs
10s – 2mins
2 mins +

15. Long Term Effects of Exercise on the
Energy Systems
 At cellular level
muscles need what
to contract?
 What adaptations may
occur at cellular level ?
1. Increase in level of
enzymes for aerobic and
anaerobic systems.
2. Increase in size of
mitochondria.
 Increased use of fat
as an energy source
 Fat combustion powers
almost all exercise at
25% of aerobic power.
 Fat oxidation increases if
exercise extends to long
periods as glycogen
depletes
 Trained athletes burn
more fat as fuel than
non-trained athletes.
ATP

16. Long Term Effects of Exercise on the
CV & Energy Systems
Paired Task  Identify 2 changes to the energy
systems as an adaptation to long
term exercise
 Describe 3 key changes to the CV
system and how you may examine
record those changes before and
after a 6 week training program