The cardiovascular system responds to exercise in several ways. First, adrenaline is released before exercise to increase heart rate and stroke volume. During exercise, the skeletal muscles pump blood back to the heart, increasing venous return and thereby stroke volume and heart rate, and ultimately cardiac output. Chemoreceptors then detect rising carbon dioxide in the blood and stimulate the sympathetic nervous system to further increase heart rate and contraction strength. The sympathetic nervous system also helps redistribute blood flow through vasodilation and vasoconstriction of different arteries. Baroreceptors regulate blood pressure through similar vascular changes.