By Claudia Collins
Overview
Arteries, Capillaries, and Veins
The Heart
Effects of Exercise on the Cardiovascular System
Significance
Expert Insight
Warning
References
Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/268517-the-role-of-the-cardiovascular-system-in-exercise/#ixzz1boHMIdeV
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
The Role of the Cardiovascular System in Exercise
The cardiovascular system is made up of the heart, arteries, capillaries and veins and is responsible for circulating blood throughout the body. The blood serves as a vehicle to carry gases like oxygen and nutrients like carbohydrates, fats and proteins to the organs, tissues and cells in the body. The blood also picks up waste products such as lactic acid and carbon dioxide from the cells and carries them to where they can either be expelled or metabolized. According the American Heart Association, inactivity is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease.
Adults have approximately 60,000 miles of blood vessels in their bodies. If these vessels could be laid out end-to-end they would be able to wrap around the Earth more than double. There are three kinds of blood vessels: arteries, veins and capillaries. The arteries are the pipes that transport blood into the body and the veins bring the blood back to the heart. The capillaries are the very narrow, thin-walled vessels where the exchange of gases, nutrients and cellular waste products occurs.
The heart is a muscle and serves as a pump. According to the Texas Heart Institute, the heart weighs between 7 and 15 ounces, is a little larger than your fist and pumps about 2,000 gallons of blood through it daily. Over the life of a person living into old age, the heart beats approximately 3.5 billion times. Cardiovascular disease most often occurs when the arteries that supply the blood to the heart become narrowed or hardened due to plaque buildup.
Exercise places an increased demand on the cardiovascular system. According to the Texas Heart Association, exercise causes an increase in cardiac muscle, skeletal muscle, blood vessels and red blood cells. Because of these changes more oxygen and nutrients are transported to the body and more waste products are removed. According to the Sports Fitness Adviser, the cardiovascular system responds to exercise by changes in the size of the heart, heart rate, stroke volume, cardiac output, blood flow, blood volume and blood pressure.
Sports Fitness Adviser states the cardiovascular system has five important roles during exercise. These roles are delivering oxygen to the working muscles, oxygenating blood by returning it the lungs, transporting heat from the core to the skin, transporting hormones and delivering nutrients and fuel to the active tissues. The cardiovascular system must regulate the changes caused by exercise in order to perform efficiently and meet the body's increasing demands.
The American Heart Association recommends, for most healthy people, 30 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous aerobic activity be performed most days of the week. The 2008 Physical Guidelines for Healthy People recommends 150 minutes of moderate exercise a week or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise a week along with at least two days of strength training exercises. They also state that the 150 minutes may be obtained in 10-minute spurts as opposed to 30- or 60-minute workouts.
The American Heart Association recommends that you consult a doctor or health care provider before starting an exercise program if you have any of the following conditions: heart disease or have had a stroke, take medications for blood pressure control, diabetes, have experienced chest pain during exercise or anytime during the past month, are middle-aged or older and lead a sedentary lifestyle, have a bone, muscle or joint problem that may be worsened by exercise, have any other condition that may need special attention. Never ignore signs of heart disease such as chest pain, shortness of breath and irregular heart beats.
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