1.2.6

Measures of Heart Performance

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Heart Performance

There are 3 key measures of heart performance:

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Heart rate

  • Heart rate (HR) is the number of times the heart beats (usually measured in beats per minute or bpm).
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Stroke volume

  • Stroke volume (SV) is the volume of blood that the left ventricle ejects (pumps out) with each beat.
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Cardiac output

  • Cardiac output (Q) is the volume of blood that the heart can pump out per minute (usually measured in litres per minute or L/min).

Effects of Exercise on the Heart

Exercise increases the body's oxygen demands. The following changes happen in the heart to help more oxygen to be distributed throughout the body:

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Heart rate

  • Heart rate increases. This results in an increase in cardiac output because more oxygenated blood is leaving the heart each minute.
  • An anticipatory rise is where the heart rate increases just before physical activity. This happens because the body releases adrenaline when it expects physical activity.
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Stroke volume

  • Stroke volume increases. This causes an increase in cardiac output because more oxygenated blood is being ejected from the left ventricle with each beat.
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Cardiac output

  • Cardiac output increases.
  • This is because any increase in stroke volume or heart rate causes an increase in cardiac output.

Jump to other topics

1Applied Anatomy & Physiology

2Movement Analysis

3Physical Training

4The Principles of Training

5Using Data

6Sports Psychology

7Socio-cultural Influences

8Health & Fitness

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