Short-Term Effects of Exercise
Physical Education: AQA GCSE, topic 1.4.1
Immediate Effects of Exercise
When a performer begins to exercise, the first thing the body will need to do is to distribute (spread) extra oxygen to the muscles that are working harder.
Heart rate
- The body will increase its heart rate (HR).
- The heart will also beat more powerfully, which increases the stroke volume (SV).
- The increase in HR and SV will increase cardiac output (Q). This means that more oxygenated blood can be pumped around the body each minute.
Breathing rate
- The body will increase its breathing rate.
- The depth of breathing will also increase. This increases the tidal volume of the breaths (more air taken in with every breath).
- This means gaseous exchange can happen at a faster rate in the lungs. This lets more oxygen enter the blood and means a person breathes out more carbon dioxide.
Body temperature
- The body temperature will increase because the muscles are contracting more often and creating more heat.
- To cool down, the arteries leading to the vessels of the skin vasodilate (widen). This lets more blood flow to the surface to remove heat, which is why performers go red.
- The body also begins to sweat. This sweat is evaporated through the heat of the skin and heat energy is removed from the body. This acts to cool the body down.
Short-Term Effects of Exercise
There are many potential short-term effects of exercise.
Fatigue
- Performers may feel tired the day after heavy exercise.
- This is because the muscles have worked extremely hard, become swollen and feel heavy.
Light-headedness
- After exercise, a performer may feel as though they are dizzy or light-headed.
- This is because the performer’s blood pressure drops or they have lower than normal blood sugar. Sweating can cause light-headedness and using glucose during exercise can also contribute.
Nausea
- This is the feeling of sickness that can come on during or immediately after exercise.
- Over-exerting or ending exercise too abruptly (quickly) can cause this.
- A lack of water can add to these effects. So can exercising on a full stomach of food when blood is redistributed (respread) to working muscles.
Delayed onset of muscle soreness
- DOMS (Delayed Onset of Muscle Soreness) is the aching and stiff feeling felt 24-72 hours after exercise.
- Micro-tears in the muscle fibres kept up during eccentric muscle contractions (lengthening of muscles) cause this.
- The body repairs these tears and the muscle grows back stronger for future use.
Cramp
- Cramp is caused by an involuntary (not planned) contraction of a tired muscle.
- Cramp often happens because a performer is dehydrated or has a lack of minerals (e.g. sodium) in their muscles.
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