Effects of exercise on breathing and heart rate
Exercise not only has an effect on your physical shape, it also affects your breathing and heart rate. Due to aerobic exercise your heart grows larger, this has a knock on effect that means that your heart can hold more blood and contract more strongly. Therefore your heart makes more blood with red blood cells in so more oxygen can be carried. It also means that your resting heart rate falls, and your heart rate takes less time to return to normal after exercise. This is good as you are putting less pressure on your heart.
Breathing is also affected by exercise. The diaphragm and rib muscles grow stronger in the respiratory system. Therefore the chest cavity gets larger when you breathe in. A result of this is that the lungs can expand further, so vital capacity increases, meaning more oxygen can be inhaled with each breath and more carbon dioxide can be released.
Effects of Training
In this section I will explain the effects on the body that I will expect to see when my Personal Exercise Plan has been completed over the 6 weeks.
Muscle change
With the PEP my muscles should change in size, strength and endurance.
The muscles should grow larger with the exercise because the muscle fibres in the muscle will get fatter. Everyone has the same amount of muscle fibres, however, some peoples are larger due to more exercise and training. The strength of the muscle should improve with exercise and to improve the strength of your muscles you should do muscle training which includes heavy weights and few reps. This will make your muscles thicker and stronger. There are two types of strength:
- Dynamic strength
- Static strength
Dynamic strength is when muscles change length whilst static strength is when muscles do not get stronger without changing length.
Muscular endurance should improve in the exercise plan when doing long runs or bike rides. It will let your muscles repeat and maintain contractions without getting as tired as you normally would. The muscles will be better at using the oxygen in your muscles and burning fat for extra energy. I expect to see quite a significant increase in muscle strength and endurance as these are two of the factors that I am aiming to improve. However if I wanted to improve them further, I would have to continue with my PEP for more weeks.
Changes to Vital Capacity and Tidal Volume in the lungs
From completing my 6 week training routine I should be able to see changes in my VC (Vital Capacity) and TV (Tidal Volume).
- VC= Your Vital Capacity is the maximum amount of air that can be forcibly exhaled from your lungs.
- TV= Your Tidal Volume is all the air inhaled and exhaled in a minute.
With training the respiratory system I will expect to see an increase in both of these factors. These increases are down to the lungs as they will be able to expand further, meaning more air will be able to be forcibly exhaled from the lungs and, more oxygen will be able to be taken in and carbon dioxide removed each minute.
Changes to SV, CO, Resting heart rate, Recovery rate and Blood Composition in the Cardiovascular system.
SV = Stroke Volume, the volume of blood pumped out of the heart by each ventricle during one contraction. Due to exercise this should increase as your heart will be stronger, therefore it will be able to pump a larger volume of blood around the body.
CO = Cardiac Output, the amount of blood pumped from the heart in one minute. This can be worked out by multiplying your stroke volume with your heart rate. This should also increase with exercise, by the same reasons as your stroke volume increases, as your heart is stronger.
Resting heart rate = Your resting heart rate is the amount of beats per minute produced by your heart when you are in a rested state. This should decrease if I keep to my personal exercise plan. This will occur because more blood will be able to reach your heart each beat as the heart is stronger.
Recovery rate = Your recovery rate is the amount of time it takes you to fully recover after exercise. The fitter you are the shorter your recovery rate is. By completing my PEP I will improve my fitness therefore my recovery rate should shorten.
Blood Composition = Blood composition is basically what your blood is made up of, for example red blood cells contain haemoglobin to carry oxygen. The change which I would expect to see in blood composition due to exercise is that the blood will become thinner reducing the risk of the blood clotting and causing health problems.
SPORT Principles of training
S= Specificity
Specificity is when you concentrate on improving on one specific body part, biceps for example. To do this you must do specific exercises aimed at improving the body-part. For example if you are aiming to improve your biceps you could try press-ups to improve your upper arm strength.
P= Progression
Progression is when you gradually increase the amount or intensity of your exercise. This will improve your muscles as you are increasing the amount of work they do. An example of progression is starting week 1 with a 2 mile run once a week then progressing to a 3 mile run in week 2.
O= Overload
Overload is when fitness can only be improved through training more than you regularly do. An example of this is when muscular endurance is being improved, instead of going for a 3 mile run twice a week you would increase the frequency to do it every other day.
R= Reversibility
Reversibility is a consequence that occurs when you stop training. As your muscles are not being worked they will begin to weaken and any improvements made from training will be reversed. For example if a sportsman becomes injured and is unable to train they will lose their adaptations.
T= Tedium
Tedium is when you become bored with your training, this can be because your training plan does not have much variety and is repetitive. In order to avoid tedium you should include a variety of exercises aimed at improving each factor of your fitness.
I will use all the principles of SPORT in my personal exercise plan. I will specify the main factors of fitness that I am aiming to improve, therefore a high percentage of the exercises in my PEP will improve my muscular endurance and cardiovascular endurance as I think these are the two factors which need the most work on. I will specifically use plyometric training to improve my muscular power as it is specially designed for improving that area of fitness. For the first two weeks of my training routine the exercises will not require me to push myself to the limit. As I progress through the exercise plan, the exercises will gradually need more effort to succeed. This is an example of progression as I will be increasing the frequency and intensity of the exercises as I progress through my PEP. Overload will also come into the plan as I may have to double the workload for some areas of fitness. This could include doubling the amount of 5 mile runs each week for example. To avoid tedium coming into my plan I will incorporate a wide variety of exercises so that I do not become bored. I am planning to use cycling, jogging and swimming as three different exercises aimed at improving my cardiovascular endurance.
FITT Principles
F= Frequency
Frequency is to do with how often I should train. A professional athlete will train 5 or more days per week whilst someone who is just trying to improve their fitness may only train twice a week. I will include 3 training sessions a week in my personal exercise plan; this is a sufficient amount as I am not a professional sportsman. By doing 3 sessions a week I will also minimise the chance of reversibility as I will not have a large gap of time when I am not exercising.
I= Intensity
Intensity is based on how hard you push yourself whilst doing your training. It is measured by MHR (Maximum Heart Rate) e.g. a 5 mile run at 70% MHR. The intensity of my exercises will increase as I progress through the training programme. For the first week I may start working at 65% MHR then by the 6th week I will be working at 80% MHR.
T= Time
Time is the length of time I will train for during each session. This can vary from sprinting for 10 seconds to jogging for 45 minutes. I will incorporate Time in my exercise plan as I will increase the length of time spent on each exercise as I progress through the 6 weeks to keep pushing myself.
T= Type
This stands for the type of training you will use in your PEP. This will determine whether the exercise is aimed at improving my muscular strength, muscular endurance, muscular power, flexibility or cardiovascular endurance. Some exercises that are included may improve two areas of fitness in one routine.
Phases of a training session
In any training session, whether it be for a professional sportsman or just someone who trains once a week, there are 3 vital parts. Every training session must include:
- The warm up
- The training activity
- The cool down
These are vital as they are the best way of preventing injury. I will include all 3 sections in my PEP, the training session is obviously when I will be doing my exercises to improve the specific areas of fitness, however the warm up and cool down are both as important. I will list the important factors of these 2 other sections
Warm Up
- Helps prepare you mentally,
- Increases heart rate and blood flow,
- Warms muscles and makes them more flexible,
- Warms and loosens the joints,
- Reduces the risk of injury to muscles and joints,
The warm up should last for around 20-30 minutes and when completed you should move onto the main activity as quickly as possible to prevent losing the effects of the warm up.
Cool Down
- Prevents soreness by keeping the circulation up so that more oxygen reaches muscles to clear the lactic acid away,
- Loosens tight muscles so they won’t get stiff later,
- There is evidence that it helps you to perform better next time.
Although the cool down may not be considered vital it is just as important as the warm up and should last for around 20-30 minutes.
In my PEP I will not work on any skill related fitness. However if my PEP were to be used by a goalkeeper I may include an exercise which involves him making 10 diving saves in a row, this would improve his flexibility as he would have to stretch for the ball.
I will describe my warm up and cool down now so I do not have to repeat it for every training session. Both sessions should last between 20-30 minutes in order for them to do their job fully.
Warm up
- Begin with a short jog between 400-800 metres, this will increase your heart rate and loosen your muscles.
- Run 50 metres at a steady pace lifting your knees up then another 50 metres when you flick your legs towards your back when running. This will help loosen your leg muscles.
- Stretch all of your important muscles for 8-10 seconds, beginning from the top working your way down. This will make them more flexible for your exercises.
Cool down
- Begin with a short jog between 400-800 metres, this will help loosen the muscles and prevent them becoming stiff.
- Stretch all your important muscles for 6-8 seconds beginning from the top working your way down. This will also help loosen the tight muscles and avoid stiffness after exercise.
As one of the 5 factors of fitness that I will be aiming to improve is flexibility, I will make a special programme for it. However rather than writing it in each session I will devise it now as I have done for the warm up and cool down. My flexibility programme is aimed at improving the flexibility of my muscles as it is very useful for many sports. There are two types of stretching, they are active stretching and passive stretching. Active stretching is when you do the work whilst passive stretching is when a partner stretches you when you are relaxed. I will include both of these types in my flexibility programme. The programme will last 10-15 minutes. By stretching, I am making the connective tissue of muscles more flexible allowing me to move more freely at my joints. Here is my programme:
- Stretch your muscles in the top half of your body, for example. Biceps, triceps, abdominal muscles and trapezius. Do these stretches on your own.
- Stretch your muscles in your lower body, for example your quadriceps, hamstrings and gastrocnemius.
- Begin passive stretching with a partner, you should relax and let your partner do the work. Stretches that should be included are back against the wall with arms pointing towards the sky and your partner holding your legs at a 45 degree angle. Another stretch includes you sitting on the floor with your legs straight out in front of you whilst your partner holds your hands up straight and makes sure you keep your back straight by placing their shin on your back in a parallel line.
- The active stretches should be held for around 15-20 seconds whilst the passive stretches should be held for 30-35 seconds.
- Repeat this routine so you have completed each stretch twice.
Now when I write my instructions for each session if the flexibility programme is to be included I can just write follow description as I can for the warm up and cool down.
Evaluation
After completing my personal exercise plan over the 6 weeks I have seen a significant increase in my fitness. Especially my cardiovascular endurance and muscular endurance, this is very pleasing as I had stated those as the two main areas for improvement. My recovery rate has shortened and I have found that the cool down part of each session is very important. I have paid special attention when doing my stretches in the cool down as these seem to decrease the amount of stiffness occurring in the muscles after a training session.
My target was to improve these 5 factors of training:
Muscular strength
- Muscular endurance
- Muscular power
- Flexibility
Cardiovascular endurance
Thinking back to six weeks ago before I began my PEP I was not as strong at these particular factors as I am now. The training regime has definitely improved my overall fitness. However it has also made me feel more tired and if I were to create another exercise plan, I may not pack as many exercises into each session or I may reduce the amount of sessions to two per week. I have used a variety of different exercises and training routines in an attempt to avoid tedium. I feel that this has definitely helped me as by the end of 6 weeks I was not getting bored of any work out. However I think I could improve the warm up, cool down and flexibility programme by adding new sections to them. Especially the warm up and cool down as I had to do them in every session.
If I were to create another PEP, I may attempt to include some exercises aimed at improving skill related fitness. For example if I was designing one for a football player I could have some shooting or heading practice. This would also decrease the risk of tedium as being a footballer they will probably want a football included somewhere in the exercise plan. I feel that the section that gave me the best results was muscular strength. From completing the bike rides, swims and runs I have definitely improved the endurance in my muscles. I am now able to play at a higher maximum heart rate for a longer space of time. This gives me an advantage on the football pitch as I will still feel fresh when other players are beginning to tire. The three particular exercises that I did to improve my muscular endurance are easy to take part in anywhere and not much special equipment is needed which is also useful. Even if I do not continue with my PEP I may be inclined to go for 2 or 3 runs every week to keep my muscular endurance at a high level and avoid the effects of reversibility. Overall I think that my personal exercise plan was a great success as not only have I improved my fitness but it can be used by other sportsmen, especially footballers if they want to improve their fitness.
By Matt Jordan
