No doubt exercise can increase your health, manage your weight and improve your overall mood. When you exercise, your body responds by performing certain functions that keep you moving. By increasing your temperature and your respiratory rate, you can keep up with the energy you need to work out, and continued exercise will further support your tolerance for activity.
Identification
Respiration is the number of breathing cycles completed each minute; one breathing cycle is performed by breathing in and breathing out. According to St. Joseph's Hospital in Atlanta, an average adult breathes approximately 15 to 20 times per minute, although this number increases when you exercise. The body has its own temperature as a method adjusting its heat. Most people think of a normal body temperature as being about 98.6 degrees F, although a temperature one degree above or below this level is considered normal. The body helps to regulate its temperature by using the bloodstream, which is impacted when you exercise.
Respiration
During exercise, your muscles require oxygen for energy to keep moving. This oxygen is provided in the blood, as the body's red blood cells have a component called hemoglobin that carries oxygen molecules. Blood is pumped from the heart to circulate past the lungs where red blood cells pick up oxygen; the blood then passes to the rest of the body. When your muscles need more oxygen, blood must travel faster. The heart pumps at a faster rate for the blood to become oxygenated more quickly; in addition, you breathe faster to keep up with providing oxygen, so your respiratory rate increases.
Temperature
When you exercise and your heart beats faster, your circulation also speeds up. As your muscles require more oxygen and your metabolism increases, excess heat is generated and your body temperature increases. In response to this, your blood vessels dilate to send more blood toward the skin, which can cause a flushed appearance. Your body also produces sweat which, when it evaporates, works as a cooling mechanism for body temperature. This process is known as thermoregulation. When you exercise in humid conditions, your body may be unable to cool sufficiently if the sweat cannot evaporate, and your body temperature could rise enough to cause symptoms of dizziness, headache and exhaustion.
Benefits
If you are unaccustomed to exercise, you may become flushed more quickly and find that your respiratory rate speeds up too quickly. This can leave you feeling out of breath because your body is unfamiliar with this level of work. As you continue to keep an exercise regimen over a longer period of time, your body changes as it adapts to the requirements. Your heart becomes more conditioned and your lung capacity increases. You will be able to breathe faster and deeper than before and find that your level of tolerance has increased.
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