Does Running Lower Your Pulse?

Though they conduct impulses and contractions in a different fashion, your heart muscles adapt just as your skeletal muscles do. With regular exercise, over time your resting and exercising heart rate decreases. Not only does your heart get fitter, but around your body you form further adaptations leading to less work for your heart. This is one of the reasons why regular exercise reduces your risk of heart disease.

During Exercise

During exercise, your heart works harder to meet the needs of your working body. The amount of work your heart is performing is indicated by the pulse. The higher your pulse rate, the more your heart is working. Your pulse is directly influenced by the intensity of the work you are doing. The harder the exercise, the higher your pulse.

Peripheral Adaptations to Exercise

Regular exercise, including running, causes your body to adapt to the stimulus. If you make an exercise such as running a regular part of your life, your body will change in order to more easily meet the demand of the work. This includes a lower pulse. Around the body, adaptations such as an increase in metabolic pathways, including more mitochondria and more metabolic enzymes, allows the body to make more energy with the same given amount of oxygen. Another adaptation, a larger number of capillaries that innervate the muscle, allows the working cells to get more blood delivered to them with each beat.

Cardiovascular Adaptations To Exercise

Your heart also adapts to the demand of exercise by changing the amount of work it can perform. The cardiovascular system will undergo three major changes. First, the amount of blood plasma you have increases, meaning there is more blood to deliver to working muscles. Secondly, your stroke volume increases. This means your heart is able to deliver more blood per beat. Finally, the left ventricle of your heart increases in size. By this adaptation, more blood can fill your left ventricle, meaning a larger amount of blood can be pumped. All of these adaptations work together to reduce your pulse during rest and exercise.

Importance

When your pulse decreases, your heart doesn't have to work as hard. This is part of being healthy and fit. Your body is able to perform a larger amount of work without stressing the heart. Reductions are not only seen in pulse but also your blood pressure. This reduces your risk of heart disease.