Adaptations Of The Heart From Aerobic Exercise

Aerobic exercise plays an integral role in the overall health and function of your body. One of the main areas where the positive effects of aerobic exercise are seen is with your heart. As you develop a habit of exercise, your heart undergoes changes that help you perform better, as well as help you reduce risks for diseases such as heart disease.

Heart Size

Aerobic exercise increases the need for energy in your body. To access new energy, your body needs a regular flow of oxygen. To meet oxygen needs during exercise, your heart and respiratory rate increases to better supply the bloodstream with oxygen for your cells. As with any muscle in your body, regular physical activity increases the size and strength of the heart, especially the left ventricle. This allows the heart to pump blood with less effort throughout your cardiovascular system, even while your body is at rest.

Stroke Volume

With an increase in strength of the left ventricle from regular aerobic exercise comes an increase in stroke volume. Stroke volume is the amount of blood that the ventricle can pump with each heart beat. The increase in the size of the heart allows the ventricle to stretch more. This allows for additional flow of blood with each heart beat.

Blood Pressure

As your heart becomes stronger and more efficient at pumping blood through your blood vessels, less pressure is needed to get blood through the cardiovascular system and back to the heart. With the heart not having to work as hard, the pressure of the blood against the sides of your blood vessels is decreased. This results in a slight decrease in resting blood pressure, and a noticeable decrease in submaximal exercise blood pressure. .

Benefits

As your heart growths in strength, the heart becomes more efficient at pumping blood throughout your body. This means that it takes less work for your heart to pump blood through your cardiovascular system, resulting in less pressure on the walls of your blood vessels. A reduced blood pressure results in less risk for vascular or heart damage, which reduces your risks for developing heart disease. At the same time, aerobic exercise helps to increase your HDL cholesterol levels within your bloodstream. A rise in HDL good cholesterol reduces LDL, or bad cholesterol in your blood, which in turn reduces your risks for forming cholesterol plaque and blockages of the arteries.