How does exercise affect the body?
On this page I will be taking you through the effects exercise has on the different systems of the body.
During exercise, your muscles are being put under a lot of stress which is often more than the muscle can handle. When this happens, it causes the muscle to tear. A muscle can tear in varying levels with some being far worse and more painful than others. Sometimes it just causes a microtear which is when just a few muscle fibres have torn and this is the type we aim for during exercise. It causes muscles to become sore but they will grow back bigger quite quickly. Some tear can be far worse though. If you tear between more than a few fibres to almost all the fibres, then this is a much worse tear. They are far more painful and take much longer to recover. This is why it is very important for us not to do more than we are capable of when exercising. If you are interested in how the muscles repair and grow, click the button below.
The Muscular System
The Skeletal System
Exercise has a lot of positive effects on the skeletal system as well as the muscular system.
Increased bone density-
During weight-bearing exercise, our bones are put under high volumes of pressure. The brain responds to this by making the bones more dense by filling them in more with nutrients such as calcium. This is very important because it greatly increases the compressional strength of the bones which means they are far stronger when a weight is applied to them. This reduces the risk of broken bones greatly.
Increased range of motion at the joints-
Our bones move far more easily when they are lubricated by a liquid called synovial fluid. During exercise, our synovial membrane produces and releases far more synovial fluid than usual which makes the joints glide about with ease. If exercise is done regularly, you will see these effects longer term meaning your movements will be far easier.
Increased ligament strength-
Ligaments are what hold our joints together and in place. Similarly to the bone strengthening, when put under pressure, your brain sends a response which strengthens the ligaments by reinforcing them with nutrients such as proteins which means they will be far less likely to snap under stress.
Our cardiovascular system is what provides oxygen and other nutrients to the working muscles so that they are able to contract more powerfully and for longer periods of time. The cardiovascular system functions using muscle but different types of muscle to the skeletal muscle that causes movements. The cardiovascular system runs on a combination of cardiac muscle and smooth muscle. This means that when put under the stress of exercise, they will still get microtears and need to be repaired so will be repaired stronger. This means that the lungs will be able to take in more oxygen and the heart will be able to pump blood around the body faster. All of this will make exercising far easier over time because the active muscles will have more of the required nutrients at all times.
The skeletal muscular repair page will be applicable for the other types of muscle so if you want to find out how the cardiovascular muscles repair and grow, click the button below.
The Cardiovascular System
