Cardiovascular Drift Research Paper

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So, what really is cardiovascular drift and is it something to be worried about? Cardiovascular drift is an increase in heart rate that occurs when an athlete is doing the same amount of work and the same exact exercise. This is usually an occurrence when an athlete sweats. Sweating decreases the amount of plasma which means the heart must work harder to pump the oxygen rich blood throughout the body to the working muscles. On a day that’s hot, sweating is more common. Part of that sweat coming out of your body is to cool you off so that your core temperature, or the temperature of the inner part of your body, stays stable. This comes from the liquid portion of the blood, plasma.
An example of cardiovascular drift would be, say you are on an average jog on a hot day. You have your smart watch on and at the 10-minute mark it says your heart rate is at 120 bpm, then at the 20-minute mark you check and it says 150 bpm and right before the end of your run it says 163 bpm. With checking this you wonder why your heart rate is changed so much if you are doing the same amount of work you have been doing the whole time. Well, this is the natural phenomenon …show more content…

The two major things that will help an athlete while measuring the cardiovascular drift are progression and hydration levels. The heart rate of an athlete working hard during a workout should be no more than their maximum heart rate which is found by, if you’re a female take 226-age, if you’re a male take 220-age. If while doing a workout the maximum heart rate is exceeded by too much it may be necessary to take a break or slow down greatly. This may also help with traking the hydration of an athlete. If an athlete stays hydrated their core temperature will stay regulated which means they won’t sweat as much, which also means the heart won’t be under as much stress while transporting the oxygenated blood throughout the body to the

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