The Benefits of Exercising

The Benefits of Exercising

What can exercise do for me?

Exercise does more then reduce weight, it can improve both our health

and fitness, and should involve using as much of the body as possible.

Exercise has two main benefits:

v Short term these are the effects that happen during the activity

itself and also contribute to the long term benefits e.g. the heart

rate will increase, which will increase the flow and pressure of the

blood.

v Long term these are the lasting effects which occur and include the

following:

o Heart becomes bigger, stronger and capable of pumping more blood.

o Lungs get more oxygen to the muscles.

o Blood volume increases, therefore more oxygen can be carried.

o Muscles increase in size and strength, this is called muscle

hypertrophy. The muscle energy stores are also improved. This allows

the muscle to work harder and longer.

The cardio-vascular system, which is made up of two parts; the heart

and the blood vessels, can be improved after just a few weeks of

aerobic exercise. The heart responds in the same way as other muscles.

This means it will get bigger and stronger, so it can pump more blood

with each beat. When the body is at rest, the heart rate is lower, as

the heart can pump the same amount of blood with fewer beats.

As the bodily systems improve with exercise the amount of oxygen the

body needs will increase. This is provided by the lungs which also

improve during exercise. The main benefits of exercise on the

respiratory system are:

v The muscles around the ribs become more efficient, making breathing

more efficient.

v The amount of air the lungs can take i...

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...ut converting fat into energy

is much less efficient than converting glycogen to energy – it

requires more oxygen and takes twice as long, slowing a marathoner

down to walking pace or even stopping them completely. To overcome

this problem you need to put your body into a similar situation a few

times before the race, i.e. do a couple of 20 mile runs. Endurance

training leads to changes in your body’s metabolism so that you become

more efficient at using stored energy as well as encouraging your

muscles to store more glycogen.

Before running a race it is always best to seek medical advice and

professional help when it comes to training as this will help to

minimise any problems which may occur. Marathons are a great way of

raising money for charities, making new friend and training towards a

healthier life style.