The Health Benefits of Aerobic Exercises - Term Paper Example

Exercise Psychology (Name) (Institution) Abstract For a long period now, many pieces of literature have been written to support major health benefits of regular physical activity and exercise including a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke and protection against some cancers and osteoporosis. Health benefits of aerobic exercises have been promoted by most fitness practitioners. However, it should be noted that physiological factors significantly influence aerobic training performance. This paper provides a client report pertaining to the aerobic training sessions that were carried on the client for several weeks. The results include heart rate/power relationship, anthromepometrics, and time to exhaustion, ventilatory threshold and maximal aerobic capacity. The report is then followed by a theoretical review of the findings. The review analyses literature regarding the physiological factors that influence outcomes of aerobic exercise, factors that bring about such outcomes and the benefits that they provide to individuals. Client Report The aerobic training study carried out throughout the semester on one of our group members produced results, detailed below, which have a significant physiological meaning. Three training sessions were conducted, every week, for a period of six weeks. The observed changes in performance and physiological mechanisms on the subject were measured in terms of maximal aerobic capacity, ventilatory thresholds, heart rate/power relationship, time to exhaustion, and anthromepometrics. Aerobic exercises that were used for the training were of moderate intensity at the beginning of sessions. The subject was made to perform light warming exercises (walking fast for ten minutes), followed by twenty minutes of high intensity exercises (push ups). Each training session ended with ten minutes of cooling down, light exercises (walking fast). The findings in the subject’s change in performance at baseline and post training were quantified, and are explained as follows. Maximal Aerobic Capacity To record the maximum volume of oxygen that was consumed by the subject’s muscles, during aerobic exercises, the individual was made to undergo progressively more strenuous exercise on a treadmill, during each training session. This was started from an easy through to exhaustion. The subject had a respirometer hooked to him to measure oxygen produced as speed increased incrementally. The VO2 max test produced the tabulated findings below. Table 1: Power / VO2 Relationship Power (watts) VO2 (L.min.) 75 1.47 100 1.76 125 1.98 245 2.99 The figure below summarises the Power / VO2 Relationship. Figure 1: Power vs. VO2 Ventilatory Threshold The subject’s blood pH was measured to record any observable changes to determine the effects of increased training intensity on VO2 max, ventilatory threshold and performance. The point at which the subject’s breathing rate increased rapidly (ventilatory threshold) was recorded during each training session. The group member ‘s ventilatory threshold was 60% of the VO2 max during the first weeks while it increased to 70% , later during a series of training sessions. Using the training results, ventilatory threshold was obtained by graphing VO2 (l/min) on the x axis against Ve (l/min) on the y axis. The threshold was found to be 66.7%. Figure 2 shows the results in the form of a graph. Figure 2: VO2 / Ve Relationship Time to Exhaustion Time to exhaustion was 67% during warm up sessions and 43% when training increased in intensity compared to low exercise level. Sensitivity responses recorded were more positive with increased intensity of training compared to low intensity of training. This is because oxygen consumption was highest during intensified training duration. Anthromepometrics The training session did not obtain observable changes using anthromepometrics, though measuring people can provide information about how humans are changing in terms of character and sensitivity. Such measurements include one’s height, shape of head and bone size. The measurements are also used by tailors to develop clothing, expert carpenters to design furniture, and other consumer goods manufacturers to produce commodities that dependent on average user size. Other anthropometric measurements can include individual fingers, weights, measurements of fat with callipers, and measurements which are taken to learn more about the inside of the body, such as density measurements and scans. Psychologists think that parts of the body reflect the personality and abilities of the person under study. Heart Rate/Power Relationship Using a power meter, the subject’s heart power was recorded at each session of intensive training. The max test performance increased slightly for a considerable time, during the first weeks of training sessions, but significantly during the last durations of training. Performance was compared in each intense training session with past performances to look for means of improving fitness. The training sessions for the group member sought to slightly improve performance in each subsequent session of the same type. The average power output in each of the sessions was 136 watts. The subject tried to beat this average in each subsequent session by performing better. The changes in exercise and training fitness recorded were positive because the heart rate / power relationship also changed, with each performance being higher than the previous one. The figure below illustrates the growth in heart rate / power relationship. Figure 3: Heart Rate / Power Relationship Written Assignment Introduction There has been an expansion in the literature that supports major health benefits of regular physical activity and exercise including a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke and protection against some cancers and osteoporosis (Waddington, 2000). Additionally, it is said that physical exercises help individuals to better control obesity. However, there is also a rising body of knowledge, which explains the physiological factors that affect the outcomes of aerobic training. This article highlights the findings of aerobic training of a group member in regard to the contributions of physiological factors on outcomes of such physical activity. The article carries out correlation analysis to find the associations that exist between aerobic exercise and physiological factors that cause such outcomes of aerobic exercise on individuals. The recorded aerobic exercise findings are used to explain certain physiological factors on the subject. Intense aerobic exercise involves complex integration of numerous physiological functions. Therefore, the most significant role that physiological factors contribute to the success of aerobic exercise is maintenance of the ability to sustain repeated muscle activity. Physiological Factors Influencing the Recorded Findings Findings indicate that the client’s aerobic capacity improved, over time, with repeated training sessions. Aerobic capacity describes the functional status of the cardio respiratory system, which comprises of the heart, lungs and blood vessels (Hoffman, 2006). It is the maximum volume of oxygen that can be consumed by one’s muscles during exercises. Through a VO2 max test, the client’s aerobic capacity increased with subsequent aerobic training sessions. This implies that the level of fitness improved because of the improvement in the client’s aerobic capacity. Most clients have a mean response to training of approximately 17% increase in VO2 max (Sporting Excellence, 2012). However, high responders may double their capacity while low responders will see little or no benefit from training. The client may be classified a high responder because s/he almost doubled his/ her capacity. However, it should be noted that the degree of an individual’s responsiveness is highly heritable because it is genetically determined. Central Blood Flow The cardiovascular system consists of blood vessels and heart, which transport blood throughout the body, delivering nutrients and oxygen to its tissues. Aerobic training helped he client’s cardiovascular system to operate more efficiently during the six week aerobic training. An individual’s size of the heart, especially the left ventricle, increases due to aerobic training, allowing more blood to fill the left chamber, as the heart rests. This also makes the left ventricle to strengthen, which increases the force of each heart contraction, sending out a greater amount of blood with each beat. This is called stroke volume. These cardiovascular changes may lead to increased blood flow, leading to increased blood volume, during aerobic training (Wilmore, Costill, & Kenney, 2008). Peripheral Blood Flow When one is resting, little blood is delivered to the resting muscles because of arteriole constriction (Thibodeaux, 2012). On the other hand, when muscles become active, during exercise more blood is able to pass due to dilating of the arterioles. The opening and closing, or peripheral resistance changes as the intensity of aerobic exercise changes. When a person exercises, the muscles of the body need more oxygen to produce enough energy to do the amount of work being asked of them. The client’s peripheral blood flow contributed to the outcomes of aerobic training by accommodating the need for oxygen and energy. The arterioles and precapillary sphincters relaxed. The result was a larger opening through which blood passed to reduce peripheral resistance. Muscle Metabolism Physiological adaptations related to aerobic capacity have been discussed in lengthy during the past periods while research on neuromuscular adaptations to intense aerobic training lacks (Rotem Cohen, 2010). Aerobic training enhances muscle strength in individuals. In adults, morphological and neurological adaptations lead to the increase in strength endurance training on muscle performance. However, neuromuscular adaptations are limited, although, some studies suggest that increased muscle activation possibly lead to increased strength in aerobically trained individuals compared with untrained individuals. (Rotem Cohen, 2010). The function and structure of the muscles during exercise sessions also change as a result of aerobic training protocols. Aerobic exercises exhibit slow twitch, muscle fibers more than fast twitch fibers because such exercises do not require powerful muscle contractions. Therefore, the slow twitch fibers get bigger and their percentage increases compared to the fast twitch fibers. Aerobic exercise increases the number of capillaries that supply each muscle fiber, which improves blood flow to the working muscles. In addition, aerobic training increases the amount of myoglobin, which stores oxygen, and the number of mitochondria, which use oxygen to produce energy, within the muscles (Schirm, 2011). Aerobic training causes structural and functional changes in the heart, predominantly in the left ventricle. These changes constitute the cardiac adaptability trend following aerobic training. Physiologically such pressures affect the heart only during physical training. The impact of physical training on cardiac structure and function depends on the type, intensity and duration of training. Also, previous physical fitness, genetics and gender affect the outcomes of aerobic training. Continuous long-term physical activities exert an overload on cardiac muscles, resulting in an exogenous hypertrophic pattern with normal ventricular walls and increased ventricular flow of blood (Hosseini & Piri, 2010). The heart, lungs, active muscles and circulatory system all undergo changes that are aerobic exercises. The heart starts to function more efficiently as exercise progresses. One’s resting heart rate decreases, and his or her resting stroke volume increases. The heart becomes more efficient and has a higher functional capacity as it adapts to aerobic training (Bradley, 2012). During aerobic adaptation, the lungs’ efficiency improves as well. Respiratory muscles become stronger and allow for larger amounts of air to be inhaled and exhaled with each breath. The diaphragm muscle adapts so that its endurance and strength improves, which means that the diaphragm can consistently handle continuous forceful breathing patterns while exercising. This allows one to keep a normal breathing pattern for long periods while performing aerobic exercises. Endurance training exercises lead to venous return and blood volume. This is affected most by cardiac adaptation (Vogelsang & Kristoffersen, 2007). Lactate Threshold The client’s lactate threshold increased gradually with each subsequent training session. Increased training intensity on VO2 max, ventilatory threshold and performance in the subject signified the positive effect of aerobic training. The subject increased his or her training intensity from sixty percent to seventy percent because of physiological adaptations of the client’s circulatory system. This did not alter VO2 max, but improved his or her aerobic exercise time, in general. Significant decreases in plasma lactate concentration at VO2 max were observed after intensive training. There is a strong correlation between running speed at the lactate threshold and endurance performance (Carter, Jones, & Doust, 1999). As the intensity of aerobic exercise increased, the client’s lactate threshold also increased. This is because the power output, VO2 did increase significantly as the intensity of exercise in aerobic training was increased. The aerobic training produced a significant improvement in blood lactate response on the client. There was no much differences when aerobic exercise intensity was moderate, significant correlations were obtained between low intensity warming up aerobic exercises and vigorous high intensity aerobic exercises. These data indicate that people who have had previous aerobic training are capable of improving intensity to improve endurance performance by lowering lactate at the intensity at which they previously trained despite, the fact that there may be no o changes in VO2 max (Sporting Excellence, 2012). Time to exhaustion results of the client indicated a positive improvement during each subsequent training session. It grew to become longer, during intensive aerobic training. This may imply that physiological adaptations were of great favour in producing positive outcomes during intensified aerobic training sessions, compared to light warming up aerobic exercise. Consequently, blood lactate concentrations might have been lowest during light aerobic exercises. Oxygen consumption was lower with light warming up aerobic exercise and light cooling down aerobic training. These conditions were associated with better performance that was exhibited during each subsequent training session. Though, light warming up aerobic exercise and light cooling down aerobic exercise was not affected by physiological factors as vigorous intensive exercise, it proved equally beneficial in terms of time to exhaustion and oxygen consumption. In practical terms, the performance stimulating qualities of intense aerobic exercise may have been less significant than the effect of the intensity of aerobic exercise and the degree to which the subject was able to improve performance. Aerobic exercises provide physiological benefits. Length measurements of various aspects of one’s body, ranging from overall height to individual fingers, and weights are used to learn more about the inside of the subject’s body can be used to determine one’s personality and psychological traits. It can also provide information about how individuals are changing. Initially, people used to think that parts of the body reflected the personality and abilities of the person they belong to. The client’s outcomes indicate that oxygen consumption is a key factor that determines sustenance of repeated aerobic exercises. The findings of the client indicate that the client’s oxygen consumption capacity was affected by physiological parameters such as maximal oxygen uptake (VO2), ventilatory threshold and exercise economy. VO2 max is the highest rate at which one’s body can take up and consume oxygen during intense aerobic exercise (IDEA, 2002). Findings indicate that there is a correlation between VO2max and intense aerobic exercise. Biochemical reactions that are normally involved in mitochondrial respiration depend on a steady supply of oxygen for proper functioning. Superior delivery and utilization of oxygen during exercise improves mitochondrial respiration. In turn, this increases the capacity for endurance exercise. Physiological functions involving the cardio respiratory system, which is the heart, lungs and blood vessels and physiological functions involving the tissue extraction of oxygen may limit VO2 max. The ability of the client’s cardio respiratory system to transport oxygen to the exercising muscles was a central component of VO2max that led to the recorded outcomes. Cardiac output, which encompasses the product of heart rate and stroke volume, is another physiological factor. Additionally, the group member’s maximal heart rate that was quite stable, remaining unchanged with intense aerobic training contributed to the positive outcomes of aerobic training that were recorded in the findings. It should be noted that maximal heart rate depends on a person’s age, decreasing as one grows older. Blood volume and flow determine oxygen delivery during aerobic training. Besides, proper functioning of the heart and blood vessels contributes most to the success in delivery of sufficient oxygen for aerobic training. During aerobic training, straining muscles requires more oxygen and nutrients. More blood must be allocated to the muscles during aerobic exercise to meet the increased needs of oxygen. Exercise economy is another physiological factor that is involved in oxygen consumption. Exercise economy is the oxygen consumption required to perform a given exercise workload during aerobic activity (Draper & Hodgson, 2008). The client, being not highly trained, did not record a significant variation in VO2 max, during the aerobic training. Exercise economy is enhanced with aerobic training, because of the improvements in biomechanical techniques for performing the specific physical activity. Ventilatory threshold is a physiological parameter that is most responsive to aerobic training. The client’s performance benefit of this training adaptation enabled him/her to maintain higher steady state exercise intensity, during aerobic exercise, hence improving performance. Ventilatory threshold physiological improvements explanations associated with aerobic training have a close link to the size, number and enzyme levels of the mitochondria. During aerobic training, the size and number of mitochondria increase by fifty to hundred percent. This increases mitochondrial respiration capacity. This results into a delayed time to ventilatory threshold and superior capacity for aerobic exercise performance. Genetics is the overall factor that could have affected all the physiological factors that influenced aerobic exercise performance. Therefore, despite, the training volume or intensity, the variability in VO2 max is genetically determined because of the genetic effect on one’s cardiac output. Individual fibre-type proportions of muscles also genetically regulate the training adaptability (Kravitz & Dalleck, 2002). Most scholars, physicians and researchers have always had debates regarding actual aerobic exercise prescription. There are doubts whether low-intensity aerobic exercise with 40-50% maximum heart rate, moderate intensity aerobic exercise with 50-60% maximum heart rate or high intensity aerobic exercise with 70-75% maximum heart rate is most advantageous. The best aerobic exercise intensity is set at an adaptable level, as per the agreement between an individual in consultation with the physician/health practitioner. Even low intensity aerobic exercise, within a short period can stimulate anxiety effects. From the findings, individuals who train for periods of ten to fifteen weeks in most cases receive the greatest beneficial effects. Physiological measures used to assess changes in aerobic fitness are either maximal work load, sub maximal heart rate at a standard work load, predicted maximum oxygen uptake, and resting heart rate. In general, the subject, having participated in aerobic exercise training experienced a positive fitness change over the initial weeks of the aerobic training sessions, compared to those who did not undergo the aerobic training sessions. Follow up procedures may have indicated that physiological benefits remained significantly improved from baseline. Therefore, results indicate that aerobic exercise induced performance increases in aerobic fitness and that it has beneficial short-term and long-term effects on fitness outcomes. Such benefits can be maintained if the subject increased the amount of weekly aerobic exercise they performed over the weeks of aerobic training and follow ups to maintain physical improvements in subsequent concurrent equal amounts of exercise. In reality, engaging in a moderate amount of physical activity will result in improved mood and emotional states. Exercise can promote health and well being, as well as, improve quality of life. People who participate in aerobic exercises often take pride especially when they achieve physical accomplishments. This is often associated with increased satisfaction with oneself, improved body image. People who participate in aerobic exercises benefit as they always have increased feelings of energy, improved in confidence in physical abilities and decreased symptoms associated with depression (Biller, 2002). This is due to physiological adaptations. As individuals experience these health benefits, it is likely that they also will be motivated to continue exercises so that they continue to receive these benefits. The issue about the amount of how much exercise is needed to produce those effects should not be of significance because even a brief walk at low intensity can increase energy. A walk of as little as of ten minutes of aerobic exercise can have a positive effect. For long term benefits, one should exercise times a week for thirty minutes per session at a moderate intensity. Conclusion From this review, it is clear that personal trainers and health or fitness professionals may earnestly exclaim the effects of physiological factors on aerobic exercise. For some clients, these physiological factors affecting aerobic training may indeed be more relevant to their present life situations. Aerobic exercise has many physical benefits. Therefore, results indicate that aerobic exercise induced performance increases in aerobic fitness and that it has beneficial short-term and long-term effects on health outcomes. Such benefits can be maintained if the subject increased the amount of weekly aerobic exercise they performed over the weeks of aerobic training and follow ups to maintain physiological improvements in subsequent concurrent equal amounts of exercise. 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