Effect of short-term exercise on cardiovascular, respiratory and muscular systems

Human Physiology
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Table of contents:
Introduction …………………………………………………………. 4
Results……………………………………………………………….. 5
Discussion…………………………………………………………… 8
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List of figures:
Figure 1 - Effect of exercise on respiratory rate………………6
Figure 2 - Effect of exercise on pulse pressure……………….7
Figure 3 - Effect of exercise on FeCO2…………………………8
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Introduction:
During short-term exercise different systems like cardiovascular, respiratory and
muscular systems work in integration. Muscles must extensively during exercise and
it consume more oxygen. Respiratory system responds quickly and lungs breath
faster to improve intake of oxygen. Hence, it results in the increase in the breathing
rate and tidal volume. Heart also carry more oxygenated blood. Heart initiate
pumping of the blood at the faster rate and it produces augmented heart rate. It
results in the increased stroke volume and cardiac output. It leads to raised blood
pressure during exercise. Exercise lead to more activity of musculoskeletal system.
Cardiovascular system and respiratory system are helpful in maintaining sustained
movement during the exercise. Physiological adaptation of both cardiovascular and
respiratory system is responsible for the Improvement in the efficiency and capability
of the human body. Usually, cardiovascular and respiratory system become
responsive to reduced rate of work. However, both these systems are not responsive
to increased rate of work. Augmented oxygen requirement leads to increased
cardiac output. However, raised cardiac output remains stagnant after reaching its
maximum value (Plowman & Smith, 2013; Ehrman et al., 2013).
Augmented rate of work leads to raised skeletal muscle oxygen requirement and
oxygen uptake (VO2). Raised oxygen requirement lead to augmented cardiovascular
parameters like cardiac output, heart rate and blood pressure because most the
cardiovascular parameters influence each other. Cardiac output is defined as total
volume of blood pumped by the left ventricle per minute. Cardiac output is the
product of heart rate and stroke volume. Volume of blood pumped per heart beat is
called as stroke volume (Plowman & Smith, 2013). Difference between the total
oxygen in arterial and mixed venous blood is termed as arterial-mixed venous
oxygen. Human-being’s maximum oxygen uptake depends on cardiac output and
arterial-mixed venous oxygen. All the cardiovascular parameters do not increase to
same proportion during exercise. There is full extent augmentation in the cardiac
output and heart rate; however, maximal oxygen uptake increases upto 50 %
(Ehrman et al., 2013).
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It is evident that, only systolic blood pressure increases during exercise. Diastolic
blood pressure does not increase during exercise. Blood pressure increases upto
200 to 240 mmHg during exercise (Plowman & Smith, 2013).
Pulse pressure is defined as the difference between systolic and diastolic blood
pressure. There is increase in the pulse pressure due to increase in the systolic
blood pressure. Pulse pressure in resting is approximately 30 – 40 mmHg and it
raises to approximately 100 mmHg during exercise (Kinnear & Blakey, 2014).
Exercise produces sudden increase in the pulmonary ventilation. It is mediated
through stimulation of respiratory centres in the brain through motor cortex.
Moreover, feedback from joints and muscles of extremities during exercise are
responsible for the stimulation of the respiratory system. It is evident that increase in
the tidal volume during exercise is mainly responsible for the augmentation of the
pulmonary ventilation. During short duration exercise, there would be increase in the
pulmonary ventilation form 10 litres per minute to 100 litres per minute (Kinnear &
Blakey, 2014).
Aim of this study is to assess effect of short-term exercise on the physiology of
cardiovascular and respiratory system.
Objectives of this study is to assess effect of short-term exercise on respiratory rate
blood pressure, heart rate, gas composition and gas volume.
It has been hypothesized that there would be augmentation in different physiological
parameters of both cardiovascular and respiratory system during short-term
exercise.
Results:
Results demonstrated that few of participants exhibited heart rate less than 60 and
more than 100 beats per minute. Data for such participants need to be excluded
during the analysis of the results because normal heart rate in the healthy human is
between 60 to 100 beats per minute. Results exhibited that few of the participants
demonstrated respiratory rate less than 12 and more than 20 breaths per minute.
Data for such participants need to be excluded during analysis of the results
because normal range of respiratory rate is between 12 to 20 breaths per minute.
Few of the participants exhibited systolic blood pressure less than 120 and more
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than 140 mmHg. Blood pressure data for such participants need to be excluded
because normal systolic blood pressure range is between 120 to 140 mmHg.
Respiratory rate data is presented in figure 1 and it is expressed as breath per
minute. Data is presented for the entire 15 minutes duration of the exercise. This
type of graphical representation of the data is helpful in assessing impact of exercise
on change in breath rate at each minute.
During resting period, breath rate data didn’t change noteworthily and it remained in
the range of 19.912 to 21.316 breath per minute. Observed breath rate at 1, 2, 3, 4
and 5 minutes was 20.895, 19.912, 20.0, 21.316 and 21.316 breath per minute
respectively. During 5 minutes duration of exercise, breath rate was increased
progressively at every minute except at 8th minute. Observed breath rate at 6, 7, 8, 9
and 10 minutes was 27.053, 30.719, 30.298, 31.518 and 31.911 breath per minute
respectively. During 5 minutes duration of post exercise, breath rate was decreased
gradually from 11 to 15 minutes. Observed breath rate at 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15
minutes was 24.429, 23.429, 22.107 and 23.0 breath per minute respectively.
Figure 1: Effect of exercise on respiratory rate.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Effect of Exercise on Respiratory rate (BPM)
Minutes
Respiratory Rate (BPM)
Pulse pressure (mmHg) was calculated by formula : systolic blood pressure –
diastolic blood pressure. Pulse pressure was calculated for all phases of study like
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resting condition, during exercise and post exercise and it was 38.523, 48.063 and
41.738 mmHg respectively for resting condition, during exercise and post exercise.
Figure 2: Effect of exercise on pulse pressure.
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1 - Resting 2 - Exercise 3 – Post-Exercise

Expired CO2 (FeCO2, as a %) was measured at rest and during exercise. Obtained
FeCO2 was 2.4156 and 3.399 at rest and during exercise respectively.
Figure 3: Effect of exercise on FeCO2.
Chart graphs are used for the presentation of data for respiratory rate, pulse
pressure and expired CO2. Presentation of data in the form chart graph is easy to
understand because it demonstrates results in the form of visuals. This type of
presentation is helpful in memorizing the collected data. Moreover, graphical
representation of data is useful for comparison of data among different groups.
Discussion:
Results of this study demonstrated that there was augmentation in the different
physiological parameters of both cardiovascular and respiratory system. It reflects
hypothesis was met which was made at the beginning of the study. Results of this
study demonstrated that heart rate and respiratory rate increased in the gradual
manner with respect to time and duration of exercise. In the initial 5-minute phase of
the exercise, there was no noteworthy change in the heart rate and respiratory rate.
In the first 5-minutes physiological parameters didn’t achieve peak values. It was
observed that there was gradual decline in the respiratory rate and heart rate. From
the literature, it is evident that exercise results in the augmentation in the systolic
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1 - Resting 2 - Exercise

blood pressure with no change in the diastolic blood pressure (Durrani & Fatima,
2015; Carpio-Rivera et al., 2016). Results of this study also demonstrated consistent
results with the literature. In this study also, there was augmentation in the systolic
blood pressure with no change in the diastolic blood pressure. Exercise also resulted
in the alteration in the blood gas composition. Results demonstrated that there was
increase in the CO2 concentration with decrease in the O2 concentration. O2
concentration in the blood reduced as a result of increased consumption due to
increased physiological requirement (Gill et al., 2014).
Central and peripheral chemo receptors get sensitised due to reduced levels of O2
(hypoxia) and increased levels of CO2 (hypercapnia). In the present and earlier
studies, it was demonstrated that exercise lead to argumentation in CO2 levels and
reduced levels of O2 (Roman et al., 2016; Lehtonen and Burnett, 2016). Usually, air
moves from the high-pressure area to low pressure area. During breathing,
diaphragm gets contracted and flattened. During inspiration, external intercostal
muscle gets contracted. During expiration, inspiratory muscles get relaxed which
lead to elastic recoil of lungs. It is helpful in pressure equilibrium before initiating next
exercise cycle. In pulmonary ventilation, alveoli are the site of gaseous exchange.
More usage of oxygen lead to augmented partial pressure of O2 in the atmosphere
as compared to bloodstream. Moreover, it lead to more partial pressure of CO2 in
bloodstream as compared to the atmosphere. This lowered levels of O2 lead lungs
to breath at faster rate to compensate deficiency of O2. It indicates, exercise results
in increased breathing rate (Kinnear & Blakey, 2014; Ehrman et al., 2013).
Oxygen-transport system consist of heart, lungs, arteries and veins which
experience high stress during bike exercise. However, efficiency of a person become
more during bike exercise. Higher efficiency during bike exercise reflects more
oxygen requirement and consumption at reduced rate in comparison to the other
types of exercise. Two types of muscle fibres are there in the human body and these
are aerobic and anaerobic muscle fibres. These two fibres exhibit variation in the O2
consumption. Aerobic muscle fibres produce mechanical energy by directly
consuming oxygen from the blood. Conversely, anaerobic muscle fibres work without
sufficient supply of oxygen. Resting muscle fibres work with inadequate blood supply
and oxygen supply (Patel et al., 2017). During performing bike exercise, it is
necessary to increase pedal force for maximum duration without utilizing anaerobic
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fibres. Aerobic muscle fibres are mainly responsible for the augmentation of heart
rate and respiratory rate during bike exercise. Maximal level augmentation in the
heart rate and respiratory rate do not lead to exhaustion in the person because
during bike exercise oxygen consumption is with less rate. Requirement of muscle
force and muscle speed is more during bike exercise as compared to the walking
and running. Likewise, leg muscle extension and contraction are more during bike
exercise in comparison to the running or walking (Porcari et al., 2015).
Alteration in the cardiovascular and respiratory physiological factors occur due to
diverse factors. Age and metabolic disorders have noteworthy influence on the
physiology of cardiovascular and respiratory systems. More insight on the age
dependent influence of exercise on cardiovascular and respiratory physiology would
have been obtained by recruiting participants with different age groups. Collected
data didn’t provide information about age dependent influence of exercise on the
cardiovascular and respiratory physiology. From the collected data, it is difficult to
distinguish whether alteration in cardiovascular and respiratory physiological factors
are due to exercise or metabolic disorder (Fresiello et al., 2016). Measurement of
body temperature and electrolyte levels could have provided more insight in this
study because body temperature and electrolyte balance influence cardiovascular
and respiratory physiological factors (Moghetti et al., 2016).
Objective of the study and available resources mainly influence resource
requirements. Objectives of the study should be decided based on the available
resources. Reference data from the literature is useful to validate the resource
instrument. Resource instrument need to be operated by experienced and skilled
technician or professional. Blood pressure and heart rate measurement need to be
measured by skilled technician or professional to avoid its inaccurate measurement.
References with valid evidence need to be incorporated from the peer reviewed
journals with high impact factors. Research mentioned in these journals need to be
conducted at the recognised organisations and institutes.
From this study, I gathered that each member of the research group should have
comprehensive knowledge of the study. However, person with specific skills need to
be appointed for particular task. Research investigator need to identify appropriate
competency of a person to perform specific tasks. Improved outcome is possible
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through effective communication and coordination among different members of the
research team. Researcher with ample experience in the relevant field need to take
leadership role during process of the study.
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