Cardiac Exercise and Cardiac/Respiratory Health Heart Health

Cardiac

Exercise and Cardiac/Respiratory Health

Heart health is positively correlated with exercise and, according to the research, physical activity can be a good way to diagnosis, detect or treat emerging heart conditions in individuals. Connections are also made in general research between exercise and both aerobic and anaerobic gains for individuals. Indeed, as the discussion hereafter will show, exercise is among the most consistently effective and proven methods of preventing heart disease and such causal conditions as obesity or hypertension. Research points to a host of indicators that suggest exercise should in some form be a regular part of every individuals lifestyle. Chief among these indicators is the evidence demonstrating that exercise and physical activity are directly related to cardiovascular and respiratory health.

We find that there are a wide array of methods to diminishing the risk of heart disease, which can be associated with a sedentary lifestyle, a poor diet or hereditary factors. Among the factors which may help improve one's preventative odds, an engagement in some form of regular, routinized and safe physical activity will be substantial. It is further recommended that the form taken by the physical fitness activities should be enjoyable and accessible to the practicing individual. Certainly, such exercise can take on myriad forms. Accordingly, "physical activity in daily life can be categorized into occupational, sports, conditioning, household, or other activities. Exercise is a subset of physical activity that is planned, structured, and repetitive and has as a final or an intermediate objective the improvement or maintenance of physical fitness." (Caspersen et al., 126)

One of the primary reasons to engage in regular exercise or physical activity is because of the manner in which this relates to the cardiac cycle. The cardiac cycle is the event which occurs to the stimulation of each individual heartbeat and which moves blood from the atria to the ventricles and subsequently into the pulmonary artery and aorta. (Brannagan, p. 1) The blood cells that the heart moves throughout the body are needed to distribute oxygen. When the body is in a state of exercise motion, it requires a greater supply of oxygen to all of its extremities. It is thus that the heart-rate speeds up to maintain this flow of oxygen according to the body's immediate needs. As Brannagan (2010) explains, "blood that enters circulation takes needed oxygen to all of the body's tissues to help them continue to function. After the cells and tissues use up the needed oxygen, the blood returns to the heart to repeat the cycle." (Brannagan, p. 1)

The faster that the body is moving, the greater is oxygen needs become. Therefore, the faster the cardiac cycle repeats itself. This is felt in the heightened speed of the heartbeat and, typically, is implicated by the heavy breathing that will accompany strenuous exercise. The individual is often gasping for air in simultaneity to imposing the need for greater oxygen flow to his extremities. Brannagan goes on to indicate that the body adjusts to these needs during exercise through a relaxing of the arteries and a consequently improved flow of blood.

With respect to the above-noted heavier breathing that will typically accompany exercise, research denotes that this ties in closely to the body's set of unique demands as instigated through intense physical activity. The respiratory rate is directly impacted by the manner in which exercise increases the concentration of carbon dioxide in the blood stream. The text by Cheeks (2010) shows that the body engages in what is called minute ventilation, which helps it to dispense with this gas while maintaining the flow of oxygen to the body. Accordingly, Cheeks reports that minute ventilation will often be best evidenced by the heavy breathing, the deep inhalation and the rapid respiratory rate instigated by physically taxing events. Cheeks indicates that "chemoreceptors, which may detect changes in temperature or concentrations of carbon dioxide and hydrogen ions sends signals to our respiratory control center to increase minute ventilation. As exercise continues, we being to see larger quantities of carbon dioxide in the blood as a bi-product of metabolism. Chemoreceptors near the heart and within the skeletal muscle detect this increase in carbon dioxide and in response increase minute ventilation beyond that of the normal respiratory rate." (Cheeks, p. 1)

It is here that elevated respiratory rate will interact symbiotically with an elevated cardiac cycle during exercise. These mechanisms are designed to help the body adjust to and accommodate the intensification of physical demands created in such circumstances. And the normal healthy functioning of these mechanisms is part and parcel to the maintenance of positive heart health.