Acute responses and chronic adaptations of the respiratory sytem

Acute responses:
There are 2 acute responses of the respiratory system:
1. Increased breathing rate.
2. Increased tidal volume.
Increased breathing rate
During exercise, there is a minor rise in breathing rate which is known as 'anticipatory rise' . When exercise begins there is an immediate and significant increase in breathing rate so the athlete can get enough oxygen to work with. This is the result of the 3 types of receptors.
3 receptors:
Chemoreceptors - this receptor is located in the cartoid artery and arctic arch. It detects increased acidity in the blood which is caused by the carbon dioxide. They result in sending signal to the respiratory control centre that run in turn to speed up the concentration of the inspiratory muscles. This increases the breathing rate.
Mechanoreceptors - they are located in the limbs, they inform the respiratory control centre when there is an increase in movement. this results in sending signals to the respiratory muscles, increasing their contraction rate.

Stretch receptors - stretch receptors are located in the bronchi and bronchioles. They detect an increase in the inflation rate of the lungs; result in sending signals to the respiratory control centre . This increases the depth of breathing.

The breathing rate increases because more oxygen needed for energy production to make the athlete work for longer and harder. The aerobic pathway - makes the highest yield of ATP. The body uses the aerobic pathway because it makes the highest amount of ATP which is used to give energy so the athlete can work faster and harder at a higher intensity.


Increased Tidal Volume:
Tidal volume is the amount of air you breathe in one breath. During exercise, there is increase in tidal volume because the demand for oxygen increase. The lungs have meet the demands of the body for oxygen; this is required for the cells in the body to produce enough energy to function. The lungs do this by bringing fresh air into the body every time we breath in; this is measured by the tidal volume and measuring how much of fresh air is being breathed into the body in a single breath.

Chronic Adaptations:

There are 4 chronic adaptations of the respiratory system: 

Increased Vital Capacity:

Vital capacity is the maximal volume of air that can be expired after maximal inspiration in one breath. This depends on the increased strength of the intercostal muscles. Exercising will increase vital capacity because the muscles need nutrient when they are doing tough exercises; this requires the lungs to inspire more oxygen. The lungs need to expand to be able to take in more oxygen  which will increase the vital capacity.
Increased minute ventilation:
Minute ventilation is the amount of air inspired or expired in one minute. this is dependent on breathing rate and total volume. It is expressed as VE = volume of air expired in a minute and VI = volume of air inspired in a minute. Minute ventilation increase during exercise because the tidal volume and the breathing rate increase. The tidal volume and the breathing rate will increase proportionally at low intensity exercise.
Increased strength of respiratory muscles:
Increased strength of respiratory muscles is when the diaphragm and intercostal muscles increase in strength. This allows for greater expansion of the thoracic (chest) cavity. More expansion provides more efficient inhalation and expiration.
Increased oxygen diffusion rate:
This is when there is increase in number and size of capillaries leads to more efficient diffusion:

• More oxygen from capillaries to tissues.
• More carbon dioxide from cells the blood.
• Regular training leads to better transportation of oxygen/carbon dioxide, therefore there is an increase in oxygen diffusion rate.

reference: http://www.livestrong.com/article/288393-increase-in-tidal-volume-during-exercise/
                 http://www.newhealthguide.org/Vital-Capacity.html
                 http://www.livestrong.com/article/402142-how-does-exercise-affect-breathing/

Functions of the cardiovascular system 

1) What substances does the cardiovascular system deliver around the body of your athlete; how and why does it do this? 

The athlete's body uses the aerobic system to produce ATP (energy). In the aerobic system the oxygen and the glucose both combine and produce energy. The red blood cells carry oxygen around the body in red hemoglobin. They have no nucleus which gives them more surface area for hemoglobin. Red blood cells are mainly produces in some bones such as ribs, vertebrae and femur. The more oxygen that is pumped  in the muscles the more potential there is to create aerobic energy. The faster the heart is beating the more blood it is pumping around the body and the muscles.

2) What substances does the cardiovascular system help to remove from the body: how and why does it do this?

The job of plasma is to take out carbon dioxide from the body. Plasma is yellow liquid which contains water with different things dissolved in it. Plasma is the substance that makes blood liquid and watery, if plasma wasn't there it would just be thick blood and if you cut yourself you'd be able to tiny blood cells. Plasma carried everything in the blood streams, therefore there is higher rate of blood delivery and higher rate of wastage removal. There is greater delivery and distribution of nutrients; greater rate of removal of waste products. 

3) What is thermoregulation? How and why is this used by your athlete to help them during their sporting performance? 

Thermoregulation is keeping the body at a constant temperature of 37 degree Celsius. The core of the body must maintain a stable temperature to allow all cells to function normally. If the organs are in cold condition they will not be able to function properly, therefore the enzymes would not work and processes will slowly stop working and we can die.
On the other hand if we get too hot our body's enzymes will denature and stop working which can also be the reason for a person's death.
Blood is transported to the surface of the skin; sweat is produced which helps carry away the excess heat from the body and stops the enzymes from denaturing. 

4) There are two other functions of blood, besides delivery of oxygen and nutrients, and removal of waste products. What are they? How and why do these functions aid an individual at rest and during sporting performance? 

The other 2 functions of the blood are to fight infectious diseases and form blood clots.

When a person is ill more white blood cells are produced to protect the body from infectious diseases and bacteria. They repair tissue after an injury and are larger than blood cells; they also have a nucleus. All white blood cells make antibodies there are chemicals that destroy germs - different germs need different antibodies in order to destroy them. White blood cells are made in your bone marrow. In sport speeding up the delivery of white blood cells around the body helps to reduce inflammation healing tissues at a faster rate. Our body is made up of 58% plasma, 1% of white blood cells and platelets and 44% red blood cells. 

1) Explain how and why this redistribution of blood flow occurs during sporting performance. 

During exercise, metabolism speeds up, due to this the muscles require more oxygen during sporting performance. To provide the muscles with oxygen the heart beats faster to pass on oxygen - rich blood; the speed of the blood flow increases. When there is increase in heart rat3e, to meet the demands the cardiac output automatically increase. The faster the heart pumps blood around the body the faster the blood circulation.

2) Explain why the blood flow to the brain remains the same at rest and during exercise.

Blood flow to the brain remain the same at rest and during exercise  because the brain has to work all day long even though a person is resting. The brain passes the message telling the body to breath. The brain has to always be working; blood flow to the brain allows this because there is always the same amount of blood flow going to the brain.

3) Explain why your athlete should not eat at least one hour before competition, in relation to blood redistribution.

If an athlete eats one hour before the competition the blood is used for the digestive system rather than for the muscles. When the athlete is participating in a competition the working muscles don't get as much oxygen as it should be; therefore the muscles won't be working as hard and as long as they should be because they help it to make energy and break down fat to provide the muscles with energy.

Reference: http://www.teachpe.com/anatomy/blood_flow.php

Cardiovascular system

Acute and Chronic effects of exercise on the Cardiovascular system

Acute effects;
The first thing that happens to a athlete's body before starting the activity is they start thinking about exercising which stimulates a response by the body and releases adrenaline; increases heart rate so the body is ready and prepared to exercise. This also tells your hormones that your body is going to exercise. This is known as the Heart Rate Anticipating Response. Then this moves onto to the next response. The systolic blood pressure increases to force blood around the body during exercise. The Diastolic blood pressure increases, there is a greater relaxtion phase to allow more blood to fill chambers ready to be sent around the body.

Vasoconstriction is when the size of your blood vessels become smaller which increases blood pressure; stops blood from passing through. During exercise the muscles that are working require an increase in blood to keep them working as a result the areas of the body that are not working (hormonal and reproductive) have the blood restricted to them. The arteries around these areas are made smaller so the blood flow is lessend. This is known as Vasoconstriction. Vasodilation is when the size of the blood vessels become bigger and it decreases blood pressure; allowing blood to pass through because the blood vessels are wider. Vasodilation is the opposite of vasoconstriction, the working muscles that require extra blood results in the blood vessels in those areas opening up (dilation) so that more blood goes to those areas.

Chronic effects:
The long term responses that happen during exercise in the cardiovascular system are cardiac hypertrophy, increase in stroke volume, increase in blood volume, increase in cardiac output, decrease in resting heart rate, reduction in resting heart rate, decreased recovary time, increased aerboic fitness and capillarisation.

Cardiac hypertrophy:
Average size: approx. Size of a clenched fist.
Average size at rest: hypertrophy occurs in the heart as it would in any other muscle.
Increased chamber size: atria and ventricles increase in size.
Increase in blood flow: increased chamber size allows more soace for blood flow through the heart.
This leads to increase in stroke volume, this is the volume of blood pumped out of the heart rate, which is 70ml.
It continues and leads to increase in blood volume because the stroke volume is how much blood is pumped out of the heart rate which will increase the blood volume.
With an increase in the size of the heart more blood can be pumped out of the heart each time it beats. At rest 15 - 20% circulating blood supplies skeletal muscle.
During vigorous exercise this increases to 80 - 85% of cardiac out. Cardiac out put is the amount of blood pumped out per minute measured in litre/minute. It is product of stroke volume and heart rate (SV x HR). Increase in amount of blood per beat will result in the amount of blood pumped per minute.

Resting heart rate decreases due to a larger more efficient heart. With more blood being pumped out of the heart in each beat (increase in stroke volume) the heart rate can beat less times in a minute to get the same amount of blood around the body.
As the stroke volume increases (blood per beat) then the blood pressure decreases because the same amount of blood is pumped around in less beats and less force is required. The increase in the heart's ability to pump blood around the body means that the heart can pump out waste productd more efficiently (e.g. carbon dioxide and lactic acid).

Cardiac hypertropgy increased ventricular chambers, this means that more blood can fill these chambers. As more blood can fill the chambers, more blood can be pumped around the body meaning more oxygen is getting to the working muscles. This allows the muscles to work for longer as oxygen can be used to breakdown and help produce energy.

After, new capillaries may develop and the existing capillaries become more efficient. They bring about more efficient delivery of blood to the working muscles and more oxygen reaches the muscles.

Acute and Chronic Energy System

Acute responses:
When we breath air it enters our blood through the alveoli in our lungs and is absorbed by the hemoglobin in our blood which our heart then pumps around the body into our muscles and cells. Inside the cells in the muscle, mitochondria an organelle cell is found which turns the oxygen into  ATP which is then used as fuel and energy for the body.

Creatine phosphate energy system
This energy system gives instant energy and is used for exercises that are short burst such as sprinting or bowling in cricket (the execution phase). The primary source of this system is ATP and it is boosted by Creatine. Creatine is taken by professional runners such as Usain Bolt; the Creatine stored in his muscles increase the energy therefore when the ATP is about to finish Creatine helps resynsthesize the ATP. More Creatine means Usain Bolt will be able to run faster and work at a high intensity. As the Creatine starts to finish finish the Lactic acid system starts to take over.

Lactic Acid energy system
This energy system is a short term energy system, not as short as the Creatine phosphate system. It is mostly suitable for runners such as 400 m or 800 m because they have to use the oxygen in their body and work aerobically, while making the oxygen there is lactic acid being produced which the athlete's body has to cope with. The athlete needs to use have a good cool down to get rid of the lactic acid that was produced while they were running. When this process is about to run out, the aerobic energy system starts to overlap or may start before the lactic acid has even finished. 

Aerobic energy system
This energy system is used by long distance runners or marathon runners as because they have to use the oxygen in their body and work aerobically. As the long distance runners work at a constant pace they don't require burst of energy, they just have to use the oxygen that is provided by the body. When your body is working at a slow pace it uses the fat as a energy source  and it gets broken down by the enzymes; but if you speed up you would change back to the lactic acid system.

chronic energy system:

The body starts using more fatty acid than glycogen (glucose) during aerobic exercise.; the benefits of this is that rather than using the carbohydrates in the body the stored up fatty acids are being used which is providing more energy for the athlete and giving them the intensity to work for longer. The second adaptation that happens is the number of mitochondria increases, this is beneficial because it makes more energy for the athlete which allows them to work for more longer and lets them work aerobically longer. Then the body adapts tolerance to lactic acid, this helps the athlete to keep working at a high intensity with the aerobic system.  

Acute and Chronic Adaptations

Acute Musculoskeletal responses:
Acute responses - immediate responses to exercise , such as an increase in body temperature and heart rate.

• Increased blood supply
• Increased muscle pliability
• Increased range of movements
• Increased fibre tears

Increased blood supply
Increased blood supply occurs due to the increase in oxygen demand and increase in metabolic activity when doing physical activity; this will deliver great amount of oxygen around the body as the heart pumps blood. capillary dilation is also used, this is when the blood flow happens through the capillaries. Muscle contractions produces heat and as much as 70% of body heat is produced by energy production in the muscle tissue.

Increased muscle pliability

Pliability- related to the stretchiness of your muscle and connective tissues.

Muscles become more pliable when they are warm this reduces the risk of injuries and damage; this is because during exercise the muscles contract more quickly. The fast contractions in the muscles generate heat which makes the muscles more pliable. An example of this would be a gymnast doing splits. If the muscles are warm and pliable then the gymnast is likely to do the splits easily, another example would be doing a hand stand into a bridge (the core muscle needs to be more pliable because changing from a hand stand position to a bridge requires the core muscles) . 

Increased range of movements
Changes within the joints occur during exercise. Synovial fluid is secreted as a result of joint movement. During the physical exercise the synovial fluid becomes less viscous and allows increased range of movements at the joint (joint movements stimulates the secretion of synovial fluid).

Muscle fibers Micro tears
Muscles tear when they are put under pressure whilst exercising. The micro tears in the muscle tissues cause swelling, which puts pressure on the nerve endings and it leads to severe pain. Training improvements will only be made if the body has sufficient fuel and rest to repair the micro tears. Repaired tears will make the muscle a little bit more stronger than it was before so it can tolerate more weight than before. 

Chronic Adaptations

Chronic Musculoskeletal responses:
Chronic responses -  the long term effect of exercise on the body.

Muscle Hypertrophy
Muscle hypertrophy involves increasing in the muscle size and bulk; whenever someone takes part in weight training it will have a massive effect on their muscles and tendons. This is because the muscle fibres inside would tear due to too much pressure applied on the muscle tissue. Then the muscle fibres will be repaired using proteins which the person gets from food and other supplements. Whenever the torn muscle fibres get repaired in this way, they are always stronger and larger then they were previously e.g. they will be able to tolerate more weight than they could before. In order for muscles to keep tearing and repairing the person needs to keep using heavy weights in order to tear their fibres and make them stronger and larger than before. Men have higher potential than women to be bigger, as because men have high amount of testosterone. This is beneficial for the athlete because this improves their muscular endurance, strength and power.

Increase in Myoglobin stores
Myglobin is described as a red protein heme that carries and stores in the muscle cells. Myoglobin function which carries oxygen from cell membrane to mitochondria which provides energy for the athlete so they are able to work for longer period of time at a high intensity. The amount of myglobin increases whenever aerobic chronic exercises take place; this is because as you are exercising your body will adapt itself so when you are exercising you receive more oxygen so you can continue to work for a longer. This is done by the body when the number of myglobin stores increases which allow them to carry more oxygen around the body. Therefore when you are taking part in aerobic exercise your body will require more oxygen and the body needs to deliver the oxygen to the muscles to be able to make them work more efficiently as their are more myglobin stores which can carry more oxygen around the body.

Increase in tendon strength
Tendons are tough bands of connectives tissue, they increase in strength like muscles. Whenever exercise is done for a long period of time the muscles will grow and become more stronger; therefore in order for the tendons to cope with the changes in the muscles they have to grow and become stronger. There would be increase in tendon strength due to collagen fibres, the role of collagen fibre is to strengthen any tissue. Collagen fibres increase in long term exercises. Different exercises will have different effects on the tendons such as weight training would make them stronger whereas aerobic endurance training would increase endurance. This will be beneficial for athletes because then they will be able to put more strain and pressure on the tendons without them getting damaged.

Increased number of Mitochondria
In the mitochondria the biochemical process and respiration and energy production occur. During long term exercises muscles will increase their oxidative capacity, this is how the muscles adapt themselves to chronic exercises so they can work for longer period of time. This is done by increasing the number of mitochondria. Mitochondria are cells which hosts the location where oxygen and glucose combine in order to make ATP. If there is increase in the numbers of mitochondria there will be more space for the body to produce ATP which is a energy source for the human body in order to do aerobic endurance activities. This will benefit the athlete because then their is more energy being produced which can make them work for longer with oxygen and for a high intensity.

Increased storage of glycogen and fat
Fat is a substance which is used for energy Glycogen is the main form of carbohydrate storage. It is readily converted into glucose because it can be used by the body as energy. When a person is doing exercise for a long period of time the muscles are able to use fat for energy. This is a benefit when there is increased amount of fat available, later they can break down to make energy and be ready to be used.

Increased tolerance to lactic acid
As the body does regular exercise it will adapt itself to cope with lactic acid better. During anaerobic exercise the body has to make energy without using oxygen, at the same time it also makes lactic acid. The body would eventually know how to cope with the lactic acid that is being produced; the body will get better at getting rid of the lactic acid quicker. The chronic response of the body will be to increase lactic acid threshold.

Increased muscle strength
This is a response to muscles being used more than they are used. For example weight lifters, they would increased the amount of weight they are lifting so they can increase their muscular strength. They are overloaded- overloading can be done by increasing resistance,

Name: Summer
Date of birth: 08/06/1998
Gender: Female
Weight:60kg
Height: 160m

Sports:

• Dancing
• Surfing 
• Skiing
• Gym
• Boxing
• cycling
• Swimming
• Cricket

Injuries:

• Back pain - sometimes.
• Sprained nearly everything in the past.
• physiotherapy
• right handed

Summer enjoys participating in sports such as dancing, skiing, boxing and many more. She goes to the gym nearly everyday as she wants to be healthy and fit to participate in various type of sports. Summer has back pain sometimes in gym when she works out, this has made a bad impact on her therefore she can not lift .