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