This chapter examines the cardiovascular responses of healthy individuals performing acute and chronic exercise, focusing primarily upon the four components of maximal aerobic capacity (VO2): heart rate, stroke volume, Q and O2 extraction. It focuses on the cardiovascular responses to exercise in males and females as well as the ageing older (i.e. veteran) athlete. The magnitude of adjustment in the cardiovascular response to prolonged dynamic exercise is determined by several factors, including exercise intensity, muscle mass, environmental conditions, training status and genetics. The cardiovascular response to prolonged dynamic exercise can be objectively quantified in relation to a maximal functional capacity (i.e. VO2max). Whilst ageing reduces cardiovascular performance, regular exercise induces adaptations that attenuate some of these reductions, leading to improvements in blood pressure and aerobic performance that are equivalent to those seen in younger individuals.
|Title of host publication||IOC Manual of Sports Cardiology|
|Editors||MG Wilson, J Drezner , S Sharma|
|Place of Publication||West Sussex, United Kingdom|
|Number of pages||11|
|ISBN (Electronic)||9781119046882, 9781119046875|
|Publication status||Published - 2017|