Many of us don't truly understand how well-designed our human body is.
We take what we have for granted and expect things to always work properly.
We go for a run to "get exercise" but never stop to think about how it all works.
Why do we need to exercise? What happens to our bodies when we start to run? What are the benefits of cardiovascular training? Here's a quick explanation of your cardiovascular system.
Your heart is an incredible machine.
It beats up to 75bpm while you're resting, forcing blood through your arteries and into the active tissues of your body.
This is how nutrients and oxygen get delivered.
We need to define two terms: Stroke Volume (SV) - the amount of blood that your heart ejects each beat.
Cardiac Output (Q) - the amount of blood that your heart ejects in one minute.
A simple calculation is used to determine cardiac output: Q = SV * HR (where HR is your heart rate in bpm) So how does this all come into play when understanding the benefits of cardiovascular training? As you continue to train and improve your cardio fitness, ventricles in your heart grow in size which allows them to hold more blood and deliver stronger contractions.
As you get fitter, your stroke volume will increase allowing you to deliver more blood each heart beat.
This means that you will be able to deliver more oxygen and nutrients to your working muscles.
In effect, you are turning your body into an efficient system.
Your heart does not have to work as hard at rest, allowing it to work harder during exercise.
It's important to learn how different systems of your body work as you now understand the benefits of cardiovascular training.