Biology

The cardiopulmonary system is made up of the heart and the lungs which are both located in the thoracic cavity of the body. The two organs are central to the circulatory and the respiratory systems respectively. Exercise entails exertion of the body to achieve a physical benefit. The cardiovascular system performs several vital functions in the body during exercise. It delivers oxygen to the muscles, transports the heat generated from the core to the skin, transports glucose and essential nutrients to the active tissues, pumps the deoxygenated blood back to the lungs for oxygenation and also transports hormones such as adrenaline. During exercise drastic changes occur in the body which places a high demand for the cardiovascular system to step its functional rate. For instance, the more waste products created during exercise require to be removed, more energy supply is required and the excess heat produced removed. The cardiopulmonary system must therefore regulate all these processes to ensure physiological sanity in the body.

 For the body to regain strength for more exercise, a period of rest is required during which the cardiopulmonary system and the muscles undergo recovery. Therefore, for the cardiopulmonary and cardiovascular systems to recover, a period of reduced exercise must accompany the exercise. During this period, several changes occur driven by essential parameters. The central organ in these systems is the heart which do not benefit from a recovery program that removes any stress on it above the sedentary level.

The most important element of post-exercise cardiopulmonary recovery is the fluid level of the body which largely comprise of water. This is explained by the fact that body exercises result in the generation of heat in which the body has a mechanism of getting rid of the excess heat through sweat. The implication of this is reduction in the volume of fluids present in the blood. At the same time, the blood vessels undergo vasodilation to permit loss of excess heat through the skin. The resultant effect is the lessened ability of the blood to carry out oxygen transportation and distribution of glucose and other nutrients throughout the body. Following the loss of body fluids to the level of 2-3, it may require several hours for the cardiopulmonary system to attain its optimal fluid level (faqs.org, 2010).

In addition the recovery of the depleted minerals essential for the operations of the cardiovascular system may take even a longer period but this will depend on the amount of the minerals used up during the exercise. Therefore, the post-exercise recovery period of the cardiopulmonary system is largely influenced by the recovery of the fluid level of the blood and also the restoration of used up energy reserves during the exercise. Following exercise, the cardiopulmonary system must undergo several adaptations for it to accommodate the changes brought about by the exercise.

 The most vital ones include changes in the heart size, the heart rate, stoke volume, cardiac output, blood flow, blood pressure, and blood volume. During the recovery and adaptation period, the heart volume and mass increases whereas the cardiac muscle undergoes hypertrophy. The most affected is the left ventricle as well as the thickness of the myocardial wall. The resting heart rate for a previously sedentary person reduces in addition to changes in the stroke volume. Stroke volume increase as a recovery event is attributed to an elevated end-diastolic filling as a result of reduced heart rate and increase in blood plasma and so blood volume. Blood pressure is another aspect which is altered during post-exercise recovery of the cardiopulmonary system. The systolic and diastolic pressure is likely to decrease during sub maximal exercise and at rest (sport-fitness-advisor.com, n.d).

The post-exercise recovery of the cardiopulmonary system is critical for facilitating further exercise. The benefits anticipated from exercises therefore can only be accrued if the requirements for the recovery process are readily available in the body. The most important factors which regulate the rate at which the recovery process takes place are the body fluid levels and the supply of glucose and other nutrients. Therefore, intake of large volumes of water is highly recommended after exercise to elevate the blood volume. In addition, several adaptations are therefore required to ensure that the changes occurring during the recovery process function to the benefits of the body.