Exercise can cause both immediate and more gradual effects on the body. As soon as you start exercising your muscles start to contract more, your body temperature increases, your pulse rate gets faster and your breathing deepens.
After effects you’ll start to notice with regular exercise as your body adapts to the activities are your heart becoming larger, your bone density increasing and a deepening of the vital capacity of your breathing.
| Body area | Immediate effects | Long-term effects |
| Muscles, bones and jointsCardiovascular system
Respiratory system |
Muscles contractBlood flow increases to the musclesMuscles temperature increasesHeart rate increases as does the stroke rateBlood aimed at the digestive and other systems is diverted to the musclesIncrease in blood temperatureBlood vessels located near the skin open to allow more heat to be lost from the body
The breathing rate increases The tidal volume, which is a measurement of how much air is breathed in or out of the lungs in one breath, increases |
Muscles, ligaments and tendons increase in strengthMuscles increase in size (hypertrophy)Improvement in muscles enduranceBone width increasesBone density increasesJoints are more flexibleIncreased stability in the jointsThe size and strength of the heart muscle increasesIncrease in cardiac output which is the amount of blood being pumped by the heart in a minuteThe heart resting rate decreasesThe recovery rate is fasterReduces the risk of heart diseaseThe number of capillaries in the muscles increasesThe amount of blood and the number of blood cells increasesIncrease in the strength of the intercostal muscles and the diaphragmAlveoli in the lungs increase
Vital capacity, which is a measurement of how much air can be forcibly breathed out after inhaling as quickly as possible, increases The rate at which oxygen is delivered and carbon dioxide is removed increases |
Fatigue and stress
Another outcome of physical exercise takes the form of fatigue and stress. How and when these occur depends on:
- the personality of the individual as in how well equipped they are mentally to deal with physical exercise
- how tense or anxious they are
- the aggression with which they have to perform
- how motivated they feel and their level of arousal
- how bored they are or how tedious they find the activity
- the type of feedback they receive and the level of criticism this takes