The Effects of Cardiovascular Exercise

Through an active cardio training program, you can undergo a number of physiological changes to acquire a greater fitness level. By coupling cardio fitness training with an effective weight training program, you can maximize on muscle development and caloric burn. In addition to fitness gains, cardio training can help you develop better breathing technque and a faster heart rate recovery time. Below is a short, but thorough summary of some of the various results that you may achieve:


Respiratory Changes:

  • Increased stroke volume, the amount of air moved in and out of your lungs when you breathe.
  • Greater efficiency when you breathe, in exercise and at rest

Aerobic Changes:

  • Increased Max VO2 capacity
  • Increased blood volume, plasma and hemoglobin concentration
  • Increased maximal cardiac output
  • Hypertrophy and strengthening of cardiac (heart) muscle
  • Lower resting and exercise heart rate
  • Expansion of capillaries to facilitate greater oxygen transfer and CO2 removal
  • Decrease and regulation of blood pressure

Anaerobic Changes:

  • More efficient phosphagen energy system through a greater amount of anaerobic enzymes and reserve CP and ATP stores in the body
  • Greater number of glycolytic enzymes and tolerance for lactic acid reflected in a more effective glycolytic energy system

Musculoskeletal Changes:

  • Endurance muscle development (possible strength and hypertrophy as well)
  • Increased lean muscle to fat ratio, resulting in a higher basal metabolic rate (BMR) and fat burn at rest
  • Increased levels of glycogen stores in the muscle and myoglobin in the blood for, respectively, a quick supply of energy and oxygen transfer
  • Lower lactate acid production in sub-maximal physical activity
  • Multiplication of mitochondria density and size in muscular tissue for aerobic energy metabolism

Health Benefits:

  • Reduced risk of coronary heart disease, stoke, high blood pressure, and some forms of cancer
  • Ease of muscle tension and mental stress
  • Improved body composition and lower risk of obesity

Related Pages:

Testing Cardio Fitness - Use the 1.5 Mile Walk/Run Test to evaluate your current cardio fitness level and find out how you can improve.

Borg Rating of Perceived Exertion and Talk Test - Determine how hard you are training with this set of simple tests.

Cardiovascular Functions - Not a physiology major? No problem. Here's a VERY SIMPLE overview of your heart and lungs and how they function.