Cardiorespiratory Responses

to Acute Exercise
 Overview

• Cardiovascular responses to acute exercise

– Cardiac responses
– Vascular responses
– Integration of the exercise response

• Respiratory responses to acute exercise

– Ventilation (normal exercise, irregularities)
– Ventilation and energy metabolism
– Respiratory limitations
– Respiratory regulation of acid–base balance
 Cardiovascular Responses
to Acute Exercise

• Increases blood flow to working muscle

• Involves altered heart function, peripheral
circulatory adaptations
– Heart rate
– Stroke volume
– Cardiac output
– Blood pressure
– Blood flow
– Blood
 Cardiovascular Responses:
Resting Heart Rate (RHR)

• Normal ranges
– Untrained RHR: 60 to 80 beats/min
– Trained RHR: as low as 30 to 40 beats/min
– Affected by neural tone, temperature, altitude
– HR decreases – parasympathetic

• Anticipatory response: HR  above RHR

just before start of exercise
– Vagal tone 
– Norepinephrine, epinephrine 
 Cardiovascular Responses:
Heart Rate During Exercise

• Directly proportional to exercise intensity

• Maximum HR (HRmax): highest HR achieved
in all-out effort to volitional fatigue
– Highly reproducible
– Declines slightly with age
– Estimated HRmax = 220 – age in years
– Better estimated HRmax = 208 – (0.7 x age in years)
 Cardiovascular Responses:
Heart Rate During Exercise

• Steady-state HR: point of plateau, optimal

HR for meeting circulatory demands at a
given submaximal intensity
– If intensity , so does steady-state HR
– Adjustment to new intensity takes 2 to 3 min

• Steady-state HR basis for simple exercise

tests that estimate aerobic fitness and HRmax
Heart Rate Changes

Figure 8.1
Estimating Maximal Exercise Capacity

Figure 8.2
 Cardiovascular Responses:
Stroke Volume (SV) how much blood
is pumped with each beat
•
•  With  intensity up to 40 to 60% V O2max
– Beyond this, SV plateaus to exhaustion
– Possible exception: elite endurance athletes

• SV during maximal exercise ≈ double standing SV

• But SV during maximal exercise only slightly
higher than supine SV
– Supine SV much higher versus standing
– Supine EDV > standing EDV
– End diastolic (coming into heart when relaxed) volume
Stroke Volume During Exercise

Figure 8.3
CO and SV during Exercise

Figure 8.4
Changes in EDV, ESV and SV during
Exercise

Figure 8.5
 Cardiovascular Responses:
Factors That Increase Stroke Volume
•  Preload (EDV): end-diastolic ventricular stretch
–  Stretch (i.e.,  EDV)   contraction strength
– **Frank-Starling mechanism**

•  Contractility: inherent ventricle property

–  Norepinephrine or epinephrine   contractility
– Independent of EDV ( ejection fraction instead)

•  Afterload: aortic resistance (R)

- vasodilation happens, pushing more blood due to bigger
vessels
 Cardiovascular Responses: Stroke
Volume Changes During Exercise
•  Preload at lower intensities   SV
–  Venous return   EDV   preload
– Muscle and respiratory pumps (muscles contracting kind of
like milking), venous reserves
• Increase in HR   filling time  slight  in EDV 
 SV

•  Contractility at higher intensities   SV

•  Afterload via vasodilation   SV

Vessels widen, pushing more blood
 Cardiovascular Responses:
•
Cardiac Output (Q )
• Q• = HR x SV
•
•  With  intensity, plateaus near V O2max
• Normal values
– Resting Q• ~5 L/min (5L circulates entire body/min)
– Untrained Q• max ~20 L/min
– Trained Q• max 40 L/min

• Q• max a function of body size and aerobic fitness

Cardiac Output during Exercise

Figure 8.6
Trained vs Untrained
 Cardiovascular Responses:
Fick Principle
• Calculation of tissue O2 consumption depends on
blood flow, O2 extraction

• V• O2 = Q• x (a-v- )O2 difference

• V• O2 = HR x SV x (a-v- )O2 difference

Heart Rate Changes

Figure 8.7a
Stroke Volume Changes

Figure 8.7b
Cardiac Output Changes

Figure 8.7c
 Cardiovascular Responses:
Blood Pressure – pressure exerted on
arteries as heart contracts
• During endurance exercise, mean arterial pressure
(MAP) increases
– Systolic BP  proportional to exercise intensity
– Diastolic BP slight(bc VD)  or slight  (at max exercise)

•
• MAP = Q x total peripheral resistance (TPR)
– Q• , TPR  slightly
– Muscle vasodilation versus sympatholysis (local VD due to
metabolic products)
 Cardiovascular Responses:
Blood Pressure

• Rate-pressure product = HR x SBP

– Related to myocardial oxygen uptake and
myocardial blood flow
• Resistance exercise  periodic large
increases in MAP
– Up to 480/350 mmHg
– More common when using Valsalva maneuver (
 Cardiovascular Responses:
Blood Flow Redistribution

•  Cardiac output   available blood flow

• Must redirect  blood flow to areas with
greatest metabolic need (exercising muscle)
• Sympathetic vasoconstriction shunts blood
away from less-active regions
– Splanchnic circulation (liver, pancreas, GI)
– Kidneys
 Cardiovascular Responses:
Blood Flow Redistribution
• Local vasodilation permits additional blood flow in
exercising muscle
– Local VD triggered by metabolic, endothelial products
– Sympathetic vasoconstriction in muscle offset by
sympatholysis
– Local VD > greater than neural VC

• As temperature rises, skin VD also occurs

–  Sympathetic VC,  sympathetic VD
– Permits heat loss through skin
Cardiac Output Distribution

Figure 8.8
 Cardiovascular Responses:
***Cardiovascular Drift***
• Associated with  core temperature and
dehydration
• SV drifts  HR has to compensate
– Skin blood flow 
– Plasma volume  (sweating)
– Venous return/preload 

• HR drifts  to compensate (Q• maintained)

• Vo2 drift = increase in vo2 at lower intensity
• higher intensity (above lactate threshold) is called slow
component, type 1 fibers have to work harder to get
o2 in compared to type 2.
Circulatory Responses During
Exercise

Figure 8.9
 Cardiovascular Responses:
Competition for Blood Supply

• Exercise + other demands for blood flow =

•
competition for limited Q . Examples:
– Exercise (muscles) + eating (splanchnic blood flow)
– Exercise (muscles) + heat (skin)

• Multiple demands may  muscle blood flow

 Cardiovascular Responses:
Blood Oxygen Content

-
• (a-v )O2 difference (mL O2 / 100 mL blood)
– Arterial O2 content – mixed venous O2 content
– Resting: ~6 mL O2 / 100 mL blood
– Max exercise: ~16 to 17 mL O2/100 mL blood

• Mixed venous O2 ≥4 mL O2 / 100 mL blood

– Venous O2 from active muscle ~0 mL
– Venous O2 from inactive tissue > active muscle
– Increases mixed venous O2 content
(a-v)O2 difference

Figure 8.10
 Cardiovascular Responses:
Plasma Volume

• Capillary fluid movement into and out of

tissue
– Due to Hydrostatic pressure
– And Oncotic, osmotic pressures

• Upright exercise   plasma volume

– Compromises exercise performance
–  MAP   capillary hydrostatic pressure
– Metabolite buildup   tissue osmotic pressure
– Sweating further  plasma volume
Filtration of Plasma

Figure 8.11
 Cardiovascular Responses:
Hemoconcentration (V of RBC)
•  Plasma volume  hemoconcentration
– Fluid percent of blood , cell percent of blood 
– Hematocrit increases up to 50% or beyond

• Net effects
– Red blood cell concentration 
– Hemoglobin concentration 
– O2-carrying capacity 
 Central Regulation
of Cardiovascular Responses

• What stimulates rapid changes in HR, Q• ,

and blood pressure during exercise?
– Precede metabolite buildup in muscle
– HR increases within 1 s of onset of exercise

• Central command
– Higher brain centers
– Coactivates motor and cardiovascular centers
**CV system’s Response to Exercise**

Figure 8.12
CV Control During Exercise

Figure 8.13
 Cardiovascular Responses:
Integration of the Exercise Response

• Cardiovascular responses to exercise

complex, fast, and finely tuned
• First priority: maintenance of blood
pressure
– Blood flow can be maintained only as long as BP
remains stable
– Prioritized before other needs (exercise,
thermoregulatory, etc.)
 Respiratory Responses:
Ventilation During Exercise

• Immediate  in ventilation (air breathing in)

– Begins before muscle contractions
– Anticipatory response from central command

• Gradual second phase of  in ventilation

– Driven by chemical changes in arterial blood
–  CO2, H+ sensed by chemoreceptors
– Right atrial stretch receptors
 Respiratory Responses:
Ventilation During Exercise

• Ventilation increase proportional to

metabolic needs of muscle
– At low-exercise intensity, only tidal volume 
– At high-exercise intensity, rate also 

• Ventilation recovery after exercise delayed

– Recovery takes several minutes
– May be regulated by blood pH, PCO2, temperature
The Ventilatory Response to Exercise

Figure 8.14
 Respiratory Responses:
Breathing Irregularities
• Dyspnea (shortness of breath)
– Common with poor aerobic fitness
– Caused by inability to adjust to high blood PCO2, H+
– Also, fatigue in respiratory muscles despite drive to
 ventilation

• Hyperventilation (excessive ventilation)

– Anticipation or anxiety about exercise
–  PCO2 gradient between blood, alveoli
–  Blood PCO2   blood pH   drive to breathe
 Respiratory Responses:
Breathing Irregularities

• Valsalva maneuver: potentially dangerous

but accompanies certain types of exercise
– Close glottis
–  Intra-abdominal P (bearing down)
–  Intrathoracic P (contracting breathing muscles)
- Great veins are collapsed

• High pressures collapse great veins

•
  venous return   Q   arterial
blood pressure
 Respiratory Responses:
Ventilation and Energy Metabolism

• Ventilation matches metabolic rate

• Ventilatory equivalent for O2

– V• E/V• O2 (L air breathed / L O2 consumed / min)
– Index of how well control of breathing matched to
body’s demand for oxygen

• Ventilatory threshold
– Point where L air breathed > L O2 consumed
– Associated with lactate threshold and  PCO2
Changes in Pulmonary Ventilation

Figure 8.15
 Respiratory Responses:
Estimating Lactate Threshold

• Ventilatory threshold as surrogate

measure?
– Excess lactic acid + sodium bicarbonate
– Result: excess sodium lactate, H2O, CO2
– Lactic acid, CO2 accumulate simultaneously

• Refined to better estimate lactate threshold

– Anaerobic threshold
– Monitor both V• E/V• O2, V• E/V• CO2
Ventilatory Equivalents

Figure 8.16
 Respiratory Responses:
Limitations to Performance

• Ventilation normally not limiting factor

– Respiratory muscles account for 10% of V• O2, 15%
•
of Q during heavy exercise
– Respiratory muscles very fatigue resistant

• Airway resistance and gas diffusion

normally not limiting factors at sea level
• Restrictive or obstructive respiratory
disorders can be limiting – asthma
 Respiratory Responses:
Limitations to Performance

• Exception: elite endurance-trained athletes

exercising at high intensities
– Ventilation may be limiting
– Ventilation-perfusion mismatch = HR so fast, SV so
high that O2 diffusion into arteries is slowed
– Exercise-induced arterial hypoxemia (EIAH)
 Respiratory Responses:
Acid–Base Balance

• Metabolic processes produce H+   pH

• H+ + buffer  H-buffer are joined
• At rest, body slightly alkaline
– 7.1 to 7.4
– Higher pH = alkalosis

• During exercise, body slightly acidic

– 6.6 to 6.9
– Lower pH = acidosis
Tolerable Limits of Blood and Muscle
pH

Figure 8.17
 Respiratory Responses:
Acid–Base Balance

• Physiological mechanisms to control pH

– Chemical buffers: bicarbonate, phosphates,
proteins, hemoglobin
–  Ventilation helps H+ bind to bicarbonate
– Kidneys remove H+ from buffers, excrete H+

• Active recovery facilitates pH recovery

– Passive recovery: 60 to 120 min
– Active recovery: 30 to 60 min
Buffering Capacity Of Blood
Components
pH and Lactate Concentrations after a
400m Run
Passive vs Active Recovery

Figure 8.18