Long Term Effects of Exercise (AQA GCSE Physical Education (PE))

Long-term Effects of Exercise

• Exercise is considered long-term when participants sustain regular exercise for months or even years

• There are many beneficial effects of long-term exercise on the body. This includes:

  • Change in body shape - this could be a decrease in body mass due to fat stores being used to provide glucose needed for energy. Anaerobic exercises can increase the size of muscles involved in the exercise: this is known as hypertrophy and can alter the shape of the body

  • Increase in muscle strength - anaerobic exercises such as weight lifting can improve the strength of the muscles involved

  • Improvement in muscle endurance - this occurs due to repeated exercise such as sit-ups, the muscles involved will be able to endure more exercise over time

  • Joints become more stable and supple -the muscles, tendons and ligaments surrounding joints will get stronger and so joints are supported better. Over time joints will become more flexible and suppleness will improve

  • Increase in speed - anaerobic exercises such as sprinting will increase the speed of participants with regular training

  • Improvement in cardiovascular endurance - this comes from slower aerobic exercises, such as swimming, where endurance is built up and stamina also improves

  • Increase in heart size - this is an example of hypertrophy. This heart is a muscle so repeated working of the heart will increase the size of the muscle tissue

  • Decrease in resting heart rate - this is known as bradycardia and can occur after prolonged exercise for months or years. Stroke volume will increase with regular exercise so heart rate must decrease to ensure cardiac output is kept the same

Hypertrophy of muscles diagram

Body shape may change as a result of long-term exercise so hypertrophy of the muscles may be seen