What Makes Athletes Exercise Longer Than You?
Athletes always indulge in exercise daily and are constantly prolonging the amount of time they spend exercising. An average person might envy athletes and their ability to exercise for long periods of time and wish they could be like those athletes. On the other hand, athletes must do this if they want to be efficient athletes. Besides, constant practice makes you better because of the physiological changes you are bound to experience.
Of course if you want to be as good as an athlete, this article will definitely tell you the secrets of athletes i.e. how they can exercise longer. Hence, for them to achieve a maximum heart rate they must practice, exercise and train longer. Here are some of the changes they experience:
1. Stroke volume
In athletes, the amount of blood pumped by the heart in a minute increases to become more than the heart rate of an average person. Their heart is basically more efficient so much so that it does not need to beat as much as that of the average person. This is because of the constant running their body adapts and their heart pumps extra volumes of blood in a heartbeat to accommodate running and other training practices better.
2. Arteriovenous oxygen difference
This is also called the AVO2 difference and simply refers to the difference of oxygen content in the blood before and after entering the muscles. The amount of oxygen the muscles can get during running is the key to an athlete’s performance. As a result, the muscles adapt and become more effective in collecting oxygen from the blood and the heartbeat decreases. The lesser the amount of oxygen required by the muscles (AVO2 difference increase) the more efficient an athlete can be, and has the ability to run for a longer time.
3. Maximal oxygen uptake
Also referred to as the VO2 max, which here refers to the amount of oxygen a person takes during maximal exercise. As the result of physiological changes like the stroke volume, AVO2 difference and other factors of an athlete’s VO2 max increases as compared to the average person. Hence, to achieve this maximal oxygen uptake, the athlete tends to work very hard for a long time. Note that the more you become fit, the more oxygen the body can take in.
Upon seeing some of the physiological changes they experience, we get to know the reason why athletes can exercise for so long. You have, by now, understood that you just need constant exercise and training. With the passage of time, you will achieve your dream to exercise as long as an athlete.
Image courtesy of: purefloat.ca.
