What Happens to Your Body When You Introduce Cardio Exercise

You already know that cardio workouts and overall exercising are great for your body. Choosing to focus on health generally, has a lot to do with exercising. It is a huge component of overall health, preventative care. The biggest issue seems to be that many people do not know where to start.

If you already have an interest in exercising and it’s a part of your weekly routine, you will be interested to learn more about cardiopulmonary exercise testing at Warner Family Practice. CPX produces individualized exercise prescriptions that can heighten the benefits of your exercise hours and diminish the risk of damaging your body through over-exercise.

When you are ready to begin exercising (and for many of us in Chandler, Arizona it’s when the weather is below 90° outside), even the smallest steps can have a huge effect on your body and overall health.

This article outlines some of the effects cardio exercises can have on your body as well as some easy exercises you can do if you are a beginner.

What Happens To Your Body When You Exercise and Introduce Cardio Workouts

Feeling the positive effects of exercise does not take long at all.

In fact, as soon as you start exercising, walking in your Chandler neighborhood or biking on the streets of Tempe or hiking South Mountain you will notice that your heart begins beating faster and your breathing changes. These are two basic things that happen while you are exercising and it’s important to note that there are other things at play here.

During exercise, three main things are happening inside your body: your oxygen flow increases, your body eliminates heat (via sweating and breathing) and your body eliminates metabolic wastes.

But what does that mean for your body and health as a whole?

Let’s take a look at specific areas of the body and what happens during exercise and cardio workouts:

• Blood. Your blood flow increases to supply blood cells to your heart, which is beating faster than normal.
• Skin. Your skin is used to release heat in the body that is generated during exercise. Blood vessels in the skin dilate so the heat reaches the skin and can be released.
• Muscles. Your muscles will tear during workouts, but that is a good thing. These are micro tears that will heal within a few days. This results in sore muscles that will get stronger through this process.
• Lungs. You currently have a VO2Max which is the maximum amount of oxygen your body can take in and use. During exercise, your lungs will work to increase this and take in all of the oxygen it needs. As you continue to work out, your VO2Max can increase.
• Heart. Your heart rate will increase so it can get the right amount of oxygen to your muscles.
• Brain. Your brain releases endorphins during exercise which are feel good endorphins. This happens because more blood and oxygen are delivered to it, making you more awake and focused.

What Are the Long-Term Effects of Cardio Exercise?

A body in motion is said to stay in motion and that is true.

Beyond the changes you notice when you are working out, there are effects that you will notice for much longer, as long as you continue to exercise.

In general, you will feel better about your body, you will have more stamina and you will be able to exercise for longer periods of time. The more you exercise, the more these things will continue to improve.

There are some unseen benefits of long-term exercise as well that you may not have realized. These are the three main benefits:

• More Efficient Circulatory System. When you work out on a regular basis your heart’s volume of blood cells increases. Your ability to transport oxygen gets better which improves your circulatory system.
• Healthier Respiratory System. Exercise will strengthen your diaphragm which means you will be able to get more oxygen into your bloodstream by taking in larger amounts of it.
• Increased Muscle Mass. By working out your muscles, you are able to slowly increase their mass, increase energy production and increase overall strength. This also makes your metabolism speed up.

These three benefits come together to help your body even more by increasing your energy, improving your breathing and even lowering blood pressure.

Additionally, you may have other benefits that you notice that are in direct relation to your exercise.

At Warner Family Practice, our physicians conduct thousands of annual comprehensive physicals, also known as executive physicals, and actually chart the short and long term impact of exercise.

Easy Cardio Exercises You Can Do to Get Started

If you have not been active for a significant stretch of time, just starting any exercise program may seem like an impossible task. From just moving in an active manner to any discomfort you feel in your muscles, there are many reasons why you would quit – don’t.

There are some easy exercises that you can do to ease into exercising. Before you know it, you will be completing full blown workouts and enjoying the effects.

Slow and steady wins the race when it comes to exercising.

These are a few cardio exercises you can do to get started:

• Walking. Walking is something that most people can do and it is a good way to get your body moving. You can start by walking as long as you can and increasing the time and pace every day. Once you feel more comfortable, you can move to jogging and eventually to running.
• Swimming. If you have access to a pool, swimming is a great way to start working out. It is also a workout that is easy on your joints if you have joint issues.

The key is to start slow and add more activity as you increase your ability. It is up to you to do this and no one can make you start exercising. However, there are countless benefits to cardio exercise, so start exercising today.

Tracking Your Exercise and Going Beyond Movement

As already mentioned, at Warner Family Practice in Chandler, we place major emphasis on preventative care. There are three primary ways that our doctors and physicians take patients beyond beginning cardio exercise.

1. Annual comprehensive physical or executive physical – We have built our entire practice on the principle of detecting health issues before they turn into disease and illness. By tracking key health metrics through annual physicals we can prevent issues and prescribe corresponding nutrition, exercise, and supplemental treatments.
2. Cardiopulmonary exercise testing – Exercise has countless benefits, but one downside that we inform our patients of is over-exercise. There is a point for every person where exercise does not add any health benefits and then a point when exercise begins adversely impacting the body. We perform CPX testing in our Chandler office in order to give patients individualized exercise prescriptions. These are ideal for both treating and preventing illness as well as helping athletes gain a competitive edge.
3. Naturopathic medicine and treatments – Being a preventative care focused practice, we are constantly researching modern, popular and cutting edge developments in traditional medicine and naturopathic medicine. Our Chandler office is home to Live Well, a naturopathic care, and treatment facility. Through IV Infusion Therapy, PRP, nutrition education and other natural treatments, we are able to heighten the positive impacts of cardio exercise to increase our patient’s quality of life, both in the immediate and long-term future.

Take Control of Your Health and Schedule A Visit

No matter how simple, complex, long-term or short-term your health concerns and health goals are, you want a partner on the journey, and we want to be that partner. We want you to visit our office in Chandler, Arizona and take control of your health. You can learn more about our team of providers here.

You can schedule your visit by calling our office at 480.831.8457 or through our secure online portal. New patients will need to create an account here.

Learn more about our practice and the services we offer here.