Explain what the concept of “autoregulation” is. Discuss the 3 aspects of autoregulation and
discuss how Cam Oats will physiologically improve his aerobic capacity after several months of
cardiovascular training (160pts).
When one is completing an exercise, blow flow plays a major role in providing the
muscles involved in the exercise with blood that is needed to complete the bodily movements.
One major contributor to efficient blood flow during exercise is proper placement and regulation
of blood throughout the body. Autoregulation plays a major role in deciding where, when and
how much blood is provided to those muscles. Autoregulation is the increase in blood flow
within the muscles while exercising and that increase is regulated by multiple factors leading
toward vasodilation and vasoconstriction (Powers & Howley, 2018). Some of the factors
involved in determining the vasodilation include the number of motor units required, intensity of
exercise, and metabolic need. Both the number of motor units recruited and intensity of exercise
contribute to each other, such as the greater the intensity, the greater number of motor units
recruited, which requires an increase in blood flow to the muscles involved in the exercise.
Vasodilation, vasoconstriction, and capillary recruitment are three different aspects of
autoregulation. Vasodilation is the widening of blood vessels, while vasoconstriction is the
narrowing of blood vessels. During vasodilation more blood can flow through the blood vessels
due to the greater amount of space and less restriction; the opposite can be stated about
vasoconstriction. Both occur to benefit the other, such as the body constricting blood from
reaching one area of the body, while allowing a less restricted flow of blood to a desired area of
the body. Exercise intensity also plays a role in how significant the vasodilation and
vasoconstriction are during the exercise (Powers & Howley, 2018). Capillary recruitment is
determined by which muscles are involved and need the blood to create the movement. An
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example would be when bench pressing, the capillaries recruited will generally be in the pectoral
region of the body, being that the bench press is a pectoral exercise.
Due to obesity becoming a very prevalent problem, especially in the United States,
healthy dieting and exercising have become more and more of a discussion for Americans.
People exercise for their own reasons, whether to combat an illness or to become “better”
looking, or to compete at the highest level. Many athlete’s work to improve their VO2max, so
that the competitions feel less exhausting, and the athletes are able to perform at their best for
longer periods of time. Improving one’s VO2max is just doing the work consistently, much like
improving in anything. For improving VO2max specifically, this involves cardiovascular
training, such as long-distance running, HIIT workouts, or basically anything that requires the
body to efficiently use oxygen for long periods of time. For Cam Oats, an exercise plan with a
point of emphasis being on the cardio portion of the plan will result in an increase in his
VO2max. Cardiovascular training attacks the cardiovascular system, which is the heart, blood
and vessels moving that blood, with an aim to make this system more efficient. The
physiological changes that will occur for Mr. Oats with cardiovascular training include a lower
heart rate (both at rest and during exercise), increase in heart size, increase in stroke volume,
increase in red blood count (RBCs), lactate threshold changes and respiratory exchange ratio.
These changes occur due to the heart becoming more used, but also more accustomed to a higher
work rate, which results in the cardiovascular system becoming stronger as a whole. The body
becoming accustomed to cardiovascular training will result in a lower heart rate due to the body
being familiar with the exercise and the cardiovascular system becoming stronger, which results
in the heart having to pump blood less often. The repeated contractions of the heart during cardio
will result in a greater heart size. The increase in stroke volume is a result of a bigger and
stronger heart. Since the heart is bigger, that means that the heart can hold more blood; since the
heart is stronger, that means the heart and push out more blood, creating a higher stroke volume.
The body will become accustomed to having more oxygen throughout the body, which will result
in a demand for more oxygen, which will need more RBCs to carry that oxygen. The lactate
threshold will also change due to the body being familiar with a higher work rate, meaning that
lactic acid will not begin to build up in the muscles until further along in an exercise. This will
allow Cam to compete at a higher level for a longer period of time. Finally, the respiratory
exchange ratio will become greater due to the lungs having to become stronger because the body
will be expecting a greater amount of oxygen. This increase will only benefit the efficiency of
the oxygen exchange into the blood, creating for a more efficient cardiovascular system. All of
these factors will generally come to pass with cardiovascular training, being that there is not
another outside factor inhibiting them. For Cam Oats, he will be able to compete at a higher
intensity for a longer duration after months of cardiovascular training due to his body becoming
stronger and more efficient in exercising and at rest.
