Post-exercise Recovery Period for the Cardiopulmonary System - The post-exercise recovery period for the cardiopulmonary system is not a constant thing. Neither is it an independent factor. During exercise, “the cardiopulmonary system involving heart, lungs and blood as the central system and the muscle cell at the periphery all operate in concert to support aerobic exercise."(Stratton, Reilly, Williams & Richardson, 2004, p. 28) How old you are, what you were doing before you did the aerobics exercise, what your gender is, are you an athlete or otherwise and similar questions all affect the recovery period of an individual. Even the frequency of doing the same exercise(s) affect the period for the cardiopulmonary system to recover.

Additional factors that may affect the cardiopulmonary system recovery period after an activity or an exercise are the person’s physical attributes and age. Maximal minute volume increases with age and body size. A five year old child may be able to breathe up to 35l/min, whereas a young adult may reach values in excess of 150l/min. Nevertheless, when ventilation is expressed in relation to body size, maximal values are much the same in children, adolescents and adults. (Armstrong & Welsman, 1993, p. 69) During exercise the pulmonary ventilation is initially matched to the oxygen consumption, but both children and adults experience a ventilatory threshold beyond which ventilation rises in a more accelerated manner. The maximum energy output of the aerobic system is best described by measuring the maximal oxygen uptake (VO2 max). According to Armstrong & Welsman, 1993, “VO2 max is widely recognized as the best single measure of cardiopulmonary fitness”.

How do we measure what we want to know, which is the period of recovery after exercise for the cardiopulmonary system? How do we further measure the post exercise recovery period now that we are aware of the VO2? There is also the cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) which is the analysis of both cardiac and pulmonary data during exercise. The combination of this data with respiratory gas analysis makes CPET useful in a wide array of clinical applications. CPET, which measures both O₂ consumption and CO₂ production, can identify the point at which CO₂ levels start to increase at the airway.

When a person rests, systemic occurs, which refers to changes in the delivery of oxygen to the muscles rather than changes at the cellular level in the muscles. The weight and volume of the heart generally increase with long-term aerobic training, thus making a difference to a non-aerobic person. To arrive at the specific length of time or period, to arrive at someone’s normal cardiac output at rest the solutions at the following may be used. Thus, if a person is to attain a cardiac output of 10 at 100 heart beats per minute, this individual must have 100ml of blood pumped to the heart’s left/right ventricle per heart beat.

Works Cited

Armstrong, Neil, and Joanne Welsman. "6 Children's Physiological Responses to Exercise." Coaching Children in Sport: Principles and Practice. Ed. Martin Lee. London: E & FN Spon, 1993. 64-76. Questia. Web. 14 July 2010.

Carlson,Chad.”Beginner Triathlete.” Retrieved 15 July 2010 from <http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/cms/article-detail.asp?articleid=1176>.

Stratton, Gareth, Thomas Reilly, A. Mark Williams, and Dave Richardson. Youth Soccer: From Science to Performance. New York: Taylor & Francis, 2004. Questia. Web. 14 July 2010.