How does the body work when we exercise

Oxygen and muscle cells

The respiratory system consists of the lungs and air passageways. The cardiovascular system includes the heart and blood vessels. Together, these two systems bring oxygen into the body and deliver it to tissues, including the exercising muscles. They also help eliminate waste products from the same tissues.

Respiratory system

When you inhale, the respiratory system brings oxygen into your body. Air enters through the nose or mouth and travels down the trachea to branching passageways in the lungs. There, oxygen from the air is transferred to the bloodstream and carbon dioxide is transferred from the blood to the air.

Most of the oxygen in the blood is bound to the protein hemoglobin, which is found in red blood cells. Hemoglobin acts like a delivery truck, transporting oxygen from the lungs to tissues throughout the body. Hemoglobin also transports carbon dioxide from the tissues to the lungs so it can be eliminated in exhaled air.

Cardiovascular system

The cardiovascular system includes your heart and blood vessels. It circulates blood, which transports oxygen and nutrients to all the body cells. The heart pumps blood through the body. It is a muscular pump with two circulatory loops. One delivers blood to the lungs, and one delivers blood to the rest of the body.

The blood vessels that carry blood toward the heart are called veins, and those that carry blood away from the heart are called arteries. As arteries carry blood away from the heart, they branch many times, forming smaller and smaller blood vessels.

The smallest arteries then branch to form capillaries, which are thin-walled vessels that are just large enough to allow one red blood cell to pass through at a time. The thin walls of the capillaries allow the exchange of nutrients and gases. In the capillaries of the lungs, blood brings carbon dioxide to be exhaled and picks up oxygen to be delivered to the cells.

In the capillaries of the GI tract, blood delivers oxygen and picks up water-soluble nutrients absorbed from the diet. From the capillaries, blood flows into the smallest veins, which converge to form larger and larger veins for return to the heart. To summarize, oxygen-poor blood is pumped through arteries to the capillaries of the lungs, where it picks up oxygen.

It then returns to the heart via veins, and is pumped out again through the arteries that lead to the rest of the body. In the capillaries of the body, blood delivers oxygen and nutrients and removes wastes. It then returns to the heart via veins.

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