Long Term Effects

• • Exercise is considered long-term when participants sustain regular exercise for months or even years
• Change in body shape

  This could be a decrease in body mass due to fat stores being used to provide glucose needed for energy. Anaerobic exercises can increase the size of muscles involved in the exercise: this is known as hypertrophy and can alter the shape of the body
• Increase in muscle strength

  Anaerobic exercises such as weight lifting can improve the strength of the muscles involved
• Improvement in muscle endurance

  This occurs due to repeated exercise such as sit-ups, the muscles involved will be able to endure more exercise over time
• Joints become more stable and supple

  The muscles, tendons and ligaments surrounding joints will get stronger and so joints are supported better. Over time joints will become more flexible and suppleness will improve
• Increase in speed

  Anaerobic exercises such as sprinting will increase the speed of participants with regular training
• Improvement in cardiovascular endurance

  This comes from slower aerobic exercises, such as swimming, where endurance is built up and staminaalso improves
• Increase in heart size

  This is an example of hypertrophy. This heart is a muscle so repeated working of the heart will increase the size of the muscle tissue
• Decrease in resting heart rate

  This is known as bradycardia and can occur after prolonged exercise for months or years. Stroke volume will increase with regular exercise so heart rate must decrease to ensure cardiac output is kept the same