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New
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Year 10
AQA

Long-term effects of exercise

I can describe the long-term effects of exercise on my body.

icon-background-square
New
New
Year 10
AQA

Long-term effects of exercise

I can describe the long-term effects of exercise on my body.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Long-term effects of exercise refer to the benefits/changes in health and fitness after a period of regular training.
  2. Body shape may undergo changes due to regular exercise.
  3. Exercise leads to increased muscle strength/endurance, speed, suppleness, cardiovascular endurance and stamina.
  4. Regular exercise can lead to an increase in heart size (hypertrophy) and bradycardia (a lower resting heart rate).
  5. Different types of exercise will develop different components of fitness.

Keywords

  • Long-term effects of exercise - the effects on our body of months and/or years of regular physical activity

  • Hypertrophy - the enlargement of an organ or tissue from the increase in the size of its cells

  • Bradycardia - lower resting heart rate below 60 BPM as a result of regular physical activity

  • Suppleness - as with flexibility, the range of movement possible at a joint

Common misconception

Cardiorespiratory benefits only come from endurance training and muscle growth only comes from weight training.

Any training that regularly puts the bodily systems under more strain than they are in normal life will lead to long-term benefits to the muscular, cardiovascular and respiratory systems. However, training intensity will effect results.


To help you plan your year 10 physical education lesson on: Long-term effects of exercise, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Watching a recent sports montage from the Olympics, or similar, is a great motivational start to discussions about what the human body is capable of with dedicated training.
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This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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6 Questions

Q1.
Muscle temperature when you start to exercise.
Correct Answer: increases, increase
Q2.
Which of the following statements is correct as a response to a gentle jog?
Heart rate keeps going up.
Heart rate remains at resting levels.
Correct answer: Heart rate plateaus.
Heart rate rises quickly to 220 minus your age.
Q3.
Exercising at a higher intensity produces more in the muscles.
Correct Answer: lactic acid, lactate
Q4.
is caused if too much lactic acid builds up in the muscles during exercise.
Correct Answer: fatigue
Q5.
Match the following short-term responses of exercise to the appropriate body system.
Correct Answer:increased heart rate,cardiac system
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cardiac system

Correct Answer:increased blood flow to muscles,vascular system
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vascular system

Correct Answer:increased breathing rate,respiratory system
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respiratory system

Correct Answer:increased muscle temperature,muscular system
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muscular system

Correct Answer:increased elasticity of ligaments,skeletal system
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skeletal system

Q6.
Gaseous exchange is the of oxygen into the body and carbon dioxide out as these substances move from high concentration/pressure to lower concentration/pressure.
Correct Answer: diffusion, diffuse

6 Questions

Q1.
Which of the following are long-term adaptations to regular training?
Correct answer: decreased resting heart rate
Correct answer: increased muscle mass
Correct answer: stronger respiratory muscles
Correct answer: improved ability to cope with lactic acid
improved removal of oxygen from the body
Q2.
is the term used when muscle increases in size and strength.
Correct Answer: hypertrophy, hyper trophy
Q3.
It takes at least weeks for regular training to result in long-term changes to our body systems.
Correct Answer: six, 6
Q4.
What does bradycardia mean?
a resting heart rate of less than 70 BPM
Correct answer: a resting heart rate of less than 60 BPM
a resting breathing rate of less than 16 breaths per minute
Correct answer: person is likely to have a bigger, stronger and more efficient heart
Q5.
Resting heart rate following a period of endurance training.
Correct Answer: decreases, decreasing, decrease
Q6.
Match up the following long term adaptations to the correct description.
Correct Answer:increased muscular strength,an outcome of high intensity training with a heavy resistance
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an outcome of high intensity training with a heavy resistance

Correct Answer:increased muscular endurance,an outcome of repeated muscular contractions over a prolonged period
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an outcome of repeated muscular contractions over a prolonged period

Correct Answer:improved body shape,an outcome of general conditioning and regular training
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an outcome of general conditioning and regular training

Correct Answer:improved speed,an outcome of explosive muscular contractions
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an outcome of explosive muscular contractions

Correct Answer:improved stamina,an outcome of training that stresses the cardio-respiratory system
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an outcome of training that stresses the cardio-respiratory system