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Short- and Long-Term Effects of Exercise

The moment you start to move, your body reacts, and months of training change it for good. Learn to tell the short-term effects of exercise from the long-term ones.

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Your body responds

The moment you start to exercise, your body reacts. Some effects happen straight away and fade quickly; others build up over months of training. Learn to tell the short-term effects from the long-term ones.

Heart and breathing words

A few terms describe how the heart and lungs respond:

Now or later?

Effects fall into two groups.

During exercise

What happens to your heart rate during exercise?

  • It increases
  • It decreases
  • It stays exactly the same
  • It stops for a while

Short-term effects

  • Heart rate
  • Breathing
  • Body temperature
  • Lactate
  • Rises so more blood reaches the muscles
  • Gets faster and deeper for more oxygen
  • Rises, so the body sweats to cool down
  • Builds up and causes muscle fatigue

Training pays off

Train regularly for months and your body adapts. Your resting heart rate falls because the heart works more efficiently. The heart itself gets bigger and stronger, so it pumps more blood with each beat. Your muscles and bones grow stronger, and your stamina improves.

Heart rate and effort

As exercise gets harder, heart rate rises. Resting heart rate is plotted at effort 0. Plot the heart rate at each higher effort level.

Long-term effects

Which THREE are long-term effects of regular exercise?

  • A lower resting heart rate
  • A bigger, stronger heart
  • Better stamina
  • Weaker muscles
  • No change to the body at all

As you speed up

Put the short-term response to exercise in the right order.

  • The muscles need more oxygen
  • The heart beats faster
  • Breathing gets faster and deeper
  • More oxygen reaches the muscles
  • You can keep exercising

Complete the idea

During exercise, your heart _____ increases and your breathing gets faster and deeper. _____ builds up in the muscles and causes fatigue. Over months of training, your _____ heart rate falls and your heart gets bigger and _____. Regular exercise also improves your _____.

rate Lactate resting stronger stamina weaker sugar maximum slower bones

Why it helps

  • A lower resting heart rate
  • A bigger, stronger heart
  • Stronger muscles
  • Denser bones
  • The heart works more efficiently
  • It pumps more blood with each beat
  • They can work harder for longer
  • They are less likely to break

Short or long term?

Decide whether each effect is short-term or long-term.

  • Your heart rate shoots up as you start running. This is...
  • After months of training your resting heart rate has fallen. This is...
  • You sweat and feel hot during a match. This is...

True or not?

Tap the TWO statements that are true about the effects of exercise.

  • Heart rate increases during exercise.
  • Regular training lowers your resting heart rate over time.
  • Sweating is a long-term effect that lasts for months.
  • Exercise makes your muscles weaker over time.
  • Breathing slows down as exercise gets harder.

Compare the effects

Compare the short-term and long-term effects of exercise.

  • Describe two short-term effects of exercise
  • Describe two long-term effects of training
  • Explain how the heart changes over months of training
  • Explain why long-term effects need regular exercise