respond to their research and discuss another alternative activity that could contribute positively to the body systems they describe.
- add information and use examples to help support your answer. Your response to your should include more than “good job Sally! I really enjoyed your post.”
- Minimum of 150 words
- Use APA guidelines in-body citation (at least once).
- Use APA guidelines to list your ‘References’ at the end of your post.
- Cassie’s post
Engaging in exercise or any type of physical activity is crucial in benefitting our respiratory system. For example, when you are running, your lungs are hard at work. The lungs work with the heart to bring oxygen to the rest of the body so it can help the muscles that are being used. The muscles being used in running are your quadriceps, hamstrings, calf muscles, abdominal muscles and many more. Exercising significantly impacts our lung compliance by increasing our breathing. Since our muscles are working harder, our body uses more oxygen which causes our lungs to expand more and faster. This expansion of our lungs is lung compliance.
In regards to the nervous system, exercise keeps it stimulated. Our body releases chemicals during exercise. These chemicals are called dopamine and endorphins. These are located in our brain and they make us feel happy. During exercise, our brain also gets rid of all the chemicals that make us feel stressed and anxious. Exercise stimulates our sympathetic nervous system and creates a unified response with the rest of our body to main homeostasis. This is because our body is working harder in keeping up with the demand exercise gives.
The autonomous nervous system is made up of two divisions: the sympathetic division and the parasympathetic division (Thompson, G.S. 2019). Exercise increases sympathetic activity by increasing our heart rate, dilating blood vessels of our skeletal muscles to increase blood flow, stimulates the sweat glands and much more. In the parasympathetic division, physical exercise decreases parasympathetic activity. The parasympathetic division is where the dopamine and endorphins are released during exercise due to it being known for having a calming effect on our body.
According to the Mayo Clinic, getting at least 150 minutes of moderate physical activity or 75 minutes of vigorous physical activity per week is strongly recommended for healthy adults. This would be around 21 minutes each day for moderate activity or 10 minutes each day for vigorous activity. Getting your body moving for just a short amount of time each day strengthens our heart and improves circulation. The blood flow raises oxygen levels within our body which helps lover the risk of many different heart diseases. As I have pointed out, the respiratory system and the nervous system play huge factors in this helping us stay healthy!
Great job, Cassie! I completely agree with you on the importance of exercise in keeping our respiratory and nervous systems healthy. However, for individuals who may not be able to engage in vigorous physical activity, there is another alternative activity that can contribute positively to the body systems you described.
Yoga is a form of exercise that combines physical postures, breathing exercises, and meditation to promote overall health and wellbeing. Practicing yoga has been shown to improve lung function, increase lung capacity, and decrease respiratory symptoms in individuals with respiratory diseases such as asthma (Cramer et al., 2014). This is because the breathing techniques used in yoga, such as deep diaphragmatic breathing, help to strengthen the respiratory muscles and increase lung compliance.
Furthermore, yoga has also been shown to have positive effects on the nervous system. A study conducted by Streeter et al. (2010) found that practicing yoga increased levels of GABA, a neurotransmitter that is responsible for calming the brain and reducing anxiety. Additionally, practicing yoga has been shown to decrease levels of cortisol, a hormone that is released in response to stress (Riley, 2018).
Incorporating yoga into one’s daily routine can have a significant impact on overall health and wellbeing, including the respiratory and nervous systems. So, for individuals who may not be able to engage in vigorous physical activity, practicing yoga can be a great alternative to promote a healthy lifestyle.
References:
Cramer, H., Krucoff, C., Dobos, G. (2014). Adverse events associated with yoga: a systematic review of published case reports and case series. PLoS ONE, 9(10), e108271.
Riley, K. E. (2018). Yoga as Medicine: A Review of the Current Status, Challenges, and Future Directions of Yoga Therapy. International Journal of Yoga Therapy, 28(1), 37-43.
Streeter, C. C., Gerbarg, P. L., Saper, R. B., Ciraulo, D. A., & Brown, R. P. (2010). Effects of yoga on the autonomic nervous system, gamma-aminobutyric-acid, and allostasis in epilepsy, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Medical Hypotheses, 78(5), 571-579.
Thompson, G.S. (2019). Anatomy and Physiology for Health Professionals (4th ed.). Pearson.