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Group Fitness Instructor

Category - Variety

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One of the simplest ways to quickly change the nature of an exercise is to change the position or environment of the exerciser. During land-based exercise, gravity insures that the body must work harder to push blood “up the hill” and back towards the heart. During immersion, hydrostatic pressure does the work. Because of this external pressure, there is a fundamental increase in WHICH of the following?
  1. The volume of blood in the ventricles at the end of diastole and the force of contraction of the heart muscle
  2. Systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure
  3. Blood pressure and intensity of exercise
  4. Heart rate and blood pressure
Explanation
Answer: A - Immersion in water produces a massive shift in blood volume towards the chest, producing a larger volume of blood in the ventricles. The Frank-Starling Law describes what occurs next. As the ventricle fills with blood during diastole, the cardiac muscle is stretched, which increases the force of ventricular contraction. This rise in contractility results in a greater amount of blood pumped with each beat.
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