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Also known as the cardiovascular system, your heart, blood vessels and blood itself are three essential components the body needs to survive. The circulatory system consists of two circuits that blood travels through; pulmonary and systemic. Exercise affects these systems, causing the heart to pump blood faster around the body, which in turn allows you to exercise for longer!
Components of the circulatory/cardiovascular system
The three components are:
- The heart
- Blood vessels
- Blood
It is a double circulatory system. It comprises two separate circuits and blood passes through the heart twice.
The pulmonary circuit carries blood to the lungs to be oxygenated and then back to the heart. In the lungs, carbon dioxide is removed from the blood, and oxygen taken up by the haemoglobin in the red blood cells.
The systemic circuit carries blood around the body to deliver the oxygen and returns de-oxygenated blood to the heart. Blood also carries nutrients and waste.
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