Cardiovascular Responses and Regulation
Explain cardiac dynamics, blood flow, oxygen transport and acute cardiovascular responses to exercise.
How to study A-level Physical Education theory
Learn the mechanism, apply it to a precise sporting context, use quantitative or source evidence where relevant and reach a supported judgement.
Core concepts
Concept 1
Heart rate, stroke volume and cardiac output change with exercise intensity and training status to meet oxygen demand.
Exam cue: Use cardiac output equals heart rate multiplied by stroke volume when interpreting data.
Concept 2
Neural, hormonal and chemical controls regulate the cardiac cycle, vascular shunting, blood pressure and venous return.
Exam cue: Trace a response from receptor or control centre through the effector to the performance consequence.
Concept 3
Haemoglobin, myoglobin, diffusion gradients and the arteriovenous oxygen difference determine oxygen delivery and extraction.
Exam cue: Compare trained and untrained responses at equivalent absolute and relative workloads.
Targeted study blocks
Knowledge for written assessment
Secure the shared theoretical core
Secure cardiac dynamics, circulation, blood vessels, oxygen transport, vascular control, venous return and exercise-response graphs.
Apply and evaluate
Turn knowledge into a supported sporting judgement
Build causal chains from exercise intensity to cardiovascular response and then to oxygen delivery, fatigue or recovery.
Risk pitfalls and guardrails
Treating heart rate, stroke volume and cardiac output as independent.
Guardrail: Do not replace theoretical explanation with an activity-specific technique description or practical-performance instruction.
Confusing vasodilation with an increase in blood pressure at every site.
Guardrail: Do not replace theoretical explanation with an activity-specific technique description or practical-performance instruction.
Naming the Bohr shift without explaining its effect on oxygen unloading.
Guardrail: Do not replace theoretical explanation with an activity-specific technique description or practical-performance instruction.
Memory anchors
Cardiac output
Cardiac output is heart rate multiplied by stroke volume.
Vascular shunt
Vascular shunting redistributes blood toward active tissue through vasodilation and vasoconstriction.
Venous return
Venous return is the flow of blood back to the heart and supports ventricular filling.
Bohr shift
Higher carbon dioxide, acidity and temperature promote oxygen unloading from haemoglobin.
A-VO2 difference
Arteriovenous oxygen difference measures how much oxygen tissue extracts from the blood.
Checkpoint rule
Do the check-up only after you can summarize each concept in one sentence and identify one dangerous pitfall from memory.
Knowledge Check (after reading)
Short check-up to confirm understanding of this module.
Check-up Questions
A cyclist has a heart rate of 150 beats per minute and a stroke volume of 120 mL. What is cardiac output?
Cardiac output is 14.4 L min⁻¹ at a heart rate of 160 beats per minute. What is stroke volume?
Answer all questions to submit.
Next step personalized recommendations
Continue learning
Move forward only after this module is stable.
What is Pass Harbor?
Completely free exam prep for 247 UK exams.
- Practice questions
- Flashcards
- Study guides
- Mock exams
- No registration
- No paywall
- Start instantly
“No more expensive exam prep. Quality study tools should be accessible to everyone.”