[beepbeeprichie]

How is it, exactly, that cardiovascular exercise improves fitness (i.e. the ability to repeat greater and greater cardiovascular performance)?

I'm not disputing that it does (because it obviously does) I'd just like to know the mechanisms (and google searches weren't helpful).

Is it just that the heart becomes more powerful (like any muscle after repeated use)?

[sconter]

mainly because it trains type 1 muscle fibres.

[HFerguson]

heart becomes more powerful, type 1 fires are trained ^, the nervous system becomes more efficient at increasing sympathetic output/tone and decreasing parasympathetic output, leading to greater efficiency of oxygen transport.
Also upregulates the number of mitochondria and associated respiratory organelles and enzymes in muscle tissues.

[Classical Liberal]

(Original post by HFerguson)
heart becomes more powerful, type 1 fires are trained ^, the nervous system becomes more efficient at increasing sympathetic output/tone and decreasing parasympathetic output, leading to greater efficiency of oxygen transport.
Also upregulates the number of mitochondria and associated respiratory organelles and enzymes in muscle tissues.

Now I wish I applied for medicine.

Ahhh well, probably would not have got in

[Arcanine]

Your body adapts to the stresses put on it, by making adjustments to more efficiently cope with it in the future. Those adaptations depend on what type of exercise you do.

[Old Father Time]

Burning excess fat. and making muscles stronger.

[cyfer]

(Original post by beepbeeprichie)
How is it, exactly, that cardiovascular exercise improves fitness (i.e. the ability to repeat greater and greater cardiovascular performance)?

I'm not disputing that it does (because it obviously does) I'd just like to know the mechanisms (and google searches weren't helpful).

Is it just that the heart becomes more powerful (like any muscle after repeated use)?

Heart enlargens
Thorax enlargens>greater lung capacity
Arteries become more stretchy
Complicated process>VO2 max increases.

[KasanDude]

(Original post by beepbeeprichie)
Is it just that the heart becomes more powerful (like any muscle after repeated use)?

Kind of. Basically your body becomes more accustomed to working under load (cardio activity). So the more you work out at a certain level, permitting recuperation, the easier that level becomes for your body. With cardio, I suspect its a combination of muscle building (as with anaerobic exercise) and the red blood cells being able to carry more oxygen (or something like that, biology was a looong time ago.)

[bergmanterrie]

Cardio exercises help to remove the excess fat from a persons body and also increases the flow of blood in your body. This makes our body fit.