BBC Science Focus

...WHEN I EXERCISE?

Exercise diverts blood from your liver and digestive system to your skeletal muscles. Hormones tell the body to convert fat into glucose, reduce the pain you feel and improve your mood. Muscles generate lactic acid as a by-product of intensive exercise an

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1. Brain

The brain makes neurotrans­mitters, like serotonin, dopamine and GABA. This is part of the reason why the brain consumes more energy during exercise.

2. Heart

Adrenaline levels rise, which stimulates the heart to beat faster. Capillarie­s in the muscles open wider, increasing blood flow there by up to 20 times.

3. Lungs

The muscles of the ribcage assist the diaphragm to pull in up to 15 times more oxygen than at rest. Breathing gets faster but also deeper.

4. Skin

Your two million sweat glands can produce 1.4 litres of sweat per hour. Waste heat is carried away by the latent heat of evaporatio­n as it dries.

5. Muscles

As you exercise, the large muscles in your arms and legs squeeze the veins running through them, pumping blood back to your heart.

6. Bones

High-impact and weightlift­ing exercises stimulate bone formation and reduce the rate of calcium loss as we get older.

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