Key term
WJEC A-Level Physical Education 601-8485-1
Performance Analysis and Fitness Testing
Levers and Movement Analysis
Joints and the Musculo-Skeletal System
Components of Fitness and Methods of Training
Energy Systems and Principles of Training
Fatigue, Recovery and Rehabilitation
Diet, Nutrition and Hydration
Personality
Stress, Arousal and Anxiety
Motivation and Self-Efficacy
Skill, Ability and Skill Classification
Learning Curves, Theories and Stages
Transfer, Practice, Guidance and Feedback
Sport, Culture and Society
The Emergence of Modern Sport
Social Differentiation in Sport
Short-Term Responses to Exercise
Long-Term Adaptations to Exercise
Carbohydrate Loading and Supplements
Biomechanical Principles
Linear and Angular Motion
Projectile Motion and Fluid Mechanics
Attitudes
Aggression
Social Facilitation
Group Dynamics and Leadership
Attribution Theory
Information Processing and Memory
Ethics, Deviance and Doping
Sport and the Mass Media
Commercialisation and Globalisation
Short-Term Responses to Exercise
- 5 subtopics
- 15 things to know
- A2 Unit 3
What Short-Term Responses to Exercise covers
Short-Term Responses to Exercise is examined in A2 Unit 3, Evaluating physical education. It covers the heart as a dual-action pump and its control, cardiac dynamics, the cardiac cycle and the cardiac response, blood vessels, blood pressure and the vascular shunt, respiratory response to exercise intensity and neuromuscular responses, steady state and VO₂max.
Where it is assessed
A2 Unit 3
Evaluating physical education, a 2 hour paper worth 36% of the A level.
Check the WJEC specification ↗The 5 subtopics
Each one has its own page.
- The heart as a dual-action pump and its controlThe heart as a dual-action pump, pulmonary and systemic circulation, the thicker left ventricle, the cardiac control centre, sympathetic and parasympathetic control, chemoreceptors, baroreceptors, adrenaline and the anticipatory rise.Open →
- Cardiac dynamics, the cardiac cycle and the cardiac responseStroke volume and cardiac output with worked calculations, the Frank-Starling mechanism and venous return, diastole and systole, the conduction of the impulse, and heart rate and stroke volume in exercise and with training.Open →
- Blood vessels, blood pressure and the vascular shuntArteries, veins, capillaries and arterioles, blood pressure and cardiac output, systolic and diastolic pressure, the vascular shunt and vasomotor centre, pre-capillary sphincters, the muscle and respiratory pumps, and skin and brain blood flow.Open →
- Respiratory response to exercise intensityTidal volume and minute ventilation with a worked example, ventilation in submaximal and maximal exercise, breathing frequency, the anticipatory rise, chemoreceptors, proprioceptors, thermoreceptors, baroreceptors and active expiration.Open →
- Neuromuscular responses, steady state and VO₂maxThe warm muscle and nerve impulses, motor unit recruitment in prolonged and repeated efforts, steady state, VO₂max and the progressive test, and interpreting heart rate, ventilation and oxygen uptake data.Open →
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
Your recallNot started
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What is blood pressure, and how is it linked to cardiac output?
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What routes do the pulmonary and systemic circulations take?
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Define tidal volume.
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How does warming up change the neuromuscular system?
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Why is the heart described as a dual-action pump?
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Define stroke volume.
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How is the structure of an artery suited to its function?
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Define minute ventilation and give its equation.
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How are motor units recruited as exercise intensity rises?
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What is the pulmonary circulation?
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Define cardiac output and give its equation.
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How is the structure of a vein suited to its function?
Numbers
A performer at rest breathes 12 times a minute with a tidal volume of 0.5 L. Calculate the minute ventilation.
Key term
How does the neuromuscular system respond during prolonged exercise?
Take Short-Term Responses to Exercise further
The same content, four other ways.
Commonly confused
Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.
Pulmonary circulation vs Systemic circulation
Pulmonary circulation: the route of blood from the heart to the lungs and back. Systemic circulation: the route of blood from the heart to the body tissues and back.
Sympathetic nervous system vs Parasympathetic nervous system
Sympathetic nervous system: the part that raises heart rate through the accelerator nerve. Parasympathetic nervous system: the part that lowers heart rate through the vagus nerve.
Vasodilation vs Vasoconstriction
Vasodilation: the widening of a blood vessel to increase flow. Vasoconstriction: the narrowing of a blood vessel to reduce flow.
Questions from this topic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
Why is the heart described as a dual-action pump?
Model answer
The heart pumps blood around two separate circuits at the same time. The right side serves the lungs and the left side serves the rest of the body.
- 2
What is the pulmonary circulation?
Model answer
The pulmonary circulation carries deoxygenated blood from the right ventricle to the lungs. Oxygenated blood returns to the left atrium through the pulmonary veins.
- 3
What is the systemic circulation?
Model answer
The systemic circulation carries oxygenated blood from the left ventricle to the body tissues. Deoxygenated blood returns to the right atrium through the venae cavae.
- 4
Why does the left ventricle have a thicker muscular wall than the right ventricle?
Model answer
The left ventricle must pump blood around the whole body against high resistance. The right ventricle only pumps blood the short distance to the lungs.
- 5
Where is the cardiac control centre, and what does it do?
Model answer
The cardiac control centre is in the medulla oblongata of the brain. The centre adjusts heart rate by sending impulses to the sinoatrial node.
- 6
How does the sympathetic nervous system change heart rate?
Model answer
The sympathetic nervous system sends impulses along the accelerator nerve to the sinoatrial node. Heart rate and the force of each contraction increase.
What is inside Levo
Six ways to work the same material.
Short-Term Responses to Exercise revision questions
- What does Short-Term Responses to Exercise cover in WJEC A-Level Physical Education?
- 5 subtopics: the heart as a dual-action pump and its control, cardiac dynamics, the cardiac cycle and the cardiac response, blood vessels, blood pressure and the vascular shunt, respiratory response to exercise intensity and neuromuscular responses, steady state and vo₂max. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.
- How is Short-Term Responses to Exercise organised?
- By the WJEC 601-8485-1 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.
Every question in Short-Term Responses to Exercise, on a schedule.
Attempt a question from memory, write the correct version, then attempt it again. Levo records the jump between your first attempt and your last, and brings each question back on the day you are due to forget it.
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