Fit People and Exercise Benefits

Based upon this week's lab, we learned why it is harder for a fit person to experience exercise benefits rather than a less fit person. When a less person exercises, they experience more results because the physical strain his or her body endures is unfamiliar and requires more calories and energy to achieve an exercise movement. When a fit person who is accustomed to exercise works out, his or her body does not require as much ATP to perform the same tasks as an unfit person. When unfit people exercise, their bodies require more oxygen for cellular respiration; this requires their heart rates to be faster than fit people whose bodies and muscles are used to the physical strain. Muscle cells will build more mitochondria to deal with increased exercise, which will increase the amount of calories burned. Muscles are more efficient in burning calories than fat, though the overall body of an unfit person will require more calories to power their exercises. The more calories and glucose a person's body requires for a task, the more fat they are capable of burning. A fit person, whose body probably has more muscle mass and less fat, should be able to burn calories faster, but will not experience results as good as an unfit person doing the same exercise. In order to receive continually beneficial results that are noticeable, a fit person must continue to step up or vary their exercise routine to strain the body physically in different ways.