Ads by Google

The Heart

The Heart
Human Heart

The function of the heart is to circulate blood around the body. The heart
comprises of four chambers:

TOPICS

A-Z Page Index

Article Library
Anatomy & Physiology
Coaching

Right Atrium
Left Atrium
Right Ventricle
Left Ventricle

Functionally the heart comprises of two pumps:

The right atrium receives blood from the body (de-oxygenated blood)
and the right ventricle pumps it into the lungs for aeration (removal of
carbon dioxide and to add oxygen).
The left atrium receives the oxygenated blood from the lungs and the
left ventricle pumps it around the body.

Fitness Development
Fitness Testing
Nutrition
Planning
Programs
Psychology
Sports
Sport Development
Sports Injury
Sports Merchandise
Track & Field
Training Aids
Website Blog
Website Information
Web Links

BloodPressure
TEXTTRANSLATOR

Select Language
Powered by

Translate

Ads by Google

Enlarged Heart
Heart Rate

Blood pressure represents the force (pressure) exerted by blood against the
arterial walls during a cardiac cycle (heart beat) which consists of heart
muscle contraction (systole) and heart muscle relaxation (diastole).
Systolic blood pressure, the higher of the two pressure measurements, occurs
as the heart muscles contract pumping blood into the aorta. Heart muscles
then relax allowing the heart to refill with blood and the lowest pressure
reached represents the diastolic blood pressure.
Normal systolic blood pressure in an adult varies between 110 and 140 mm
Hg, and diastolic pressure varies between 60 and 90 mm Hg.

BloodPressureClassification
[4]

SITESEARCHFACILITY

The following table is the NICE classification of blood pressure levels. (Note:
"mm Hg" means millimeters of mercury)
Systolic(mm Hg) Diastolic(mm Hg)

Custom Search

Search BRIANMAC

Classification

<130

<85

Normal

130-139

85-89

High Normal

140-159

90-99

Hypertension (stage 1)

160-179

100-109

>180

>110

Moderate Hypertension (stage 2)

Severe Hypertension (stage 3)

RestingHeartRate
The resting heart rate for the average person is between 70 and 90 beats per
minute (bpm). The term tachycardia is applied to a rapid heart rate (over 100
bpm) and the term bradycardia indicates a slow heart rate (less than 50
bpm). Endurance athletes may have a resting heart rate of less than 50 bpm
due to having an enlarged heart as a result of their training regime.

Ads by Google

Normal BP Range
High Blood

Hair loss treatment

Identify the root cause of hair
loss and treat it with
homeopathy

CardiacOutput
This is the amount of blood pumped from your heart and is calculated by
multiplying heart rate by stroke volume (the amount of blood ejected by the
heart in each beat). An endurance athlete will have a lower resting heart rate
and a larger stroke volume than a non-athlete. The cardiac output for an
endurance athlete is approx. 35 litres while that for the non-athlete is 22
litres.

Starling'sLawoftheHeart
Starling's law of the heart states that the stroke volume of the heart increases
in response to an increase in the volume of blood filling the heart. A paper by
[3]
Solaro (2007) examines the mechanism of Starling's Law.

BloodPressuredailyvariations
[1]

Research by Millar-Craig et al. (1978) found that blood pressure was lowest
at 3-am and began to rise again during the early hours of the morning before
waking.

ClassificationoftheHypertensiveDisordersofPregnancy
[2]

Higgins et al. (2001)

defines the classifications as:

Chronic hypertension - hypertension (>140 mm Hg systolic or >90

mm Hg diastolic) that is present and observable before pregnancy or
that is diagnosed before the 20th week of gestation
Pre-eclampsia-eclampsia - usually occurs after 20 weeks of gestation
Pre-eclampsia superimposed upon chronic hypertension - with
hypertension and no proteinuria early in pregnancy >20 weeks, newonset proteinuria (urinary excretion of 0.3 g Protein or greater in a 24hour specimen)
Gestationalhypertension - blood pressure elevation detected for the
first time after mid pregnancy, without proteinuria

HowtheHeart
Functions
The "SA Node" (see
diagram) is the heart's
pacemaker which sends
out an electrical signal
causing the Atrium to
contract and to pump
blood into the ventricle.
The electrical impulse is
conducted
to
the
ventricle via the "AV
Node"
causing
the

muscle to contract and

to pump blood out.
Oxygen enriched blood
from the lungs enters
the left atrium and the
left ventricle pumps it
out to the body.
Blood from the body,
which contains carbon
dioxide (CO2), enters
the right atrium and the
right
ventricle
then
pumps the blood out to
the lungs to have the
CO2
removed
and
replenished
with
oxygen.

NormalHeartECG
Trace
The diagram opposite
reflects
a
simplified
normal
heart
electrocardiogram
(ECG).

Simplified Normal ECG Trace

The
"P
Wave"
represents the electrical
activity of the SA Node
and atrium.
The
"QRS
Interval"
represents the electrical
activity of the ventricle.
The
"T
Wave"
represents the ventricle
relaxing ready for the
next electrical impulse known as repolorisation.
"Q-T Interval"
measurement
repolorisation.

is

the
of

Hair loss treatment

Identify the root cause of hair
loss and treat it with
homeopathy

References
1. MILLAR-CRAIG, M. W. and BISHOP, C. N. and RAFTERY, E. B. (1978)
Circadian Variation of Blood-Pressure. The Lancet, 311 (8068), p. 795797
2. HIGGINS, J. R. and SWIET, M. (2001) Blood-pressure measurement and
classification in pregnancy. The Lancet, 357 (9250), p. 131-135
3. SOLARO, R. J. (2007) Mechanisms of the Frank-Starling Law of the
Heart: The Beat Goes On, Biophys J., 93 (12), p. 40954096

4. HYSLOP, J. et al. (2011) Hypertension - Clinical management of primary

hypertension in adults. NICE clinical guideline 127 - Hypertension p. 10

RelatedReferences
The following references provide additional information on this topic:
ANDERSON, K. L. and ELVIK, A. (1955) The resting arterial blood
pressure in athletes. Acta Medica Scandinavica, 153 (5), p. 367-371
SHIN, K. et al. (1997) Autonomic differences between athletes and
nonathletes: spectral analysis approach. Medicine and science in sports
and exercise, 29 (11), p. 1482-1490.
Trialists Collaboration (2003) Effects of different blood-pressurelowering regimens on major cardiovascular events: results of
prospectively-designed overviews of randomised trials. Lancet, 362
(9395), p. 1527-1535.

PageReference
If you quote information from this page in your work then the reference for
this page is:
MACKENZIE, B. (2001) Blood Pressure [WWW] Available from:
https://www.brianmac.co.uk/bloodp.htm [Accessed 21/10/2016]

RelatedPages
The following Sports Coach pages provide additional information on this topic:

Articles on Physiology
Books on Physiology
Maximum Heart Rate
VO2 max

AdditionalSourcesofInformation
For further information on this topic see the following:
BEASHEL, P. and TAYLOR, J. (1996) Advanced Studies in Physical
Education and Sport. UK: Thomas Nelson and Sons Ltd.
BEASHEL, P. and TAYLOR, J. (1997) The World of Sport Examined. UK:
Thomas Nelson and Sons Ltd.
BIZLEY, K. (1994) Examining Physical Education. Oxford; Heinemann
Educational Publishers
DAVIS, B. et al. (2000) Physical Education and the Study of Sport. UK:
Harcourt Publishers Ltd.
GALLIGAN, F. et al. (2000) Advanced PE for Edexcel. Oxford;
Heinemann Educational Publishers
McARDLE, W. et al. (2000) Essentials of Exercise Physiology. 2nd ed.
Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins
TORTORA, G and ANAGNOSTAKOS, N. (1990) Principles of Anatomy and
Physiology. 6th ed. USA; Harper Collins Publishers
STONE, R. and STONE, J. (1997) Atlas of Skeletal Muscles. 2nd Ed.
USA; The McGraw Hill Companies, Inc.
BLAKEY, P. (1992) The Muscle Book. UK; Bibiotek Books Ltd.

Advertising
In order to provide the free information on this website we advertise products
and services in order to help cover the costs of maintaining the information
and hosting the website with our internet service provider. Please support
Brianmac Sports Coach by disabling your ad blocker on.

SportsCoachUpdates
Updates to the Web Site are detailed on the Sports Coach Blog

Needmorehelp?
If you are unable to find the information you are looking for then please select
this link to email me your query or email me at brian@brianmac.co.uk

TellmewhatyouthinkoftheSportsCoachWebSite
I would value your feedback on the Sports Coach Web Site as it will help me
improve its content and layout.Please select this link to provide your
feedback.

Free newsletter and two free reports:

Training for Distance Running and Training for Speed, Power and
Strength
Email address
--Select Country

--Select sport--

Join

Top of Page

Home Page

1996-2016 BrianMac Sports Coach - www.brianmac.co.uk : All Rights Reserved : Page Last Modified - 13th September 2016