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Lecture Notes

When we talk about cardiorespiratory endurance, we're really talking about two main systems in the body, your cardiovascular system—or your heart and all the blood vessels and veins—and also your respiratory system and your lungs. When we talk about improved cardiorespiratory fitness, or someone who has greater cardiorespiratory fitness, imagine athletes, really great triathletes or long-distance runners or cyclists riding in the Tour de France. When you think about those athletes who have great cardiorespiratory fitness, they have more efficient oxygen delivery and consumption, meaning their heart can pump oxygen and deliver that oxygen to their working muscles more efficiently, and also their working muscles are able to consume that oxygen or use that oxygen more efficiently. This allows them to sustain continuous aerobic activity for longer periods of time. When we talk about those high-level athletes, the difference between those athletes and just amateur athletes or everyday people is that those athletes have the ability to sustain their aerobic activity at a much higher level.