This answer is provided by Malakai Seuao in response to the question Describe the effect of stroke volume and cardiac output on aerobic performance. 3 Marks from the 2013 HSC PDHPE Exam
Stroke volume and cardiac output help with aerobic performance because they help circulate the blood around the body which carries oxygen and nutrients to the working muscle groups. Stroke volume is the amount of blood ejected by the left ventricle during a contraction. Stroke volume is highly improvement through endurance training, which leads to more blood in circulation and an increase in blood plasma. Cardiac output is the volume of blood ejected by the hear per minute. Cardiac output is important as its the blood being sent to the working muscle groups, if it can work fast and efficient then for long endurance activities it can benefit the athletes endurance. If it is able to pump and sent out blood to the muscle in high demand then the athlete can continue to perform. Both stroke volume and cardiac output can be increases through aerobic training and as a result can improve an athletes performance. For an example a trained athlete can have a cardiac output of 20-25 litres per minute compared to an untrained person with around 15-20 litres per minute.
Compare and Contrast this answer with the one from NESA below.
Stroke volume is the amount of blood pumped out of the heart each beat. Cardiac output is the amount of blood pumped each minute. Both are increased as a consequence of aerobic training, resulting in greater aerobic performance due to an increase in oxygen-rich blood supplies being circulated to the working muscles.
