An advanced biology course like our Certificate of Human Biology – Cardio Fitness and Health is ideal for health professionals, sports coaches and anyone wanting to understand cardiorespiratory fitness, sports performance and the appropriate exercises for maintaining good health.

This human biology online course will give you insights into the vital processes that occur in healthy respiratory and cardiovascular systems, and the anatomy, physiology, biochemistry and basic physics that drive these processes.

You will explore the science of blood and the factors that affect pulmonary ventilation and blood pressure, including the respiratory system, and how to measure lung function and capacity.

You will also learn about cardiorespiratory control and the nervous system, blood flow and gas exchange in the human body, and the various types of cardiorespiratory diseases.

Learning Outcomes

Outcomes achieved by undertaking a human biology online course include:

• Learning about the science, functions and components of bloods
• Exploring blood typing and blood cells and ematopoiesis, erythropoiesis, leukopoiesis and lymphopoiesis
• Studying blood cell function, erythrocytes, neutrophils, eosinophils, basophils, and thrombocytes
• Gaining insights into the immune response, haemostasis, the clotting mechanism and haemodynamics
• Examining blood testing, circulatory networks, full blood count, cross matching and blood cultures
• Understanding arterial blood mass, biochemical and metabolic tests and the international normalised ratio (INR)
• Learning about arterial blood mass, biochemical and metabolic tests, the lymphatic system and blood disorders – red and white blood disorders, blood clotting and poisoning
• Exploring factors affecting blood pressure (BP), cardiac output, peripheral resistance and blood volume
• Studying the cardiac cycle and how blood pressure is measured
• Gaining insights into heart muscle cell contraction
• Examining electronic control of heart muscle cells – sinoatrial node (SA Node), atrioventricular node (AV Node), bundle of his (atrioventricular bundle) and purkinje fibres
• Understand BP problems – systolic hypertension, diastolic hypertension and hypertension
• Learning about problems with heart rate and other conditions – myocardial infarction and cardiac tamponade
• Exploring pulmonary ventilation, the respiratory system and respiratory epithelium
• Studying lung anatomy, alveoli and airway anatomy
• Gaining insights into nasal and oral cavities, the pharynx, epiglottis, larynx and trachea
• Examining bronchi and bronchioles
• Understanding the physiology of breathing – equilibrium, pressure, inspiration and expiration
• Learning about physiological measures of lung capacity and function, tidal volume, vital capacity, forced vital capacity, IRV, ERV, functional residual capacity, MV, VO2 max etc.
• Exploring gas exchange in the human body
• Gaining an understanding of oxygen transport and internal and external respiration
• Studying haemoglobin, carbon dioxide transport and respiratory control
• Gaining insights into the biochemistry of gas exchange – Boyle’s Law, Charles’ Law, Dalton’s Law, Henry’s Law etc.
• Examining the factors affecting gas exchange, partial pressure gradients, gas solubility, membrane thickness etc.
• Understanding blood flow, volume, target and transfer
• Learning about arterial-alveolar gradient
• Exploring oxygen transport and the factors affecting oxygen release by haemoglobin

And more!

Top Fitness Trends for 2021

When you undertake a human biology online course focusing on cardio fitness, you will study the importance of exercise as part of an individual’s overall health and wellbeing. And although fitness trends come and go, however, the impact of COVID-19 has had a profound effect on how we exercise. Here are the top 10 fitness trends for 2021 according to the Australian Institute of Fitness.

• Wearable technology. Devices that provide “wearable data” are increasingly being used as a valuable tool to track fitness and health progress. They can monitor heart rate, steps and sleep patterns (to name a few). “Hearables” with biosensors are also gaining traction. These devices are wireless earphones that many runners use, and they are designed to collect data and provide information on a user’s speed, distance, pace, energy expenditure and heart rate.
• Exercise is medicine. This involves the link between exercise and mental health, and there is an increasing emphasis on the collaboration between health care providers and medical and fitness professionals. It is a holistic approach that can help individuals achieve both physical and mental health.
• Mind and body training. This is a health practice that combines controlled breathing, mental focus and movement to relax the mind and body. It can help control stress, anxiety, depression and pain, and examples include hypnosis, meditation, yoga and tai chi.
• Virtual COVID-19 has certainly enhanced the popularity of virtual fitness, which is the use of technology to combine workouts and virtual reality. Yoga, spin, pilates, boxing, martial arts or weight training … the choices are endless. All you need is a Smart phone or laptop!
• High-Intensity interval training (HIIT). HIIT describes any workout that alternates between intense bursts of activity and fixed periods of less-intense activity or even complete rest. Benefits include promoting weight loss, increasing your metabolism and improving your heart health. Plus, you can do it anywhere (even virtually!)
• Functional fitness training. This type of exercise trains your muscles to work together, for example, using various muscles in the upper and lower body at the same time. Exercises may include weightlifting, aerobic exercises and body weight movements, and weights, fitness balls and kettlebells are often used in functional fitness workouts.
• Health and wellness coaching. Combining theory from behaviour change, coaching psychology and positive psychology, wellness coaching supports individuals to work out what they want, why they want it and what’s hindering them from doing it. It often involves creating an action plan and empowering individuals to feel more confident, take responsibility and ultimately achieve more significant health and wellbeing changes than they would on their own.

20 Amazing Facts About Our Hearts

The heart is a vital part of our body’s circulatory system and is crucial to our survival – as you’ll discover in a human biology online course. Here are 20 fascinating facts that will provide inspiration for undertaking our Certificate of Human Biology – Cardio Fitness and Health.

1. In an adult, the average heart is the size of a fist.
2. The average human heart beats 60 to 100 times a minute, which is around 100,000 beats per day. Over a 70-year lifespan, that’s a staggering 2.5 billion beats!
3. The human heart weighs less than 460 grams. However, a man’s heart, on average, is around 57 grams heavier than a woman’s heart.
4. A woman’s heart beats slightly faster than a man’s heart.
5. If a human’s blood vessel system was stretched out, it would extend over 96,000 kilometres.
6. An electrical system controls the rhythm of our hearts, and it’s known as the cardiac conduction system.
7. The heart can continue beating even when it’s disconnected from the body.
8. Our hearts have a natural pacemaker that sends out electrical impulses to keep it beating at the correct pace. If it stops working, individuals may need an artificial pacemaker with wires connected to their heart’s chambers to send electrical currents to keep their heart pumping.
9. The earliest known case of heart disease was identified in the remains of a 3500-year-old Egyptian mummy.
10. The first open-heart surgery was performed in 1893 by American cardiologist, Daniel Hale Williams.
11. Swedish man, Arne Larsson was the first person to receive an implantable pacemaker. He lived longer than the surgeon who implanted it, and died aged 86 of a disease unrelated to his heart.
12. The fairyfly has the smallest heart of any living creature.
13. Whales have the largest heart of any mammal.
14. The giraffe has a lopsided heart – their left ventricle is thicker than their right. This is because their left side pumps blood to their brain via the giraffe’s long neck.
15. The beating sound of our hearts is caused by the valves of our heart opening and closing.
16. The iconic heart shape as a symbol of love is traditionally thought to come from the silphium plant, which was used as an ancient form of birth control.
17. Heart cells can stop dividing, which means heart cancer is extremely rare.
18. Our bodies are closely linked with our mental and emotional health, and in some cases, sadness and stress can (temporarily) break your heart. “Broken heart syndrome” (known as takotsubo cardiomyopathy or stress-induced cardiomyopathy), mainly affects women, weakens the left ventricle and causes symptoms similar to a heart attack. Fortunately, while it can cause heart failure for some, most individuals recover within a few months.
19. After a heart attack, cardiac rehabilitation can make a big difference in helping people return to their normal activities.
20. Laughing is good for our hearts, as it reduces stress and boosts our immune system So up the happiness factor in your life!

 

Understand the impact of medical conditions and other factors on cardiorespiratory performance and how to regulate this vital multi-organ system with a human biology online course such as our Certificate of Human Biology – Cardio Fitness and Health.