Mooc: Exercise

Physiology
(Understanding

the Athlete Within)

Lachie Kizana

Table of Contents

Course Outline....3
What is the Course About?................4
What have I learnt..5
Week 1.6-9
Week 210-11
Week 3..
Week 4.13-16
Week 5...17-18
Course Summary.19

Course Outline: Week 1-6

What is the Course about?

Exercise Physiology (Understanding the Athlete Within)

Week 1 - Skeletal Muscle and Tissue
Week 2 ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate)
Week 3 Oxygen
Week 4 - Heat and Fluids
Week 5 Fatigue
Week 6 Genes (Optional)

What I have learnt?

Throughout this course, I have grown a deeper
knowledge of the many areas of Sports Physiology

More scientific terms and knowledge on the human body

and muscles.

A more university level of how courses are operated and

conducted.

Week 1 Skeletal Muscle

Week 1 focuses on Muscle how muscles contract and
their energy demands.

Week one also covers muscle fiber type classification,

recruitment and their relationship with athletic
performance; and muscle adaptations to exercise.

Week 1: Skeletal Muscle

What is skeletal muscle?

A muscle that is connected at either or both extremities with a bone

and consists of elongated, multinucleated, transversely striated,
skeletal muscle fibers, together with connective tissues, blood
vessels, and nerves.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/skeletal+muscle?s=t

The tissue most commonly thought of as muscle is skeletal

muscle. Skeletal muscles cover your skeleton, giving your body its
shape. They are attached to your skeleton by strong, springy
tendons or are directly connected to rough patches of bone.
Skeletal muscles are under voluntary control, which means you
consciously control what they do.

Week 1: Skeletal Muscle

Also called striated muscles
They are voluntary muscles that move the bones and support
the skeleton.
Superficial muscles are close to the skin and deep muscles are
deeper inside the body.
There are 640 skeletal muscles and almost all are found in
pairs.

Figure 1: Diagram of Skeletal Muscle and Tissue

http://humandiagrams.com/human-gross-anatomystudy/microscopic-anatomy-of-skeletal-muscle/

Week 2: ATP (Adenosine

Triphosphate)

What is ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate)?

a compound consisting of an adenosine molecule bonded to three
phosphate groups, present in all living tissue. The breakage of
one phosphate linkage (to form adenosine diphosphate, ADP )
ATP is a formation of nucleic acids, transmission of nerve
impulses, muscle contraction, and many other energyconsuming reactions of metabolism are made possible by the
energy in ATP molecules. The energy in ATP is obtained from
the breakdown of foods.

Figure 2: Diagram of the ATP generating method

Source:
http://g09respirationc.wikispaces.com/file/view/atp_ener.gi
f/303119016/atp_ener.gif

Week 3: Oxygen

During exercise, the body mass must be supported

(E.g Running, walking, swimming etc.)
The exercise VO2 is determined not only by the speed of
running or the intensity, but also by body mass and
walking/running technique.

Week 3: Oxygen

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4wveY2-lCo
This video explains more on the importance of Oxygen

Week 4: Heat and Fluids

Most energy from metabolism during exercise is
dissipated as heat, which must be removed so as to avoid
critical hyperthermia. Heat is lost via radiation,
conduction, convection and evaporation of sweat, with
sweating being the primary mechanism. The combination
of exercise and heat stress poses a major challenge to all
physiological systems

Week 4: Heat and Fluids

Increases in environmental temperature are generally
associated with reduced endurance exercise
performance. Sweating results in fluid losses that affect
all body fluid compartments and impact upon
physiological function. Fluid replacement during exercise
is an effective strategy to maintain physiological function
and enhance performance.

Week 4: How can heat and lack of

fluid effect athletes?

It has been proven that even a small amount of fluid loss can
have a big impact on your performance. Insufficient hydration
during exercise reduces your blood volume and makes it
difficult for you to regulate your body temperature as you
dont have the capacity to increase blood flow to the skin.
This causes your heat rate to rise significantly and reduces
performance potential and makes exercise seem more
difficult.
Note: Dehydration increases your risk of developing muscle
cramps, heat exhaustion and heat stroke.

Reasons To Drink Water!

Figure 3:
Source:
http://gymnastics
zone.com/wpcontent/uploads/
Hydration.jpg

Week 5: Fatigue
Fatigue can be
know as a
"reduction in the
force generating
capacity" or "an
inability to maintain
the required or
expected force
output".
Figure 4: Fatigue kicks in after Mens 1500m
Olympic Final
http://www.runningmechanics.com/blog/wpcontent/uploads/2009/02/tired.jpg

Week 5: Fatigue Formula

Figure 5: Longer exercise time = higher heart rate = increase of fatigue

Source: http://www.unchainedfitness.com/wordpress/wpcontent/uploads/2012/07/Fatigue.jpg

Course Summary

Exercise Physiology (Understanding the Athlete Within)

Week 1 - Skeletal Muscle and Tissue
Week 2 ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate)
Week 3 Oxygen
Week 4 - Heat and Fluids
Week 5 Fatigue
Week 6 Genes (Optional)

Thank you for listening