Science of Exercise

Final Assignment
Before Mary Ann had engaged in the training program, she was following a sedentary life style and her
body was in a stable mode, which is also called homeostasis, therefore she also had a normal VO2max.
Her body was overloaded by the new training program, which was something uncommon for her body.
Her body needed to adapt in 6 months. Endurance exercises that she did, resulted in an adaptation of
cardiovascular system, especially and specifically VO2max, which is the maximum amount of oxygen
that a person can use. So her VO2max must increase as a result of the adaptations her body underwent
through, so that her body becomes comfortable doing those endurance exercises in 6 months as
VO2max will be directly associated with performance.

Specific to her principle of individuality, her new VO2max is 52 ml/kg/min. However, if she discontinues
her training after 6 months, she would not be able to maintain this level of VO2max, and her VO2max
will decrease and most probably back to the same one, before her exercise had begun.

VO2max is calculated by the following Fick equation: VO2max = Cardiac Output x (a-v)(O2 difference),
where Cardiac Output = Stroke Volume x Heart Rate. VO2max is more favorable than low VO2max and
means that a person can perform the tasks that require energy more efficiently without being
exhausted. Stroke volume is the volume of blood pumped from the left ventricle per heartbeat and is
higher in trained people than untrained people. Also, heart rate means the number of beats per minute
and it is not to be associated as an increase during training.

During exercise, it is lower in trained people than untrained people. Therefore, the increase in cardiac
output of Mary Anne cannot be explained by the increase in heart rate, instead it can be explained by
the increase in stroke volume. We can also see that (a-v)(O2 difference) corresponds to the difference
between arterial and venous O2 concentrations. Arterial O2 concentration supposes the lungs ability to
transfer O2 from air to blood, hence it is more desirable to have high levels of it. But the venous O2
concentration should be low which means that the mitochondria can take up a lot of O2 from the blood
and uses it efficiently. This also means a good blood flow in the muscles. Hence, her lungs are supposed
to adapt so that their capacity is higher and they can take up more O2 than before in order to supply the
blood with enough levels of oxygen, specifically during training. With her lung capacity increase, she will
get more O2, which means more ATP consumption. ATP, which is found in minute amounts in the
muscles, will be generated and stored in higher amounts as per the triggered requirement, as she
continues her new training program.

Type-I muscles (slow muscles) have more mitochondria and capillaries than Type-IIa and Type-IIx
muscles, which are faster muscles. ATP can also be produced without O2 (anaerobic and fast way) but
this generates much less ATP than the aerobic way, hence during intense exercise, where enough O2
cannot be provided to muscles, one feels fatigue much sooner. Aerobic way is preferred for moderate
intensity exercise and it can also utilize fat as an energy source. Hence, Mary will have more capillaries
and more mitochondria in her muscles, resulting in more ATP production and storage in the muscles. All
the points discussed here regarding the heart, cardiovascular system, muscles, lungs, blood
vessels/capillaries and mitochondria are the explanations and reasons of the change in Mary Anne’s
VO2max before and after training.