Exercise physiology
Exercise physiology is the
Understanding the effect of exercise involves studying specific changes in
Exercise physiologists study the effect of exercise on pathology, and the mechanisms by which exercise can reduce or reverse disease progression.
History
British physiologist Archibald Hill introduced the concepts of maximal oxygen uptake and oxygen debt in 1922.[5][6] Hill and German physician Otto Meyerhof shared the 1922 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their independent work related to muscle energy metabolism.[7] Building on this work, scientists began measuring oxygen consumption during exercise. Notable contributions were made by Henry Taylor at the University of Minnesota, Scandinavian scientists Per-Olof Åstrand and Bengt Saltin in the 1950s and 60s, the Harvard Fatigue Laboratory, German universities, and the Copenhagen Muscle Research Centre among others.[8][9]
In some countries it is a Primary Health Care Provider. Accredited Exercise Physiologists (AEP's) are university-trained professionals who prescribe exercise-based interventions to treat various conditions using dose response prescriptions specific to each individual.
Energy expenditure
Humans have a high capacity to expend energy for many hours during sustained exertion. For example, one individual cycling at a speed of 26.4 km/h (16.4 mph) through 8,204 km (5,098 mi) over 50 consecutive days expended a total of 1,145 MJ (273,850 kcal; 273,850 dieter calories) with an average power output of 173.8 W.[10]
Skeletal muscle burns 90 mg (0.5 mmol) of glucose each minute during continuous activity (such as when repetitively extending the human knee),[11] generating ≈24 W of mechanical energy, and since muscle energy conversion is only 22–26% efficient,[12] ≈76 W of heat energy. Resting skeletal muscle has a basal metabolic rate (resting energy consumption) of 0.63 W/kg[13] making a 160 fold difference between the energy consumption of inactive and active muscles. For short duration muscular exertion, energy expenditure can be far greater: an adult human male when jumping up from a squat can mechanically generate 314 W/kg. Such rapid movement can generate twice this amount in nonhuman animals such as bonobos,[14] and in some small lizards.[15]
This energy expenditure is very large compared to the basal resting metabolic rate of the adult human body. This rate varies somewhat with size, gender and age but is typically between 45 W and 85 W.[16]
Metabolic changes
Rapid energy sources
Energy needed to perform short lasting, high intensity bursts of activity is derived from
Plasma glucose
Plasma glucose is said to be maintained when there is an equal rate of glucose appearance (entry into the blood) and glucose disposal (removal from the blood). In the healthy individual, the rates of appearance and disposal are essentially equal during exercise of moderate intensity and duration; however, prolonged exercise or sufficiently intense exercise can result in an imbalance leaning towards a higher rate of disposal than appearance, at which point glucose levels fall producing the onset of fatigue. Rate of glucose appearance is dictated by the amount of glucose being absorbed at the gut as well as liver (hepatic) glucose output. Although glucose absorption from the gut is not typically a source of glucose appearance during exercise, the liver is capable of catabolizing stored glycogen (glycogenolysis) as well as synthesizing new glucose from specific reduced carbon molecules (glycerol, pyruvate, and lactate) in a process called gluconeogenesis. The ability of the liver to release glucose into the blood from glycogenolysis is unique, since skeletal muscle, the other major glycogen reservoir, is incapable of doing so. Unlike skeletal muscle, liver cells contain the enzyme glycogen phosphatase, which removes a phosphate group from glucose-6-P to release free glucose. In order for glucose to exit a cell membrane, the removal of this phosphate group is essential. Although gluconeogenesis is an important component of hepatic glucose output, it alone cannot sustain exercise. For this reason, when glycogen stores are depleted during exercise, glucose levels fall and fatigue sets in. Glucose disposal, the other side of the equation, is controlled by uptake of glucose at the working skeletal muscles. During exercise, despite decreased insulin concentrations, muscle increases GLUT4 translocation of and glucose uptake. The mechanism for increased GLUT4 translocation is an area of ongoing research.
glucose control: As mentioned above, insulin secretion is reduced during exercise, and does not play a major role in maintaining normal blood glucose concentration during exercise, but its counter-regulatory hormones appear in increasing concentrations. Principle among these are
Exercise for diabetes: Exercise is a particularly potent tool for glucose control in those who have
Type II diabetes is also intricately linked to obesity, and there may be a connection between type II diabetes and how fat is stored within pancreatic, muscle, and liver cells. Likely due to this connection, weight loss from both exercise and diet tends to increase insulin sensitivity in the majority of people.[20] In some people, this effect can be particularly potent and can result in normal glucose control. Although nobody is technically cured of diabetes, individuals can live normal lives without the fear of diabetic complications; however, regain of weight would assuredly result in diabetes signs and symptoms.
Oxygen
Vigorous physical activity (such as exercise or hard labor) increases the body's demand for oxygen. The first-line physiologic response to this demand is an increase in
Oxygen consumption (VO2) during exercise is best described by the
Dehydration
Other
- Plasma catecholamine concentrations increase 10-fold in whole body exercise.[25]
- myofibrils.[26]
- Sodium absorption is affected by the release of interleukin-6 as this can cause the secretion of arginine vasopressin which, in turn, can lead to exercise-associated dangerously low sodium levels (hyponatremia). This loss of sodium in blood plasma can result in swelling of the brain. This can be prevented by awareness of the risk of drinking excessive amounts of fluids during prolonged exercise.[29][30]
Brain
At rest, the
Protecting the brain from even minor disruption is important since exercise depends upon motor control. Because humans are bipeds, motor control is needed for keeping balance. For this reason, brain energy consumption is increased during intense physical exercise due to the demands in the motor cognition needed to control the body.[34]
Exercise Physiologists treat a range of neurological conditions including (but not limited to): Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, Traumatic Brain Injury, Spinal Cord Injury, Cerebral Palsy and mental health conditions.
Cerebral oxygen
Cerebral autoregulation usually ensures the brain has priority to cardiac output, though this is impaired slightly by exhaustive exercise.[35] During submaximal exercise, cardiac output increases and cerebral blood flow increases beyond the brain's oxygen needs.[36] However, this is not the case for continuous maximal exertion: "Maximal exercise is, despite the increase in capillary oxygenation [in the brain], associated with a reduced mitochondrial O2 content during whole body exercise"[37] The autoregulation of the brain's blood supply is impaired particularly in warm environments[38]
Glucose
In adults, exercise depletes the plasma glucose available to the brain: short intense exercise (35 min ergometer cycling) can reduce brain glucose uptake by 32%.[39]
At rest, energy for the adult brain is normally provided by glucose but the brain has a compensatory capacity to replace some of this with lactate. Research suggests that this can be raised, when a person rests in a brain scanner, to about 17%,[40] with a higher percentage of 25% occurring during hypoglycemia.[41] During intense exercise, lactate has been estimated to provide a third of the brain's energy needs.[39][42] There is evidence that the brain might, however, in spite of these alternative sources of energy, still suffer an energy crisis since IL-6 (a sign of metabolic stress) is released during exercise from the brain.[26][34]
Hyperthermia
Humans use sweat thermoregulation for body heat removal, particularly to remove the heat produced during exercise. Moderate dehydration as a consequence of exercise and heat is reported to impair cognition.[43][44] These impairments can start after body mass lost that is greater than 1%.[45] Cognitive impairment, particularly due to heat and exercise is likely to be due to loss of integrity to the blood brain barrier.[46] Hyperthermia also can lower cerebral blood flow,[47][48] and raise brain temperature.[34]
Fatigue
Intense activity
Researchers once attributed fatigue to a build-up of lactic acid in muscles.[49] However, this is no longer believed.[50][51] Rather, lactate may stop muscle fatigue by keeping muscles fully responding to nerve signals.[52] The available oxygen and energy supply, and disturbances of muscle ion homeostasis are the main factor determining exercise performance, at least during brief very intense exercise.
Each
Endurance failure
After intense prolonged exercise, there can be a collapse in body
- Dorando Pietri in the 1908 Summer Olympic men's marathon ran the wrong way and collapsed several times.
- 1954 Commonwealth Games staggered and collapsed several times, and though he had a five-kilometre (three-mile) lead, failed to finish. Though it was formerly believed that this was due to severe dehydration, more recent research suggests it was the combined effects upon the brain of hyperthermia, hypertonic hypernatraemia associated with dehydration, and possibly hypoglycaemia.[55]
- Gabriela Andersen-Schiess in the woman's marathon at the Los Angeles 1984 Summer Olympics in the race's final 400 meters, stopping occasionally and shown signs of heat exhaustion. Though she fell across the finish line, she was released from medical care only two hours later.
Central governor
Other factors
Exercise fatigue has also been suggested to be affected by:
- brain hyperthermia[63]
- glycogen depletion in brain cells[42][64]
- depletion of muscle and liver glycogen (see "hitting the wall")[65]
- reactive oxygen species impairing skeletal muscle function[66]
- reduced level of glutamate secondary to uptake of ammonia in the brain[26]
- Fatigue in diaphragm and abdominal respiratory muscles limiting breathing[67]
- Impaired oxygen supply to muscles[68]
- Ammonia effects upon the brain[26]
- Serotonin pathways in the brain[69]
Cardiac biomarkers
Prolonged exercise such as marathons can increase
Human adaptations
Humans are specifically adapted to engage in prolonged strenuous muscular activity (such as efficient long distance bipedal running).[73] This capacity for endurance running may have evolved to allow the running down of game animals by persistent slow but constant chase over many hours.[74]
Central to the success of this is the ability of the human body to effectively remove muscle heat waste. In most animals, this is stored by allowing a temporary increase in body temperature. This allows them to escape from animals that quickly speed after them for a short duration (the way nearly all predators catch their prey). Humans, unlike other animals that catch prey, remove heat with a specialized
Selective breeding experiments with rodents
Rodents have been specifically bred for exercise behavior or performance in several different studies.[78] For example, laboratory rats have been bred for high or low performance on a motorized treadmill with electrical stimulation as motivation.[79] The high-performance line of rats also exhibits increased voluntary wheel-running behavior as compared with the low-capacity line.[80] In an experimental evolution approach, four replicate lines of laboratory mice have been bred for high levels of voluntary exercise on wheels, while four additional control lines are maintained by breeding without regard to the amount of wheel running.[81] These selected lines of mice also show increased endurance capacity in tests of forced endurance capacity on a motorized treadmill.[82] However, in neither selection experiment have the precise causes of fatigue during either forced or voluntary exercise been determined.
Exercise-induced muscle pain
Physical exercise may cause pain both as an immediate effect that may result from stimulation of
Muscle pain can range from a mild soreness to a debilitating injury depending on intensity of exercise, level of training, and other factors.[84]
There is some preliminary evidence to suggest that moderate intensity continuous training has the ability to increase someone's pain threshold.[85]
Education in exercise physiology
Accreditation programs exist with professional bodies in most developed countries, ensuring the quality and consistency of education. In Canada, one may obtain the professional certification title – Certified Exercise Physiologist for those working with clients (both clinical and non clinical) in the health and fitness industry. In Australia, one may obtain the professional certification title - Accredited Exercise Physiologist (AEP) through the professional body Exercise and Sports Science Australia (ESSA). In Australia, it is common for an AEP to also have the qualification of an Accredited Exercise Scientist (AES). The premiere governing body is the American College of Sports Medicine.
An exercise physiologist's area of study may include but is not limited to
Colleges and universities offer exercise physiology as a program of study on various different levels, including undergraduate, graduate degrees and certificates, and doctoral programs. The basis of Exercise Physiology as a major is to prepare students for a career in field of health sciences. A program that focuses on the scientific study of the physiological processes involved in physical or motor activity, including sensorimotor interactions, response mechanisms, and the effects of injury, disease, and disability. Includes instruction in muscular and skeletal anatomy; molecular and cellular basis of muscle contraction; fuel utilization; neurophysiology of motor mechanics; systemic physiological responses (respiration, blood flow, endocrine secretions, and others); fatigue and exhaustion; muscle and body training; physiology of specific exercises and activities; physiology of injury; and the effects of disabilities and disease. Careers available with a degree in Exercise Physiology can include: non-clinical, client-based work; strength and conditioning specialists; cardiopulmonary treatment; and clinical-based research.[86]
In order to gauge the multiple areas of study, students are taught processes in which to follow on a client-based level. Practical and lecture teachings are instructed in the classroom and in a laboratory setting. These include:
- Health and risk assessment: In order to safely work with a client on the job, you must first be able to know the benefits and risks associated with physical activity. Examples of this include knowing specific injuries the body can experience during exercise, how to properly screen a client before their training begins, and what factors to look for that may inhibit their performance.
- Exercise testing: Coordinating exercise tests in order to measure body compositions, cardiorespiratory fitness, muscular strength/endurance, and flexibility. Functional tests are also used in order to gain understanding on a more specific part of the body. Once the information is gathered about a client, exercise physiologists must also be able to interpret the test data and decide what health-related outcomes have been discovered.
- Exercise prescription: Forming training programs that best meet an individual's health and fitness goals. Must be able to take into account different types of exercises, the reasons/goal for a client's workout, and pre-screened assessments. Knowing how to prescribe exercises for special considerations and populations is also required. These may include age differences, pregnancy, joint diseases, obesity, pulmonary disease, etc.[87]
Curriculum
The curriculum for exercise physiology includes
See also
- Bioenergetics
- Excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC)
- Hill's model
- Physical therapy
- Sports science
- Sports medicine
References
- PMID 27701968.
- ISBN 978-0-7817-7012-5.
- ]
- ISBN 978-0-7360-8978-4.
- S2CID 33768722.
- PMID 9140894.
- ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1922". NobelPrize.org. Retrieved 2018-10-11.
- ^ Seiler, Stephen (2011). "A Brief History of Endurance Testing in Athletes" (PDF). Sportscience. 15 (5).
- ^ "History of Exercise Physiology". Human Kinetics Europe. Retrieved 2018-10-11.
- PMID 19005357.. This individual while exceptional was not physiologically extraordinary since he was described as "subelite" due to his not being "able to adjust power output to regulate energy expenditure as occurs with elite athletes during ultra-cycling events" page 347.
- PMID 3284382.
- S2CID 23080799.
- ISBN 978-0-88167-871-0
- PMID 16901837.
- PMID 15817432.)
{{cite journal}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - PMID 16277825.
- ^ Henry 2005 provides BMR formula various ages given body weight: those for BMR aged 18–30 in MJ/day (where mass is body weight in kg) are: male BMR = 0.0669 mass + 2.28; females BMR = 0.0546 mass + 2.33; 1 MJ per day = 11.6 W. The data providing these formula hide a high variance: for men weighing 70 kg, measured BMR is between 50 and 110 W, and women weighing 60 kg, between 40 W and 90 W.
- PMID 16277815.
- S2CID 14267971. Archived from the original(PDF) on 16 April 2015. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
- PMID 21113312.
- PMID 10198142.
- ^ S2CID 45969661.
- PMID 11385091.
- PMID 8594004.
- PMID 3586105.
- ^ PMID 15611036.
- S2CID 14024672.
- PMID 12702735.
- PMID 17466660.
- PMID 16843089.
- S2CID 29275804.
- .
- PMID 7303071.
- ^ PMID 17962575.
- PMID 15498819.
- PMID 10562597.
- PMID 17962575. page 309
- PMID 15650123.
- ^ PMID 16037089.
- PMID 12796713.
- S2CID 8297686.
- ^ S2CID 24976326.
- S2CID 25267863.
- PMID 11812391.
- PMID 3743537.
- S2CID 27256788.
- PMID 12070186.
- PMID 11433008.
- )
- PMID 11579151.
- PMID 15131240.
- S2CID 24228666.
- S2CID 25190764.
- PMID 18268335.
- PMID 18928034.
- .
- S2CID 34014572.
- PMID 15665213.
- PMID 11581338.
- S2CID 23103331.
- S2CID 1111940.
- PMID 18698405.
- PMID 17962572.
- S2CID 23623274.
- PMID 34010308.
- PMID 18006866.
- PMID 18096752.
- S2CID 22648694.
- PMID 8585461.
- PMID 18614952.
- PMID 18942493.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-02-08.
- S2CID 2470602.
- S2CID 15432016.
- PMID 5425034.
- S2CID 32885875.
- S2CID 224793846.
- S2CID 36520695. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2023-10-12. Retrieved 2011-10-31.
- S2CID 2340159.
- PMID 18304593.
- S2CID 18336243.
- PMID 19717672.
- ISBN 978-0-7360-5867-4.
- S2CID 26525519.
- S2CID 49602409.
- ^ Davis, Paul. "Careers in Exercise Physiology". Archived from the original on 2018-01-03. Retrieved 2012-04-18.
- ISBN 978-0-7817-6903-7.
- ^ University, Ohio. "Class Requirements".
External links
Media related to Exercise physiology at Wikimedia Commons