Exercise Physiology

Department of Physiology
Faculty of Medicine
Universitas Sumatera Utara
Objectives
 An introduction to exercise physiology
 Energy for movements
 Systemic responses to exercise
 Environmental influences on exercise
 Age and sex considerations in exercise
 Physical activity for health and fitness
References
Introduction To Exercise
Physiology
How do you define Exercise?
What is Physical Activity?
Body movement produced by muscle action that increases
energy expenditure.
eg: activities of daily living such as shopping, gardening, house
keeping, child rearing, work-related activities, etc

What is Exercise?
Planned, structured, repetitive, and purposeful physical
activity
e.g.: training for or performing athletics, sports, or recreational
activities such as jogging, roller-blading, ice skating, swimming,
etc.
 What is physical fitness?

 Ability of the body’s systems to function

efficiently and effectively.
 One is “physically fit” if they have the
ability to:
◦ “carry out daily tasks with vigor and alertness,
without undue fatigue, and with ample energy
to enjoy leisure-time pursuits and to meet
unforeseen emergencies.”
 Components of Physical Fitness
 Health fitness  Performance or skill-
◦ Body composition related fitness
◦ Cardiorespiratory  Agility

endurance  Balance
 Coordination
◦ Flexibility  Power
◦ Muscular endurance  Reaction Time

◦ Muscular strength  Speed

Components of physical fitness
 The components of physical fitness are:
◦ Muscular strength: the capacity of muscles to
generate force during contractions.
◦ Muscular power: the capacity of muscles to
generate force during fast contractions.
◦ Muscular endurance: the capacity of skeletal
muscle to sustain repeated contractions.
Components of physical fitness
◦ Cardiorespiratory endurance: the capacity of
the lungs to exchange gases, and the heart and
blood vessels to circulate blood around the
body.
◦ Flexibility: the ability to maximize joint range
of motion.
◦ Body composition: the proportions of the
body composed of fat, mineral, protein and
water.
◦ Agility: the ability to change direction rapidly
while moving.
What is Exercise Physiology?
Definition: the study of how the body (cell, tissue,
organ, system) responds in function and
structure to (1) acute exercise stress, and (2)
chronic physical activity.
As an academic discipline:
1. Body of knowledge built on facts and theories derived from
research.
2. Formal course of study in institutions of higher learning
3. Professional preparation of practitioners, future investigators,
and leaders in the field.
What is Exercise Physiology?
 Consider the physiological systems:
◦ Cardiovascular, Respiratory, Nervous, Renal,
GI, Temperature Regulation, Endocrine,
Muscle, Bone, Skin, Immune, Metabolism
◦ Exercise tends to disturb homeostasis
◦ Adaptations of physiological systems tend to
minimize this disturbance
What is Exercise Training?
The repeated use of exercise to improve physical
fitness.

What does training do?

 Permits adaptations within the physiological
systems to minimize the disturbance to
homeostasis resulting from exercise

 This means exercise intensity can be increased for

a given distance or duration, or a given intensity
can be sustained longer
What is Clinical Exercise Physiology?
A sub-component of exercise physiology that
involves the application of exercise physiology
principles, knowledge and skills for purposes
of the prevention, rehabilitation or diagnosis
of disease or disability in humans.
Applications of Exercise Physiology To Other Disciplines and
Professions

Disciplines
Cardiology Applications
 Biochemistry -metabolic adaptations to muscle contraction
and exercise training
 Cardiology -diagnostics, rehabilitation, and prevention
-reversal of risk factors for heart disease
 Endocrinology -rehabilitation of type II diabetes
 Neurology -effects of exercise on the autonomic nervous
system
 Nutrition -macro-nutrient & micro-nutrient needs
during exercise, and exercise training
 Orthopedics -effects of exercise on bone remodeling
 Physical Therapy -injury rehabilitation/prevention
 Pulmonology -training/conditioning of muscles used in
ventilation
Exercise: a challenge of homeostatic
control
 Exercise is a stress to the body that must
be tolerated.
 The condition of bodily function where a
constant or unchanging internal
environment is maintain is called
homeostasis.
 Homeostatic condition of the body
occurs at rest and unstressed.
Exercise: a challenge of homeostatic
control
 Steady state is also defined as constant
internal environment, but steady state during
exercise is not homeostasis, but a condition
whereby certain body functions have
attained dynamic constancy at new level.
 Exercise represents a challenge to the body’s
control system to maintain homeostasis.
 The body’s many control system are capable
of maintaining a steady state during exercise.
Energy for Movements
Fuels for exercise
 The body uses carbohydrate, fat, and
protein nutrients consumed daily to
provide necessary energy to maintain
cellular activities both at rest and during
exercise.
 During exercise, the primary nutrients
used for energy are fats and carbohydrate,
with protein contributing a relatively small
amount of the total energy used.
 The immediate source of energy for
muscular contraction is the high-energy
phosphate ATP.
 Formation of ATP without the use of O2
is termed anaerobic metabolism
 The production of ATP using O2 as the
final electron acceptor is referred to as
aerobic metabolism.
 Exercising skeletal muscle produce lactic
acid. However, once produced in the body,
lactic acid is rapidly converted to its
conjugate base, lactate.
 Muscle cells can produce ATP by any one
or a combination of three metabolic
pathways:
◦ ATP-PC (phosphocreatine) system
◦ Glycolysis
◦ Oxidative phosphorylation
 Energy to perform exercise comes from
an interaction of anaerobic and aerobic
pathways.
 In general, the shorter the activity (high
intensity), the greater the contribution of
anaerobic energy production.
 In contrast, long-term activities (low to
moderate intensities) utilize ATP
produced from aerobic sources.
Energy requirements at rest
• During resting condition, the healthy human
body is in homeostasis and therefore the
body’s energy requirement is also constant.
• At rest, almost 100% of the energy (i. e.,
ATP) required to sustain bodily function is
produced by aerobic metabolism.
• Since the measurement of O2 consumption
is an index of aerobic ATP production,
measurement of O2 consumption during rest
provides an estimate of the body’s baseline
energy requirements.
Energy requirements at rest
 At rest, the total energy requirement of
an individual is relatively low.
 For example, a 70-kilogram young adult
would consume approximately 0.25 liters
of oxygen each minute (3.5 ml of O2 per
kilogram body weight per minute)
 Rest-to-Exercise Transitions

 Oxygen uptake increases rapidly

◦ Reaches steady state within 1-4 minutes
 Oxygen deficit
◦ Lack in oxygen uptake at the beginning of
exercise
◦ Suggests anaerobic pathways contribute to total
ATP production
◦ After steady state is reached, ATP requirement
is met through aerobic ATP production
Oxygen Deficit and Debt
 Recovery From Exercise

 Oxygen debt
◦ VO2 elevated above rest following exercise to “repay” debt
◦ Excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC)
 “Rapid” portion of O2 debt
◦ Resynthesis of stored ATP & PCr
◦ Replenishing muscle and blood O2 stores
 “Slow” portion of O2 debt
◦ Elevated heart rate and breathing =  energy need
◦ Elevated body temperature =  metabolic rate
◦ Elevated epinephrine & norepinephrine =  metabolic rate
◦ Accumulated lactate clearance
Recovery from exercise
 Metabolism remains elevated for several
minutes immediately following exercise.
 Heart rate and breathing remain elevated
above resting levels for several minutes
following exercise.
 The oxygen debt (also called excess post
exercise oxygen consumption [EPOC])is
the O2 consumption above rest following
exercise.
Estimation of fuel utilization during
exercise
 The respiratory exchange ratio (R) is the
ratio of carbondioxide produced to
oxygen consumed (VCO2/VO2).
 In order for R to be used as an estimate
of substrate utilization during exercise,
the subject must have reached a steady
state because only during steady state
exercise are the CO2 and O2 reflective of
metabolic exchange of gases in tissues.
 Respiratory Exchange Ratio

 Respiratory exchange ratio (RER or R)

VCO2 Expired Indicates type of substrate being
R= metabolized:
VO2 Consumed
.7 FAT to 1.0 CHO
 R for fat (palmitic acid)
VCO2 16 CO2
R= = = 0.70 C16H32O2 + 23 O2  16 CO2 + 16 H2O
VO2 23 O2

 R for carbohydrate (glucose)

VCO2 6 CO2
R= = = 1.00 C6H12O6 + 6 O2  6 CO2 + 6 H2O
VO2 6 O2
R can be > 1 during heavy, non-
steady state exercise due to
↑ metabolic & respiratory CO2
Factors governing fuel selection
• The regulation of fuel selection during
exercise is under complex control and is
dependent upon several factors, including
diet, intensity and duration of exercise.
• In general, carbohydrates are used as the
major fuel source during high intensity
exercise.
• During prolonged exercise there is a gradual
shift from carbohydrate metabolism toward
fat metabolism.