EXERCISE PHYSIOLOGY

Department of Physiology
Faculty of Medicine
Universitas Sumatera utara
Systemic Responses to
Exercise
Adaptations to Exercise

Acute adaptations
The changes in human physiology that occur
during
exercise or physical activity.

Chronic Adaptations
The alterations in the structure and functions of
the body
that occur in response to the regular completion of
physical activity and exercise.
ACUTE PHYSIOLOGICAL RESPONSES TO
EXERCISE

 The body experiences immediate responses to

exercise that vary with the type of exercise
performed.
 Such immediate response are termed acute
responses.
 These function help the body tolerate the exercise
or physical activity.
CHRONIC PHYSIOLOGICAL ADAPTATIONS
TO TRAINING

 The regular performances of exercise by the body

can also stimulate many body functions and
structure to adapt or change, and to have these
changes be retained even after the exercise is
completed.
 These adaptations are referred to as chronic
adaptations.
 It may require several weeks or several days.
NEUROMUSCULAR FUNCTIONS AND
ADAPTATIONS TO EXERCISE
 Exercise maintains neuronal health by improving
blood flow to the brain and by increasing brain
levels of growth factors that promote optimal
function of neurons.
 Recent study in humans has concluded that
exercise improves brain function and reduces the
risk of cognitive impairment associated with
aging.
NEUROMUSCULAR FUNCTIONS AND
ADAPTATIONS TO EXERCISE
 Neural adaptations:
 ↑ maximal motor unit recruitment
 ↑ synchronous recruitment of motor units

 Muscular: Humans skeletal muscle can be

divided into several different classes based on the
histochemical or biochemical characteristics of
the individual fibers.
WHY SPRINTER WILL NEVER WIN WITH LONG-
DISTANCE RUNNER AT THE DISTANCE OF 3000 M?
 SO motor units are recruited first during
incremental exercise, followed by a progressive
increase in FOG and FG motor unit recruitment
as exercise intensity increases.
 Both endurance and resistance exercise training
have been shown to promote a fast-to-slow shift
in skeletal muscle fiber types but does not result
in complete transformation of all fast fibers.
 Training adaptations: increases in muscle size
from hypertrophy and hyperplasia.
METABOLIC RESPONSES TO EXERCISE:
INFLUENCE OF DURATION AND INTENSITY

Short-term, Intense Exercise

• During high-intensity, short-term exercise (i.e.,
two to twenty seconds), the muscles’ ATP
production is dominated by the ATP-PS system.
• Intense exercise lasting more than twenty
seconds relies more on anaerobic glycolysis to
produce much of the needed ATP.
• High-intensity events lasting longer than forty-
five seconds use a combination of the ATP-PC
system, glycolysis, and the aerobic system to
produce the needed ATP for muscular
contraction.
METABOLIC RESPONSES TO EXERCISE:
INFLUENCE OF DURATION AND INTENSITY

Prolonged Exercise
 The energy to perform prolonged exercise (i.e.,
more than ten minutes) comes primarily from
aerobic metabolism.
 A steady-state O2 uptake can generally be
maintained during prolonged, low-intensity
exercise.
METABOLIC RESPONSES TO EXERCISE:
INFLUENCE OF DURATION AND INTENSITY

Incremental Exercise
• The maximal capacity to transport and utilize O2
during exercise (maximal oxygen uptake, or
VO2 max) is considered to be the most valid
measurement of cardiovascular fitness.
• Indeed, incremental exercise test (also called
graded exercise test) are often employed to
determine a subject’s cardiovascular fitness.
• These tests are usually conducted on a treadmill
or a cycle ergometer.
 MAXIMAL OXYGEN CONSUMPTION (AEROBIC
POWER OR VO2 MAX)

• Greatest amount of O2 a person can use during

maximal physical exercise
• Ability to take in, transport and deliver O2 to skeletal
muscle for use by tissue
• Expressed as liters (L) /min or ml/kg/min
• Single most useful measurement to characterize
the functional capacity of the oxygen transport
system
 Provides a quantitative measure of capacity for
aerobic ATP resynthesis
HEART RATE AND VO2MAX

100
% of Maximal Heart Rate

90
80
70
60
50
40
30
0 20 40 60 80 100
% of VO2max
• Oxygen uptake increase in linear fashion during
incremental exercise until VO2 max is reached.
• The physiological factors that influence VO2
max include:
– The maximum ability of the cardiorespiratory system
to deliver oxygen to the contracting muscle.
– The muscle’s ability to take up the oxygen and
produce ATP aerobically.
CARDIOVASCULAR FUNCTIONS AND
ADAPTATIONS TO EXERCISE
 With the start of exercise, cardiovascular
function changes by:
 ↑ Heart rate
 ↑ Ejection fraction
 ↑ Stroke volume
 ↑ Cardiac output
 ↑ Redistribution of Q in favor of contracting skeletal
muscle
 ↓ Vascular resistance
 ↑ Muscle blood flow
Acute cardiovascular  Oxygen
adaptations that combine to Consumption
increase oxygen consumption
during exercise  Oxygen Extraction

 Muscle Blood  a-vO2∆

Flow

 Cardiac Output  Muscle Vascular

Resistance

 Stroke Volume  Heart  Cellular Respiration

Rate

 End Diastolic  Sympathetic

Volume Contractility Stimulation

 Venous Return

 Muscle
Contraction
CARDIOVASCULAR FUNCTIONS AND
ADAPTATIONS TO EXERCISE
 Cardiovascular adaptations to training are
extremely important for improving endurance
exercise performance, and preventing
cardiovascular disease
 The more important of these adaptations are:
 ↑ Plasma volume
 ↑ Red cell mass
 ↑ Total blood volume
 ↓ Systolic and diastolic blood pressure
 ↑ End diastolic dimensions and ventricular volumes
 ↑ Maximal stroke volume
 ↑ Maximal cardiac output
  VO2max
Exercise to VO2max
 Oxygen Delivery

 Maximal Muscle Blood

Flow

 Maximal Cardiac  Muscle Capillary

Output Density
 Maximal Stroke Volume

 End Diastolic
Volume Chronic adaptations
of the CV system
 Venous Return  Ventricular after exposure to
Volume training for long
 Blood Volume term endurance.
Adaptations are
related to their
 Plasma  Red Cell affect during both
Volume Mass maximal &
Training For submaximal exercise
Long -Term Endurance
PULMONARY ADAPTATIONS TO EXERCISE
 After the onset of exercise there is:
 A rapid ↑ in ventilation
 A similar rapid ↑ in pulmonary blood flow
 An improved VE vs Q relationship in the lung
 ↑ Lung compliance
 Airway dilation and ↓ resistance to air flow
 The lungs and pulmonary circulation do not
express the degree of long-term adaptations to
exercise. The improvement are more determined
by muscular and cardiovascular function.
 MAJOR FACTORS WHICH STIMULATE INCREASED
VENTILATION DURING EXERCISE INCLUDE:

 neural input from the motor areas of the cerebral cortex

 proprioceptors in the muscles and joints
  body temperature
 circulating NE and E
 pH changes due to lactic acid

Arterial blood
pH

Rest Exercise intensity V02max

It appears that changes in pCO2 and O2 do not play

significant role during exercise
Endocrine Adaptations to
Exercise