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 bodys 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
Body composition
Cardiorespiratory
endurance
Flexibility
Muscular endurance
Muscular strength

Performance

or skillrelated fitness
Agility
Balance
Coordination

Power
Reaction Time
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.
2.
3.

Body of knowledge built on facts and theories derived

from research.
Formal course of study in institutions of higher learning
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
Cardiology
Biochemistry

Applications

-metabolic adaptations to muscle contraction

and exercise training
-diagnostics, rehabilitation, and prevention
Cardiology
-reversal of risk factors for heart disease
-rehabilitation of type II diabetes
Endocrinology
-effects of exercise on the autonomic nervous
Neurology
system
-macro-nutrient & micro-nutrient needs
Nutrition
during exercise, and exercise training
Orthopedics
-effects of exercise on bone remodeling
Physical Therapy -injury rehabilitation/prevention
-training/conditioning of muscles used in
Pulmonology
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
bodys control system to maintain
homeostasis.
The bodys many control system are
capable of maintaining a steady state

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 highenergy 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 bodys 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 bodys baseline energy

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)

R=

VO2

Indicates type of substrate being

metabolized:
.7 FAT to 1.0 CHO

Consumed

R for fat (palmitic acid)

R=

VCO2 Expired

VCO2
VO2

16 CO2
23 O2

= 0.70

C16H32O2 + 23 O2 16 CO2 + 16 H2O

R for carbohydrate (glucose)

R=

VCO2
VO2

6 CO2
6 O2

= 1.00

C6H12O6 + 6 O2 6 CO2 + 6 H2O

R can be > 1 during heavy, nonsteady 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.