Inertia Health Group exercise physiology Woodville studies how physical activity, such as exercise, impacts our bodies. Additionally, this field explores ways physical activity can strengthen and protect against illness in our bodies.
Exercising can bring many advantages, including improved heart health and reduced risks of chronic illnesses like diabetes and high cholesterol. Exercising regularly also has been shown to decrease pain while giving people more energy.
Adaptations to Exercise
Regular exercise leads to long-term changes, known as adaptations to training. These adaptations involve cardiovascular, respiratory and muscular systems resulting in increased endurance and strength gains.
Adaptations to exercise are vitally important for athletes as they allow them to excel at their chosen sport. In addition, adjustments that enhance performance and reduce risks, such as recovery times, can help athletes perform at an elite level while recovering faster and with reduced injury risks.
An acute adaptation occurs within 30 days after starting exercise, while chronic adaptations take longer due to your body adjusting to the stress of physical exertion and adapting accordingly.
Exercise type also impacts how quickly an adaptation occurs. For instance, endurance training increases the concentration of enzymes involved with aerobic energy production (mitochondrial adaptations) and contractile protein synthesis (muscle hypertrophy). Muscle hypertrophy is critical to endurance training because it allows muscles to exert more force while exercising.
Endurance training enhances skeletal muscle capacity to oxidise oxygen (mitochondrial adaptations), which allows more oxygen to be taken in during running or cycling sessions, leading to improved running economy and efficiency.
Athletes frequently engage in interval training, a form of fitness exercise characterised by intermittent periods of relatively intense physical exertion interspersed with brief rest or recovery periods, often known as high-intensity interval training (HIIT) or sprint interval training (SIT). These exercises fall under high-intensity interval training (HIIT) or sprint interval training (SIT).
Interval training of both types has been shown to induce similar adaptations in skeletal muscles, such as increased volume and activity of mitochondrial proteins; however, its role in mediating such adaptations remains elusive.
Cardiovascular System
The cardiovascular system consists of your heart and blood vessels. Together they transport oxygen, nutrients and hormones throughout the body while eliminating carbon dioxide waste products from blood and tissue.
Exercise physiology relies heavily on the circulatory system for providing oxygen and other vital nutrients to fuel workouts while flushing waste products from your body. Furthermore, the cardiovascular system protects you against disease and infection.
Musculoskeletal System
The musculoskeletal system refers to your bones, muscles, joints and connective tissue that provide support and mobility for your body. This essential system may be affected by illness, injury or ageing.
Development of the musculoskeletal system is an ongoing process that includes interactions among its different tissue components, with particular importance given to relationships between skeletal muscle and bone as they depend on each other heavily for development.
Tendons play an essential role in many physiological functions, from energy transfer between muscles and bones to increase rigidity and load-bearing capability of individual bones.
Cartilage is an integral component of the musculoskeletal system, providing stability and flexibility to bones. As the most abundant material in the human skeleton, it exists throughout all parts, from brain cells to foot pads.
Skeletal bone formation and morphogenesis are inextricably tied to musculoskeletal muscle development, as evidenced by how muscles’ size and strength depend on their underlying bone anatomy.
Nutrition
Inertia Health Group exercise physiology Woodville studies how our bodies react to acute and chronic stressors, including injuries to various organ systems. Exercise physiologists study everything from how someone recovers after an injury to designing exercises to help people with existing medical conditions.
To keep our bodies operating at peak performance, they require a diet rich in nutritious food and drinks to promote good health and lower the risk of many conditions, such as heart disease and diabetes. A healthy diet also encourages mental and physical well-being as it fosters the development of muscular bodies and minds and reduces risks from conditions like heart disease.
Diets that include carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins and minerals as mainstays typically involve carbs as one key energy-producing source during and after exercise- carbohydrates are essential in providing this vital source.