What is Exercise Physiology?
Those who study the human body and how it works during exercise are studying exercise physiology. There are many different effects that are seen throughout the body during high intensity exercise. Many of these effects are positive, but it is important to understand how they work and what purposes that they serve. There are changes all throughout the body – the liver, the heart, the lungs, and just about every major organ has some sort of reaction to exercise, even the brain.
Exercise has a major effect on the metabolism, which is why it is such an effective way to lose weight and stay in shape. Although it all takes place on a cellular scale, it basically speeds up your metabolism and can burn excess energy, even energy that is stored in fat over time. Using up excess energy before it is stored in fat is the most efficient route, but the metabolic changes that occur during exercise can burn off fat as well as carbohydrates.
Another important aspect of exercise physiology is the body’s use of water. People need to drink a certain amount of water to stay alive, but the amount needed to stay healthy when involved in intense exercise is significantly higher than the amount needed to survive a day of meetings at the office. In order to offset negative effects, it is important that people drink water during heavy exercise – otherwise, they may suffer from dehydration, which can affect heart rate and cognitive function negatively.
Oxygen intake also goes up quite a bit during exercise, because the many cells that are working harder are using more oxygen. The soreness that you feel after a good workout is actually the leftover lactic acid that was produced when your cells were not getting enough oxygen. Although it is normal to have less than the standard amount of oxygen during a workout, it is important that you are not pushing yourself too far, as that could cause a dangerous blackout.
Exercise physiology also explains why people get tired when they do, and why fatigue is sometimes felt during and after strenuous exercise. Part of this, as mentioned above, is due to lactic acid buildup when the cells of the body are not getting as much oxygen as they need. Other factors include overheating, microscopic tears in the muscle fibers, and a drop in blood sugar. The mental tiredness that some people report after a notably heavy workout can have to do with the brain’s temperature rising, as well as the ammonia and serotonin amounts in the brain.
Exercise physiology is a very important scientific medical field, as what they discover about the body during exercise can have a profound effect on the body outside of exercise. These studies can help us understand how exercise works, what the benefits of exercise are, and what pitfalls we need to try to avoid with strenuous exercise. They may even be able to help us discover better methods of exercising that are more efficient and that have stronger positive effects on our health by studying exercise physiology.
