Option A: Optimising Physiological Performance

Question 1

Training

Answer 1

• The systematic, repeated performance of structures exercise sessions over a period of time, with the achievement of a specific goal in mind.
• Type, duration and intensity vary depending on the goal.
• Crucial for optimising physical performance.
• Unsuitable training can also be detrimental to performance.

Question 2

Under training

Answer 2

• Not doing enough to generate the required physical adaptations.
• Too little, too short, not hard enough.

Question 3

Over training

Answer 3

• Attempting to do more than physically/mentally able to over a prolonged period of time.
• Will be detrimental to health and performance.
• Could be career threatening.

Question 4

Over reaching

Answer 4

• Placing stress on the body beyond current level of tolerance.
• Degree required but needs to be managed carefully.
• Short-tern decrease in performance possible-transient overtraining.

Question 5

Distinguish between training, overtraining and overreaching.

Answer 5

Training is performing exercise in an organized manner on a regular basis with a specific goal in mind (cross reference with 6.2). Overtraining is when an athlete attempts to do more training than he or she is able to physically and/or mentally tolerate.
Overtraining results in a number of symptoms that are highly individualized.
Overreaching is transient over-training, placing stress on the body beyond current level of tolerance.

Question 6

Strength and resistance training

Answer 6

Description: making use of the gym equipment and using external resistance to improve muscular strength and endurance.
Benefits: Can isolate particular muscle groups to focus on. In a controlled setting, easy to manipulate the weight desired.
Safety: Correct technique must be used or else it will create negative effects and increase the risk of injury.

Question 7

Circuit training

Answer 7

Description: Short time spent at many different types of exercises. High intensity
Benefits: can be general training or be made to suit specific components of fitness. Can be made to use no equipment, interesting as there is a wide ranger of activities - higher motivation.
Safety: needs a large area for stations to be set up. If done in close confines it is more likely for an accident to occur.

Question 8

Continuous training

Answer 8

Description: aerobic training for long periods of time. Could be an hour long jog or a extensive cycle.
Benefits: Improves stamina which is important for many sport situation. No equipment needed and can be done anywhere.
Safety: needs to make sure that it doesn’t surpass what the body can handle

Question 9

Cross-training

Answer 9

Description: using various methods of training in a single session
Benefits: can train more than one type of fitness at once. Avoids tedium.
Safety: need to make sure the proper technique is used in the equipment

Question 10

Interval Training

Answer 10

• Involves period of high intensity work interspersed with low intensity ‘recovery’ phases.
• Can be used for any type of CV exercise.
• Altering the variables (intensity, duration, rest periods) can tailor the workout to the individual needs.

Question 11

Flexibility training

Answer 11

• Systematic stretching pf the muscles, tendons and connective tissues.
• Results in an increased RoM-advantages of greater forces applied.
• Can be done to:
o Correct low flexibility.
o Increase flexibility to improve performance.
o Reduce risk of, or aid recovery from, injury.
• Uses different types of stretching.
o Static stretching:
Target muscle stretched to point of mild discomfort and held- post exercise as part of cool down.
o Active stretching:
Muscle is held statically in a stretched position via contraction of opposite muscle.
o Dynamic stretching:
Target muscles are moved in a controlled fashion using repeated movements through the RoM.
o Ballistic stretching:
Repeated bouncing motion at point of peak stretch, attempting to force muscle beyond normal RoM.
o Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF) stretching:
Usually assisted, stretch held at limit (static), brief relaxation then push a little further.
o These can be seen as detrimental to performance and have a high risk of injury.

Question 12

Fartlek training

Answer 12

• Combines interval and continuous training.
• Not regimented, athlete can regulate how they work according to how they feel.
-good for improving aerobic capacity and cardiovascular endurance, because instead of doing a continuous run at a continuous pace, one uses a slow-pace period to recover. therefore body becomes more able to cope with fatigue.

Question 13

Plyometric training

Answer 13

Plyometric training:
• Fast, powerful, short duration movements (bounding/jumping).
• Designed to increase the speed and force of muscle contractions.
• Suited to power athletes.
• Improves explosive, forceful sporting activities.
• Involves rapid stretching of the muscle followed by an immediate, forceful, shortening of the same muscle.
• This movement activates a stretch reflex within the muscle, causing a contraction to prevent injury.
• Combined with the forceful contraction, by the athlete, large forces are produced.
• Fatigue to a major factor, long rest periods are requires to maintain effectiveness.

Question 14

Over training syndrome

OTS

Answer 14

Overtraining syndrome (OTS)
A variable condition-different to the individual
• Over 80 symptoms have been identifies-hard to diagnose.
• Can often be the same as for other illnesses/conditions so very difficult to diagnose.
o Often only done so after exclusion of everything else.
• Hard to study as evidence is limited- difficult to pinpoint. Induce problem to get accurate information.
• Ethical implications of inducing overtraining-running risk of doing serious long term damage to healthy individuals.
• Indicators:
o Changes (increases) in resting HR (more accurately observed while sleeping)
o Chronic muscle soreness-DOMS, lasts 25-72 hours, not always alleviated by rest and recovery.
o Reduced immune function-frequent upper-respiratory tract infections, also seen in appropriately trained athletes.
o Sleep disturbance-not sleeping or restless sleep.

=when an athlete attempts to do more training than they are physically or mentally capable of tolerating

Question 15

Fatigue

Answer 15

• Difficult to pinpoint the cause.
• Physiological or psychological?
• Due to single training session/another condition?

Question 16

Decreased appetite

Answer 16

• Due to alterations in brain chemistry

* Issues-not going to be able to recover and repair properly

Question 17

Sudden, unexplained decrease in performance

Answer 17

• Females less susceptible than males
• More than one form been proposed
o Sympathetic-effects athletes involved in short duration, explosive sports. (Rare)
o Parasympathetic-effects endurance athletes involved in low intensity, long duration events- Armstrong and VanHeest (2002).
• Understanding limited due to insufficient research.

Question 18

Periodisation

Answer 18

the organization of training throughout a season so that an optimal physiological and psychological peak can be reached. In its simplest form periodization consists of 3 stages:
Resting Phase or Transition (Post season)
Pre-season (1) Preparation and (2) Pre competition
Competitive Season

How one organizes training over a time frame of a year in order to reach peak at the desired time during the most important competition of their season.

Question 19

Preparation

Answer 19

• Preparing to perform at maximum level.
• Physical, psychological, technical and tactical.
• 3-6 months, sport/athlete dependent
• start with general->specific preparation (Bompa 1999)

Question 20

Competition

Answer 20

• maintain performance
• focus on maintaining fitness and developing skills and tactics-much more small sided games, practicing set games, understanding opponents.
• competition experience.

Question 21

Transition

Answer 21

•	Recovery & Physical
o	Psychological and physical.
•	Need to maintain fitness levels too.
•	3-4 weeks depending on sport/athlete.
•	encourage some different activities-not about doing nothing.

Question 22

Macrocycle

Answer 22

• the annual plan that aims to peak during the competition phase/period.
• Includes all three parts of the year.

Question 23

Mesocycle

Answer 23

• a period of 2-3 weeks within the macrocycle.
• Depends on sport
• Focuses on the development of the same physical adaptations.

Question 24

Microcycle

Answer 24

• Typically a week

* Planned according to where it comes within

Question 25

The production of heat

Answer 25

• Energy from the Sun (via consumption of plants and animals)
• Food is primarily composed of: H, O, N, C
• Store energy as ATP
• Muscle contraction is only about 20% efficient.
• Therefore, need to remove other 80% as heat-to avoid an increase in core body temperature.
• Shell temperature may fluctuate between 1 and 6, depending on ambient temperature.

Question 26

Measuring body temperature

Answer 26

• Ear thermistor
• Mercury thermometer
• Rectal thermometer
• Gastrointestinal radio pill (when swallowed and gives off a radio signal-expensive)

Question 27

Thermoregulation

Answer 27

• Controlled by the hypothalamus in the brain.
• A process to remove latent heat, produced as a result of the skeletal muscles contracting.
• If this is imbalance:
-Hyperthermia (TC above 39c)
• Sweating, blood vessels move closer to skin (vasodilation).
• Living in extreme conditions:
-increased tolerance

• Reducing temperature is about removing the heat from the core, via the blood and transferring it to the environment. 4 ways:

1. Evaporation
2. Convection
3. Conduction
4. Radiation

Question 28

conduction

Answer 28

• Through the body tissue to the surface of the body and to the clothing, air or water (in direct contact with skin).
• The rate of loss is dependent on the temperature gradient between the skin and he surrounding surface.
In most hot and humid situations accounts for less than 2% of heat loss

Question 29

convection

Answer 29

• Moving heat from one place or another by the motion of air (or water).
• Blood transfers heat by convection from deep tissues to the skin.
• If air movement is minimal, it warms next to the skin-air around skin warms up and you’ll warm up=reduced heat loss.
• If cool air continually replaced=increased heat loss.
• Significant: cold, windy days, cold lakes. Difference is maintained, loss heat very quickly.

Question 30

Radiation

Answer 30

• The transfer of energy waves; sent from one object, absorbed by another.
• We absorb radiant heat energy when temperature of the environment in higher than skin temperature.
• Reflection of sunlight form snow, sand or water can be warming.

Question 31

Evaporation

Answer 31

• Most effective, and main, way of losing heat.
• Conduction, convection and radiation can be ineffective as ambient temperature rises.
• This is the conversion of sweat from liquid to water vapour.

Question 32

Sweat formation

Answer 32

• A result of a rise in core temperature.
• Will happen almost immediately as you start to exercise.
• The vaporising of water from the respiratory passages and skin surface continually transfer heat from the body into the environment.
• 580 kcal of heat for every litre of water vaporised.
• This accounts for about 80% of heat loss when active, about 20% while at rest.
• The body surface has between 2 and 4 million sweat glands.
• Sweat production depends on gland density and the amount of sweat per gland.
• Greatest sweating rates: back and chest.
• Limbs become more substantial as Tc rises substantially- as core temp rises, will start it sweat more on arms and legs.
• Surface area, exposure to environment.
• No 100% efficient, we lose sweat as it drips off. –no being evaporated, no cooling effect.
• Humid environment-sweat can’t evaporate.

Question 33

Homeostasis

Answer 33

• The condition in which the body’s internal environment remains relatively constant, within physiological limits.
• There are 31 climatic zones around the world, ranging from year round freezing to daily hot temperatures around 45.
• Each is inhabited by people who have acclimatised to accommodate these environment conditions.
• Acclimatisation is a natural adaptation to the environment.
• Requires an exposure to the environment in order to improve performance in it.

Question 34

Heat acclimatisation

Answer 34

• Requires exercise in a hot environment, not just exposure to heat.
• Usually needs a minimum 10-14 days.
• A much better matching of thirst to the body’s water needs + up to 5% increase in total body water.
• You should aim to work for 90-100 minutes in the heat each day.
• Reached through a gradually increased exposure, duration and intensity.

Question 35

Physiological responses

signs of heat acclimatisation, within 5 days

Answer 35

• Lower HR and core temperature, increased sweat production (during submaximal exercise).
• Lower venous return and a small decrease in blood volume aw water to lost.
• Reduced SV leads to an increase in HR
• Increases metabolism.
• Reduced blood flow to the muscle (compared to cooler conditions) leads to increased glycogen breakdown in the muscle and higher levels of muscle and blood lactate.

Question 36

Chronic adaptations (9-14 days about 80% complete).

Answer 36

• Increased plasma volume.
• Earlier onset of sweating, and at a lower core temperature.
• More diluted sweat-means reduce electrolyte loss.
• Reduced rate of muscle glycogen use-meaning blood lactic acid is built up slowly which reduces fatigue and improves endurance.
• Decreased psychological perception of effort.
• Higher aerobic fitness=lower intensity and duration needed to meet acclimatisation (or re-acclimatisation) to heat.
• The major (chronic) adaptations will gradually appear if exposure to heat is not maintained.
• About 75% of which will be lost after about 3 weeks away from heat exposure.
• Ability to maintain effective temperature regulation can also be affected by age (as well as fitness level and acclimatised status).

Question 37

Health risks

Answer 37

• Hyperthermia, accompanies exercise in the heat-associated with increased risk of heat illness.
• Heat exhaustion.
• Heat stroke
-all seen as major risks during exercise in hot, and/or, humid environments.
• Can occur in cool conditions too.
• Also issue for non-exercising populations.

Question 38

Individual variability in heat tolerance

Answer 38

• For most, protection is offered with a level of aerobic fitness.
• Similar to the effects of heat acclimatisation.
• At risk- overweight, untrained individuals, not acclimatised, dehydration, age.

Relatively large body surface area + immature sweat response (in infants, children +
adolescents) = increases susceptibility to complications in hot (or cold) environments.

Question 39

Hyperthermia

Answer 39

• decreases blood flow to the brain.
• Lethargy (reduced cognitive functioning).
• Reduced arousal levels.
• Impaired muscle force generation.
• Decreased plasma volume= increases CV strain.
• Increased blood flow to the skin (for cooling).

Temp of the blood to the brain also important, as it will effect temp of the brain.
Avoiding hyperthermia:
• Pre-cooling and keeping cool
o Physiologically: takes longer for you to overheat
o Psychologically: reducing perception of effort, try harder because think we are not working as hard.
• Ice towels, vests, baths.
• Hydrating.

Question 40

Cold environments

Answer 40

• Factors contributing to cold stress: wind, moisture, air temp, precipitation
• Hypothermia-low body temperature.
• Mild (34-35), moderate, severe, profound.
• Signs: shivering, slurred speech, stumbling, drowsiness, inability to stand and move after rest.
• combat: layering up
• could lead to problems with hyperthermia as preventing heat loss. Need to heat up slowly.
• Lose most heat: head (30-40%) through 8% of body’s surface area. –probably rubbish because not large SA and looks like this because that’s the bit that’s exposed.
• Why: vasoconstriction not happening at the head/brain.
• We possess less capacity to adapt to long-term cold exposure than heat exposure.
• If ambient temp, is lower than body temp, heat loss occurs.
o This increases with the addition of wind.

Question 41

Acute responses to the cold

Answer 41

• As core temperature decreases the hypothalamus is stimulated.
• Experience:
o Peripheral vasoconstriction of the skin and skeletal muscle circulation
o Shivering
• Body also increases temp through:
o Non-shivering thermogenesis.
• Happens in our fat cells- an ‘un-coupling’ protein allows protons to be un-couples during ATP synthesis and dissipates energy as heat into the body.

Question 42

Exercises in cold exercises

Answer 42

• Shivering will increase oxygen consumption (to ‘fuel’ the extra metabolism).
• Exercise in colder climates can result in a lower HR and increased SV to maintain cardiac output (at similar intensities) as central blood volume increases due to peripheral vasoconstriction.
• Shivering will also increase glycogen consumption, relies on fat as its main energy source.
• Increasing CHO consumption may be necessary for prolonged exposure to, or exercise in, the cold.

Question 43

Acute responses in cold environments: Muscles will

Answer 43

• Decrease in contractility.
• Decrease in velocity and power of contraction.
• Change in the pattern of muscle fiber recruitment.
• There is some suggestion that Fast Twitch Fibers become more like Slow Twitch.

Question 44

Acute responses in cold environments: clothing

Answer 44

• Layer up!
• Number of layers will depend in the intensity of the exercise.
• Need clothing that is going to keep you warm but also allow you to thermoregulation and sweat-cotton not good for this. Both this and cotton also get heavy when wet.
• Insulates while allowing water vapour to escape.
• The principle barrier to the cold.
• Has an insulation index known as the ‘clo’
o The measure of the insulator capacity provides by any layer of trapped air between the skin and clothing.

Question 45

Is body composition important in heat preservation?

Answer 45

Is body composition important in heat preservation?
• Fat= a good insulator, less likely to feel the cold.
o Reduced heat transfer (loss)
• Ratio of body surface area : body mass also important.
o Tall and heavy = low bas:bm =less susceptible to hypothermia.
o High bsa:bm= increased heat loss, more susceptible to hypothermia.
• Children:
o High bsa:bm, find it difficult to regulate body temp.
o High risk of hypo(+ hyper)thermia.

Question 46

Wind chill

Answer 46

• Air temperature alone is not the only factor to consider when exercising in the cold.
• The wind can have a major effect on the ‘feel’ of the environment.
• Feel colder: increased rate of heat loss, through convection and conduction
• Insulating layer of warm air next to the skin is constantly moved away.
• Combat this: windproof clothing, hard work.
*goose bumps= cutis anserine horripilation

Question 47

The dangers of exercising in the cold: Main stressors

Answer 47

• Air temp, below skin and core temp.
• Air movement across the body.
• Cold, dry air.
• Cold water immersion (faster cooling compared to cold sir at same temp)
• The main life-threatening cold injury is a dangerous loss of temp, leading to hypothermia.
-this risk increases in cold, moist, windy conditions.
• Fingers and toes are poorly designed for retaining heat-high sa:vol, low in fat and muscle
• Leads to: frostnip, frostbite
• Compounded by: alcohol consumption, poor fitness, fatigue, dehydration, poor circulation.

Question 48

Cold- wet injuries

Answer 48

• If skin/clothing is wet heat conduction is much greater.
• Heat is lost far quicker than in air at the same temperature.
• Conductive heat loss is greatest during immersion in cold water.
• Can be compounded when water is moving-convective heat loss is increased.
• Vary greatly as individuals, as to just what we can tolerate.

Question 49

Immersion in cold water

Answer 49

• Sudden immersion can result in death, as the body responds with tachycardia (a fast HR), a reflex inspiratory gasp and hyperventilation.
• This response appears to come about as a response to a rapid drop in skin temperature.
• Additionally, the muscles may also contract by reflex, resulting in poor neural coordination.
o Intense peripheral vasoconstriction.
o Redistribution of blood to the core.
o Reduced blood flow through the muscles of the limbs.

Question 50

Too cold to exercise?

Answer 50

• Cold, dry air can severely affect the body.
• Increasing the possibility of an asthma attack.
o Especially in those with exercise induced asthma.
• Can lead to significant heat loss and dehydration.
• Though it does also seem that the health benefits outweigh the risks, even in those with respiratory issues.

Question 51

Physiological adaptations

Answer 51

• We can adapt to a cold environment but much less so than in hot environments.
• Also take much longer to occur.
• Include:
o Less discomfort.
o Enhanced dexterity- because of less vasoconstriction.
o Prevention of cold illness/injury.
o Improved survival to cold environment.
3 main responses:
• Habituation: desensitisation of the normal response to cold.
• Metabolic acclimatisation: greater shivering to increase heat production.
• Insulative acclimatisation: increased vasoconstriction to enhance heat conservation.

Question 52

Non-nutritional ergogenic aids

Answer 52

• Substance of phenomenon, that improves an athlete’s performance.
• The effects on success of training and nutritional programme and medial support/rehabilitation may only be small for elite athletes.
o With the difference between winning and losing very small for these athletes –seek an advantage somewhere else.
• Important to distinguish between those demand as acceptable and those that are not.
• There are a large number-important to distinguish between those deemed as acceptable and those that are not.
• WADA (World Anti-Doping Association) banned a number of these.
• Athletes can be punished in a number of ways:
o Fine-lifetime ban

Question 53

Do drugs work?

Answer 53

Many proven to-but not all.

• Carbohydrate loading (Nicholas et al 1995, Philips et al 2010)
• Altitude training (Millet et al 2010)
• Sharkskin swimsuit

No:
• Nasal dilators (only 1 supports this, Griffin et al 1997). Open nasal passage to improve airflow-possible placebo effect.

Question 54

Placebo effect

Answer 54

A positive effect that cannot be attributed to the properties of the placebo itself, the effect is due to the person’s belief that the placebo works.

Question 55

Anabolic steroids

Answer 55

• Anabolism=the metabolic process of creating, or building, more of a certain tissue or substance.
• Steroid=general chemical substance that can be found in the body and cam also be synthesised.
• Anabolic steroids initiate, or assist, the process of building tissues/substances in the body.
• May be natural (testosterone) or synthesised (androsterone)
• Used in medicine to stimulate growth.
• By athletes to increase muscle mass, power, strength and speed.

Question 56

Anabolic steroids:

proposed benefits

Answer 56

• Weight gain- not always muscle strength/power. Ability to train more frequently and at a higher intensity.
• Increased muscle mass, strength and power.
• Lower body fat (%)-not less fat, less fat-free mass.
• Endurance performance-increased haemoglobin levels.

Question 57

Anabolic steroids possible harmful effects

Answer 57

• Heart problems- cardiomyopathy, lower HDL cholesterol.
• Liver problems- toxicity, hepatitis.
• Hormone problems- reduced production of gonadotropic hormones.
• Skin problems.
• Metal problems- increased aggression, paranoia.

Question 58

Hormones-EPO

Answer 58

• A protein based hormone found naturally in the body (produced in liver and kidneys).
• Regulates red blood cell production (protecting them from being destroyed and stimulating production in the bone marrow)

Question 59

EPO proposed benefits

Answer 59

• Increased oxygen carrying capacity-increased haemoglobin. RBC levels. Decreased plasma volume.
• Increased exercise capacity and performance-increased VO2 max.
• Alterations in cognitive function.

Question 60

EPO possible harmful effects

Answer 60

• Impossible to predict the number of RBC’s produced-increased blood viscosity.
• =risk of blood clots, stroke, heart failure, heart attack.
• Elevated BP.
• Greater stress on heart.
• Unexplained/sudden death.

Question 61

HGH

Answer 61

• A protein based hormone naturally found in the body.

* Stimulates tissue growth (so high concentrations in children)

Question 62

diuretics and masking agents

Answer 62

• Increase removal of water from the body-increases frequency and volume of urination.
• Supress hormones regulating urine function.
• Some increase blood flow to the kidneys (greater filtration of water from the blood).
• Some inhibit the reabsorption of sodium from the kidneys (greater water removal from circulation).
• Some promote water loss via osmosis.
• Most are chemically synthesised (some naturally occurring).

Question 63

Diuretics proposed benefits

Answer 63

• Weight control.
o To ‘make’ a weight- 1l water=1kg body weight
• Physical appearance: body weight to make skin thin and tight=better definition.
• Hiding illicit substance use: dilutes other substances & speeds up their removal.

Question 64

Diuretics possible harmful effects

Answer 64

• Hinders thermoregulation.
• Reduced blood plasma volume: blood more viscous=heart problems.
• Fatigue/drowsiness.
• Muscles cramps/soreness.
• Numbness.
• Nausea/vomiting.
• Diarrhoea.
• Mood changes.
• Blurred vision