Part 1 - Exercise Sciences

Question 1

What are tropomyosin and troponin?

Answer 1

Regulatory proteins that regulate the interaction of myosin and actin.

Tropomyosin sits on the binding sites of myosin and each tropomyosin has a troponin head that responds to calclium. The presence of calcium causes tropomyosin to lift and allow the binding of actin to myosin and subsequent contraction.

Question 2

What is a sarcomere?

Answer 2

The basic contractile unit of muscle.

One z-line to the next z-line

Question 3

True or false? Each muscle fiber has a single neuromuscular junction

Answer 3

True

located at the approximate centre of the cell

Question 4

When stimulated, muscle fibers always attempt to ____. That is, the cross-bridges always attempt to pull ____ towards the centre of the _____.

Answer 4

When stimulated, muscle fibers always attempt to shorten. That is, the cross-bridges always attempt to pull actin towards the centre of the sarcomere.

Question 5

What is a concentric muscle action?

Answer 5

Shortening of a muscle (e.g. bicep with curls)

Question 6

What is a eccentric muscle action?

Answer 6

Lengthening of a muscle when force applied to it overcomes contractile force (e.g. the weight of a dumbbell lengthening a bicep when it is at ‘rest’ and lowering the dumbbell back down after a concentric action)

Question 7

What is the most likely cause for delayed onset muscle soreness?

Answer 7

Eccentric muscle actions causing connective/muscle tissue damage and inflammatory response.

Exercise may actually be the best analgesic relief for DOMs.

Question 8

What is the concept of ‘specific tension?’

Answer 8

Specific tension: Maximal force production and fiber efficiency differing relative to their size (cross-sectional area)

Question 9

How can differing levels of myosin ATPase effect contractile characteristics of muscle?

Answer 9

Myosin ATPase splits ATP and produces energy for contraction.

More ATPase will cause a muscle to have a high rate of shortening (shortening velocity)

Question 10

What are slow-twitch fibers and fast-twitch fibers?

Answer 10

Slow-twitch: Type 1. Not much ATPase. Don’t fatigue easily but contract and relax slowly.

Fast-twitch: Type 2. Large and powerful, with moderate to high anaerobic metabolic capability. There are two types, fast oxidative glycolytic (FOG) which are moderate oxidative and anaerobic providing them with some fatigue resistance. The other is purely anaerobic and highly fatigable fast glycolytic.

The difference between these two types of fibers is continuous, not binary.

Question 11

What is the difference between a muscle spindle and a golgi tendon organ?

Answer 11

Muscle spindle: in the middle of a skeletal muscle. Stretch receptor with sensory receptors around intrafusal fibers (surrounded by regular extrafusal fibers).

The golgi tendon organ is located a the junction of the muscle and tendon that attaches the muscle to bone. Deformed when muscle is activated, it protects the muscle from harm by detecting excessive force and reflexively relaxing the active muscle and stimulating the antagonistic muscle.

Question 12

Define a motor unit

Answer 12

All the muscle fibers supplied by one motor neuron (the neuron is part of the unit).

Question 13

What are two ways a muscle can increase maximum force of contraction (gradation of force)?

Answer 13

Motor unit recruitment (recruiting more motor units in the order type I (slow twitch), type IIa (fast oxidative glycolytic), and type IIx (fast glycolytic). When the larger fast twitch fibers are recruited there is a second big onset of blood lactate accumulation (OBLA).

Rate coding (Increasing firing rate of already activated motor units).

Resistance training allows people to recruit more muscle units AND have higher maximal motor unit discharge rates than untrained individuals.

Question 14

What are the best forms of exercise for increasing bone mineral density?

Answer 14

• Weight-bearing exercises like walking and running.
• Resistance training.

Keep this in mind for osteoporosis clients (e.g. walking for bone mineral density in lower limbs).

Question 15

How does exercise force the oxyhemoglobin dissociation curve to the right and therefore release oxygen at higher partial pressure so that it can be used by the working muscle rather than staying bound to hemoglobin?

Answer 15

• Raising body temperature

- Increasing acidity of blood (lowering pH)

Question 16

The estimate of the rate-pressure product (RPP) or double product of the heart is obtained by ____?

Answer 16

RPP = Systolic blood pressure * heart rate

indirectly measures myocardial oxygen uptake

Question 17

How do you obtain cardiac output?

What is the Frank-Starling principle?

Answer 17

The amount of blood pumped by the heart in 1 minute.

Cardiac output: stroke volume * Heart rate

Stroke volume: End-diastolic volume - end-systolic volume

AKA: CO = (EDV - ESV) * HR

The Frank-Starling principle states that the more the left ventricle is stretched, the more forceful the contraction and thus the greater volume of blood leaving the ventricle. This principle is thus based on the length-tension relationship. An increase in preload (EDV) is directly influenced by the heart volume and venous return of blood to the heart.

Question 18

True or false? The same muscle(s) is used during breathing at rest and during exercise.

Answer 18

False

The diaphragm is used at rest, but the diaphragm, pectoralis major/minor, scalene, sternocleidomastoid, and intercostal muscles are involved to facilitate airflow in.

Question 19

What is spirometry?

Answer 19

Using a spirometer to measure lung volumes.

Question 20

What is the Fick equation for oxygen uptake (VO2)

Answer 20

VO2 = HR * (end diastolic volume - end systolic volume) * (artial oxygen content - venous oxygen content

Question 21

Relay the heart’s conduction pathway

Answer 21

The conduction system of the heart. Left: Normal excitation originates in the sinoatrial (SA) node then propagates through both atria. The atrial depolarization spreads to the atrioventricular (AV) node, and passes through the bundle of His to the bundle branches/Purkinje fibers.

Question 22

How does lactate clearance relate to conditioning in individuals?

What is the lactate threshold?

Answer 22

Individuals with more training tend to clear lactate faster than training novices. Lactate clearance is a good metric for recovery rates.

Lactate does not contribute to lower blood pH than other intermediates of glycolysis.

Lactate can be used in gluconeogenesis.

The lactate threshold is the exercise intensity or relative intensity at which blood lactate begins an abrubt increase above the baseline concentration, it represents an increase reliance on anaerobic mechanisms (50-60 in untrained, 70-80 in trained).

Question 23

At what intensities of exercise are the following pathways used?

• Phosphagen
• Glycolytic
• Oxidative

Answer 23

• Phosphagen: high-intensity
• Glycolytic: moderate to high-intensity for short to medium duration
• Oxidative: low intensity of long duration

Question 24

True or false? The higher the oxygen uptake the more fit a person is considered to be

Answer 24

True

Question 25

Which of the following describes what a client would be doing to allow the oxidative system to contribute the greatest percentage toward total ATP production?

• Sitting quietly
• Walking
• Jogging
• Sprinting

Answer 25

Sitting quietly.

Novices use up oxygen quickly and switch over to anaerobic quickly. Trained individuals can use oxygen longer and more efficiently.

Question 26

How do you calculate torque?

Answer 26

Torque = force * distance from pivot point

Question 27

Several actions or conditions contribute to movement inefficiency, these include

• Muscular coactivation
• Jerky movement
• Extraneous movements
• Isometric actions
• Excessive center of gravity excursions

Define each of these

Answer 27

Muscular coactivation: antagonistic muscles and agonist muscle(s) on the opposite side of the joint act at the same time

Jerky movement: alternating changes of direction requiring metabolic energy to accelerate and decelerate limb segments

Extraneous movements: excessive arm movements during running above and beyond those needed for balance

Isometric actions: an isometric task where there is no displacement, and thus no mechanical work is produced

Excessive center of gravity excursion: metabolic energy required to raise and lower the body’s centre of gravity beyond that minimally required for a given task

Question 28

What are the four distinguishing characteristics of muscles?

Answer 28

• Excitability
• Contractility (ability to generate tension/pulling force)
• Extensibility (ability to lengthen, or stretch)
• Elasticity (ability to return to original length and shape)

Question 29

Muscles change length as they contract. When is their tension strongest and when is it weakest?

What is the one caveat to this?

Answer 29

It is an inverted U.

It is weakest when it is very short and very long. When it is short there is complete overlap between the actin filaments, myosin filament pressure against the z-lines, and diminished capacity for myosin binding. As the sarcomere further lengths past optimal length actin-filament overlap decreases and force production drops.

The one caveat is the PASSIVE bnon-contractile part of the muscle. The connective part is elastic so when the muscle is at it’s longest these parts put tensional pressure on the muscle to shorten.

Question 30

The rate of force development for a muscle is an important metric in determining ______. Maximal muscle force can take up to _______

Answer 30

The rate of force development for a muscle is an important metric in determining PERFORMANCE. Maximal muscle force can take up to HALF A SECOND

Question 31

How does tendon insertion determine muscular force potential?

Answer 31

A person with a larger moment arm (tendinous insertions farther away form the joint) can produce more torque for the same level of muscular force.

Question 32

Expressing strength is usually limited to the amount that can be lifted through the weakest point in the range of motion. What is the term for this?

Answer 32

The sticking point (or sticking region).

Determining the sticking point is difficult, it is not simply the point in the range of motion where the external resistance has the largest moment arm. Rather the sticking point probably occurs where the external resistance has the greatest mechanical advantage compared to the muscle.

Question 33

What is the difference between a closed kinetic chain and an open kinetic chain?

Answer 33

Closed kinetic chains result in the movement of one joint causing movement in others in a predictable fashion. (e.g. squat, bench press)

Open kinetic chains usually involve a single joint moving against some form of angular resistance (e.g. curls)

Trainers have to be cautious of limitations in joints for closed chain movements, particularly for joints involved in the movement that might not be overtly obvious (e.g. dorsiflexion of the ankle during a squat).

Question 34

How does a trainer, for a specific movement, determine 1 the muscles involved and 2 the type of muscle action?

Answer 34

1. Identify joint movement
2. Identify the effect of the external force (e.g gravity) on the joint movement or position by asking the question
3. Identify the type of muscle action (concentric, eccentric, isometric).

3A if 1 and 2 are in the opposite directions, then the muscles are actively shortening in a concentric action

3B If and and 2 are in the same direction then you ask the what is the speed of the movement. If faster than what external force would produce by itself, then the muscles are actively shortening in concentric action. If the movement is slower than what the external force would produce by itself, then the muscles are actively lengthening in an eccentric action.

3C If no movement is occurring yet the external force would produce movement if acting by itself, then the muscles are performing an isometric action.

3D movments across gravity (ie parallel to the ground) with no other external force acting are produced by a concentric action. When gravity cannot influence the joint movement in question, shortening (concentric) action is needed to pull the segment against its own intertia

4 Identify the plane of movement and the axis of rotation.

5 Ask on which side of the joint axis are muscles lengthening and on which side are they shortening?

6 Combine info from steps 3 and 5 to determine which muscles must be producing or controlling movement.

Question 35

What are isokinetic dynamometers?

Answer 35

Isokinetic devices are designed to control movement speed to provide constant angular velocity. Keeps limb movement at a constant speed.

Question 36

What are flywheels?

Answer 36

a heavy revolving wheel in a machine that is used to increase the machine’s momentum and thereby provide greater stability or a reserve of available power during interruptions in the delivery of power to the machine.

Question 37

True or false? Increasing heart rate through resistance training can act as cardio and increase peak VO2

Answer 37

FALSE

Resistance training does not elicit the same metabolic demands as cardio therefore there is little stimulus for increased peak VO2 with resistance training. It is misleading to use target heart rate zones during resistance training as an indicator of cardiovascular fitness training. Aerobic endurance-specific training is needed to achieve optimal results though increasing muscle strength and power can increase cardio performance.

Resistance training depends primarily on anaerobic metabolism to generate ATP

Question 38

What is sarcopenia?

Answer 38

loss of muscle tissue as a natural part of the aging process.

Question 39

What is the Frank-Starling mechanism?

Answer 39

The Frank–Starling law of the heart (also known as Starling’s law and the Frank–Starling mechanism) represents the relationship between stroke volume and end diastolic volume.[1] The law states that the stroke volume of the heart increases in response to an increase in the volume of blood in the ventricles, before contraction (the end diastolic volume), when all other factors remain constant.[1] As a larger volume of blood flows into the ventricle, the blood stretches the cardiac muscle fibers, leading to an increase in the force of contraction. The Frank-Starling mechanism allows the cardiac output to be synchronized with the venous return, arterial blood supply and humoral length,[2] without depending upon external regulation to make alterations. The physiological importance of the mechanism lies mainly in maintaining left and right ventricular output equality.[1][3]

Question 40

What is a good measure of how hard the heart is working?

Answer 40

Heart rate * systolic blood pressure to get RATE-PRESSURE PRODUCT

This increases during exercise of course. (systolic bp rises during exercise, dystolic does not).

Question 41

What is pulmonary minute ventilation and how does it react to acute cardiovascular activity?

Answer 41

THe product of breathing rate and tidal volume, represents the amount of air moved into or out of the lungs in 1 minute. During exercise this increases due to the body’s increased oxygen requirement and consumption.

Question 42

What is the respiratory exchange rate and respiratory quotient?

Answer 42

Respiratory quotient: ratio of the volume of carbon dioxide production to oxygen consumption at cellular level

Respiratory exchange ratio: measure of RQ taken at mouth

RQ or RER = VCO2 / VO2

Can be used to estimate proportion of fat and carbohydrate utilization during rest and steady-state exercise.

Can be used as measure of exercise intensity. And RER values greater than 1 are sometimes used as criterion for evidence of an individual attaining VO2 max during a progressive exercise evaluation.

Question 43

What two hormones are involved as an acute response to cardiovascular exercise and increase blood glucose levels?

Answer 43

Glucagon and insulin

Glucagon increases to activate breakdown of glycogen

Insulin decreases to prevent blood sugar shuttling into cells that don’t need it

Question 44

True or false? The greatest amount of chronic adaptation to aerobic endurance training is respiratory adaptations

Answer 44

FALSE

The demands of aerobic endurance training on the human respiratory system are not as great as they are for other systems.

The respiratory system is not a limiting factor for performing maximal exercise.

Most adaptation is with the cardiovascular system (LVH, increase blood volume and RBC volume) and skeletal muscle (increased capillary density, higher mitochondrial density, myoglobin, glycogen stores, triglyceride stores, and oxidative enzyme stores).

Question 45

Of these, what does aerobic endurance training increase?

• Cardiovascular endurance performance
• Muscular strength
• Vertical jump
• Anaerobic power
• Sprint speed

Answer 45

Cardiovascular endurance performance ONLY

Question 46

What are the major factors in chronic stroke volume increases associated with aerobic endurance training?

Answer 46

• Increased left ventricular volume
• Increased ventricular filling time from bradycardia
• Improved cardiac contractile function

These are good things.

Question 47

Give 13 signs of overtraining from aerobic endurance training

Answer 47

• Decreased performance
• Decreased maximal oxygen uptake (VO2 Max)
• Earlier onset of fatigue
• General malaise
• Loss of interest or enthusiasm for training
• Disturbed psychological mood states
• Increased muscle soreness
• Decreased resting and maximal heart rate
• Increased submaximal exercise heart rate
• Decreased submaximal exercise plasma lactate concentration
• Increased sympathetic stress response
• Decreased catecholamine levels

Question 48

What is the thermic effect of food?

Answer 48

Increase in energy expenditure above the resting metabolic rate that can be measured for several hours following a meal.

Question 49

What formula is used to calculate target heart rate?

Answer 49

Karvonen Formula

Target Heart Rate = ((max HR − resting HR) × %Intensity) + resting HR example

Max heart rate can be estimated by 220 minus age.

Resting heart rate can be estimated to be 70 most of the time

Question 50

How do you calculate BMI?

Answer 50

1. divide your weight in kilograms (kg) by your height in metres (m)
2. then divide the answer by your height again to get your BMI.

So weight / height squared

Question 51

Why is a systematic approach to hydration/water replacement during exercise necessary?

Answer 51

During times of high sweat humans do not adequately replace sweat losses when fluids are consumed at will (e.g. based on thirst). People should be told to drink more than they think they need during high sweat activities.

Question 52

Why are high sodium/electrolyte sport drinks or food good after a workout?

Answer 52

Consumption of sodium after sweating minimizes urine output and hastens recovery of water and electrolyte balance.

Question 53

What is the composition of muscle?

Answer 53

70% water
22% protein
8% fatty acids and glycogen

Question 54

True or false? If a person’s protein source is plant-based, they don’t need as much protein

Answer 54

FALSE

Plant-based protein is less bioavailable than meat protein and therefore people who only consume plant based need more of it per kg bodyweight (1.2-2 g per kg)

Question 55

How many grams of carbohydrates should an ACTIVE person consume per day?

Answer 55

10 g per kg body weight

Question 56

How many grams of proteins should an ACTIVE person consume per day?

Answer 56

1.2-2 g per kg body weight.

Question 57

What percentage of calories should come from fat in a person’s diet?

Answer 57

Less than 30%

Question 58

What may be responsible for the altered mental state that people experience after exercise?

Answer 58

• Thermic effect (e.g. hypothalamus reflexively triggers relaxation in response to temp rise)
• Natural release of beta endorphins during exercise
• Rhythmic muscle afference (e.g. steady repeated rhythmic activities seem to be relaxing)
• Social interaction
• Diversion from concerns/worries
• Feeling of accomplishment

Question 59

What are the biological mechanisms underlying cognitive benefits of exercise?

Answer 59

• Vascular changes leading to greater blood flow in the nervous system (e.g. angiogenesis)
• Neurotrophic factors (increase in expression of genes that code for neurotrophic factors - agents that preserve and nourish brain tissue)
• Neural efficiency (prob a result of the two above processes)

Question 60

What form of intelligence is effected by exercise? Why?

Answer 60

Fluid intelligence (e.g. problem solving) NOT crystallized intelligence (knowledge)

Fluid intelligence is highly associated with the frontal lobe. The frontal lobe shows signs of aging the quickest and therefore the protective effects of exercise are most salient here.

Question 61

List three types of goals as they relate to personal control

Answer 61

• Process goals (client has control over how they do things, e.g. effort applied during a workout)
• Outcome goals (goals that the client has little control over e.g. being the strongest in the gym, focus on comparison to others)
• Performance goals (fall inbetween in terms of personal control e.g. achieve a new personal record on squat)

Question 62

Define the following points on the self-determination continuum (i.e. locus of control continuum)

• Amotivation
• External regulation
• Introjected regulation
• Identified regulation
• Integrated regulation

Answer 62

• Amotivation (lack of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation)
• External regulation (client engages in behaviour to avoid punishment)
• Introjected regulation (client views exercise as means to an end)
• Identified regulation (client follows leadership of training instead of initiating exercise behaviour themselves)
• Integrated regulation (client personally values exercise and freely engages in it)

NOTE: external rewards can actually reduce intrinsic motivation

Question 63

What are the four types of influence that can build self-efficacy?

Answer 63

• Performance accomplishment
• Modeling effects
• Verbal persuasion
• Physiological arousal (e.g. I’m ready = better performance) or anxiety (e.g. I’m too nervous = worse performance)

Achieving success has more impact than anything else on raising a client’s self-efficacy