EXERCISE AND BODY



Exercise and Body



Exercise and Body

Introduction

The physiology of exercise is a broad concept that addresses the central issue as to how the body adapts itself to the demands of physical activity.

Physiology is the academic study of the various processes, systems, and functions of the human body as influenced by the performance of physical activity. Exercise is a term that has a variety of possible meanings, each dictated by circumstances. In a sports context, exercise is the performance, conditioning or training undertaken in respect to a particular athletic or sporting purpose. Exercise may also be directed to improvement of a person's general health, physical fitness, or as physical therapy, to augment an existing treatment to remedy or to ameliorate the effects of a disease or illness upon the body (Moore, 2009, 157).

The term exercise physiology is used to identify the corresponding course of academic study offered at universities around the world.

Discussion and Analysis

The human body undergoes adaptations on a continuous basis. Sport tends to heighten the power of the body to adapt to training, competition, or other circumstances, as sport is often the most profound stress experienced by the body. As an example, when the body is subjected to a fever, where the subject's temperature becomes significantly elevated above its usual range centered at 98.6°F (37.7°C), the body's metabolism (the overall rate of activity in the body's processes) increases; the running of a marathon may increase metabolic rates to many time their normal level.

Virtually every process and organ within the body is affected by exercise. As an example, the skin, the largest human organ, undergoes physical changes when exposed to the environmental factors encountered in sport, such as increases and decreases in external temperatures. The physiology of exercise is tends to center upon the most important physical systems to athletic performance: the cardiovascular system, the cardiorespiratory system, the thermoregulatory system, body composition and the musculoskeletal system. It is these aspects of human function that tend to have the greatest impact upon the ability of an athlete to maintain or improve their level of performance in any sport.

The cardiovascular system is the physical network composed of the heart and its connected arteries, veins, and capillaries. The cardiovascular system is the vehicle through which the oxygen and fuels required by the cells within the body are supplied; the cardiovascular system removes all waste products from the cells and organs for disposal. When the body is subjected to exercise, and its increased physical demands, the cardiovascular system is forced to work more quickly and more efficiently to fulfill bodily needs. A number of physiological changes occur over time to this system through exercise (Fox, 2001, 20).

The first and the most fundamental change to the cardiovascular system is with respect to the function of the heart. The cardiac muscle of the heart will grow stronger over time, as the heart becomes adapted to working harder during exercise. A stronger and more efficient heart reduces the resting pulse of the subject; as the heart ...