Muscle Metabolic Adaptation to

Exercise

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Skeletal muscle metabolic adaptations to exercise:
Classification of muscle fibers
Distribution and recruitment of different muscle fibers
Muscle metabolic adaptations to exercise (acute and chronic )
Recovery from exercise-EPOC
Health Advantages of Regular Exercise
 LECTURE OUTLINE

MUSCULAR ADAPTATIONS TO EXERCISE

The main tissues of the body that are involved in catabolism during and following
exercise are:

1. Skeletal muscle
2. The liver
3. Adipose tissue

So the cells of skeletal muscle, liver and adipose tissue are very different in sub
cellular organization, organelle content, appearance and function.

METABOLIC CONNECTION BETWEEN

SKELETAL MUSCLES, LIVER AND ADIPOSE
TISSUE.
Exercise increase glucose catabolism in sk.m and production of lactate.
Cori cycle : lactate release from sk.m, uptake by liver and conversion to
glucose by gluconeogenesis and release back into the blood for uptake by
muscle is called Cori cycle.
Alanine cycle : Alanine release from sk.m into circulation for uptake by the
liver and conversion to glucose.
Both Cori cycle and Alanine cycle are more operative during exercise.

ACUTE AND CHRONIC ADAPTATIONS

The immediate (acute) metabolic adaptations that occur in skeletal muscles are
the classic example of the:
Responsiveness of skeletal muscles to metabolic stress.
Acute changes that occur in skeletal muscles metabolism to meet the muscle
need to increase the regeneration of ATP

CHRONIC ADAPTATIONS
Apart from acute changes in muscle metabolism, the skeletal muscles can
under go long term (chronic) structural and functional changes when exposed
to exercise for weeks or months.
Chronic adoptions that improve the muscle abilities to regenerate ATP during
exercise.

SKELETAL MUSCLE FIBERS

 Skeletal muscle fibers are not alike in composition and function. So not all
muscle fibers are metabolically alike or adapted to perform the same task.
These fibers vary in their content of myoglobin i.e. the red color protein that
binds oxygen in muscle fibers.

SKELETAL MUSCLE FIBERS

Those that have high myoglobin content are called red muscle fiber and appear
darker. They contain more mitochondria and are supplied by more blood
capillaries.
Those that have low content of myoglobin are called white muscle fiber and
appear lighter.
Skeletal muscle fibers also contract and relax at different speeds.
They also vary in metabolic reactions by which they generate ATP and how
quickly they fatigue.

CLASSIFICATION OF MUSCLE FIBERS

Skeletal muscle fibers are classified into three types on the basis of their structure and
function:
1. Slow oxidative fiber (SO)
2. Fast oxidative glycolitic fiber (FOG)
3. Fast glycolitic fiber (FG)

SLOW OXIDATIVE FIBER (SO)

They are smallest in diameter and least powerful type of muscle fiber.
They appear dark red because they contain large amounts of myoglobin and
many blood capillaries.
SO FIBERS
They generate ATP mainly by aerobic cellular respiration because they have
many large mitochondria and are called oxidative fibers.
These fibers are slow because the ATPase in the myosin heads hydrolyzes ATP
relatively slowly and the contraction cycle proceeds at a slower speed.
Location: Postural muscle such as those of neck , back and legs.
Function: maintaining posture and aerobic endurance activities (e.g. running a
marathon).

FAST OXIDATIVE GLYCOLYTIC FIBER (FOG)

They are intermediate in diameter.
They contain large amount of myoglobin and many blood capillaries and thus
they have dark red appearance.
They generate ATP by aerobic cellular respiration which gives them higher
resistance to fatigue.
They also have high intra-cellular glycogen level thus they also generate ATP
by anaerobic glycolysis.
 They are called fast fibers because ATPase in a myosin head hydrolyzes ATP
faster than the SO fiber thus their speed of contraction is faster.
They reach the peak tension more quickly but they have brief duration of
activity, less than 100 milliseconds.
Location: leg muscles which not only support the body but also used for
walking and running.
Function: they contribute to activities such as walking and sprinting.

FAST GLYOCLYTIC FIBER

They are largest in diameter and contain the most myofibrils so they can
generate more powerful contractions.
They have low myoglobin content, few blood capillaries, few mitochondria
and appear white in colour.
They contain large amount of glycogen and generate ATP by glycolysis.
FG fibers contract strongly and quickly because of their large size and their
ability to hydrolyze ATP rapidly.
FG fiber contracts strongly and quickly
FG fibers are adapted for intense, anaerobic movement of short duration but
they fatigue quickly.
Location: muscles of shoulder and arms
Functions: weight lifting or throwing a ball.
The FG fiber of weight lifter maybe 50% larger than those of an endurance
athlete.
The increase in size is due to increased synthesis of muscle protein.
The overall muscle enlargement is due to hypertrophy .

DISTRIBUTION & RECRUITMENT OF

DIFFERENT FIBERS
Most skeletal muscle contain a mixture of all three types of fibers , but their
proportion vary with the:
Typical action of the muscle
Persons training regimen
Genetic factors.

METABOLIC PATHWAY
The main pathway that stimulate the regeneration of ATP are:
1. Creatinine phosphate
2. Glycolysis
3. Mitochondrial respiration

MUSCLE METABOLISM
It generates ATP by different mechanism over the duration of a period of
exercise.
 Muscle fiber have three sources for ATP production:
1. Creatinine phosphate
2. Anaerobic cellular respiration (glycolysis).
3. Aerobic cellular respiration (mitochondria)
MUSCLE FATIGUE
Muscle fatigue results from:
ATP and Ach depletion
Loss of membrane excitability
Accumulation of lactic acid
CNS mechanisms.

MUSCLE METABOLIC ADAPTATION TO

EXERCISE.
Various types of exercise can induce changes in fibers in a skeletal muscle:
Endurance type (aerobic): such as running or swimming, causes a gradual
transformation of some FO fibers into FOG fibers.
The transformed fibers show slight increase in diameter, number of
mitochondria, blood supply and strength.
This also results in CVS and respiratory change.
The exercise that requires great strength for short periods produce an increase
in the size and strength of FG fibers.
The increase in size is due to increased synthesis of muscle proteins.
The overall result is muscle enlargement (hypertrophy).
Acute metabolic adaptations.
Chronic metabolic adaptations.
Acute metabolic adaptations: acute changes that occur in muscle metabolism
to meet the muscle needs to increase the regeneration of ATP .

ACUTE ADAPTATIONS
It includes:
incremental exercise
Steady state exercise
Intense exercise
Incremental exercise: Exercise performed at intensities that progressively
increases over time.
The pathways involved in incremental exercise are:
Creatine phosphate
Glycogenolysis and glycolysis
o Steady state exercise: this is attained when all the ATP demand from
muscle contractions is met by oxidative phosphorylation.
o During steady state exercise metabolic pathways involved:
1. Glycogenolysis and glycolysis
2. Lipolysis and beta-oxidation
3. Amino acid oxidation.
Intense exercise: it can be defined as any intensity that exceeds ones capability
to maintain steady state condition. it includes:
Sprint running, cycling, swimming, skating and weight lifting.
ATP regeneration must be met by:
1. Creatine phosphate
2. Glycolysis terminating in the production of lactate and the development of
acidosis.

CHRONIC METABOLIC ADAPTATIONS

Chronic metabolic adaptation that improve the muscle abilities to regenerate
ATP during exercise.
The skeletal muscle can undergo long-term (chronic) structural and functional
changes when exposed to exercise performed repeatedly over several weeks or
months
Chronic muscle adaptations are specific to the type of exercise performed.
Metabolic pathway involved:
1. Mitochondrial respiration
2. Glycolysis
3. Creatine phosphate

RECOVERY AFTER EXERCISE

During recovery after exercise: during this phase both catabolic and anabolic
reactions occur to replenish the energy stores used during exercise and
removal of waste products.
During recovery ability of skeletal muscle to replenish energy and substrate
stores as rapidly as possible, prepares the muscle to better tolerate the
successive bouts of exercise