Chapter 4:

Exercise Metabolism

EXERCISE PHYSIOLOGY
Theory and Application to Fitness and Performance, 5th edition
Scott K. Powers & Edward T. Howley

(c) 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Objectives
• Discuss the relationship between exercise
intensity/duration and the bioenergetic
pathways
• Define the term oxygen deficit
• Define the term lactate threshold
• Discuss several possible mechanisms for the
sudden rise in blood-lactate during
incremental exercise
• List the factors that regulate fuel selection
during different types of exercise
(c) 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

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 Objectives
• Explain why fat metabolism is dependent on
carbohydrate metabolism
• Define the term oxygen debt
• Give the physiological explanation for the
observation that the O2 dept is greater
following intense exercise when compares to
the O2 debt following light exercise

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Rest-to-Exercise Transitions
• Oxygen uptake increases rapidly
– Reaches steady state within 1-4 minutes
• Oxygen deficit
– Lag in oxygen uptake at the beginning of
exercise
– Suggests anaerobic pathways contribute to
total ATP production
• After steady state is reached, ATP
requirement is met through aerobic ATP
production

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 The Oxygen Deficit

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Differences in VO2 Between

Trained & Untrained Subjects

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 Recovery From Exercise
Metabolic Responses
• Oxygen debt or
• Excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC)
– Elevated VO2 for several minutes immediately following
exercise
• “Fast” portion of O2 debt
– Resynthesis of stored PC
– Replacing muscle and blood O2 stores
• “Slow” portion of O2 debt
– Elevated Heart rate and breathing, ↑ energy need
– Elevated body temperature, ↑ metabolic rate
– Elevated Epinephrine & Norepinephrine, ↑ metabolic rate
– Conversion of lactic acid to glucose (gluconeogenesis)
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Oxygen Deficit and Debt During

Light-Moderate and Heavy
Exercise

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Removal of Lactic Acid
Following Exercise

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Metabolic Response to Exercise
Short-Term Intense Exercise
• High-intensity, short-term exercise (2-20 seconds)
– ATP production through ATP-PC system
• Intense exercise longer than 20 seconds
– ATP production via anaerobic glycolysis
• High-intensity exercise longer than 45 seconds
– ATP production through ATP-PC, glycolysis,
and aerobic systems

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Metabolic Response to Exercise

Prolonged Exercise
• Exercise longer than 10 minutes
– ATP production primarily from aerobic
metabolism
– Steady state oxygen uptake can generally
be maintained
• Prolonged exercise in a hot/humid
environment or at high intensity
– Steady state not achieved
– Upward drift in oxygen uptake over time
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 Upward Drift in Oxygen
Uptake During Prolonged
Exercise

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Metabolic Response to Exercise

Incremental Exercise
VO2 – Ability to Deliver & Use Oxygen
• Oxygen uptake increases linearly until VO2max
is reached
– No further increase in VO2 with increasing
work rate
• Physiological factors influencing VO2max
– Ability of cardiorespiratory system to
deliver oxygen to muscles
– Ability of muscles to use oxygen and
produce ATP aerobically
(c) 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

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 Changes in Oxygen Uptake
With Incremental Exercise

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Lactate Threshold
• The point at which blood lactic acid suddenly
rises during incremental exercise
– Also called the anaerobic threshold
• Mechanisms for lactate threshold
– Low muscle oxygen
– Accelerated glycolysis
– Recruitment of fast-twitch muscle fibers
– Reduced rate of lactate removal from the
blood
• Practical uses in prediction of performance
and as a marker of exercise intensity
(c) 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

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 Identification of the
Lactate Threshold

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Mechanisms to Explain the

Lactate Threshold

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 Other Mechanisms for the
Lactate Threshold
• Failure of the mitochondrial hydrogen shuttle
to keep pace with glycolysis
– Excess NADH in sarcoplasm favors
conversion of pyruvic acid to lactic acid
• Type of LDH
– Enzyme that converts pyruvic acid to lactic
acid
– LDH in fast-twitch fibers favors formation of
lactic acid

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Effect of Hydrogen Shuttle and

LDH on Lactate Threshold

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 Estimation of Fuel Utilization
During Exercise
• Respiratory exchange ratio (RER or R)
– VCO2 / VO2
Fat (palmitic acid) = C16H32O2
C16H32O2 + 23O2 → 16CO2 + 16H2O + ?ATP
R = VCO2/VO2 = 16 CO2 / 23O2 = 0.70

Glucose = C6H12O6
C6H12O6 + 6O2 → 6CO2 + 6H2O + ?ATP
R = VCO2/VO2 = 6 CO2 / 6O2 = 1.00
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Estimation of Fuel Utilization

During Exercise
• Indicates fuel utilization
• 0.70 = 100% fat
• 0.85 = 50% fat, 50% CHO
• 1.00 = 100% CHO
• During steady state exercise
– VCO2 and VO2 reflective of O2
consumption and CO2 production at the
cellular level

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 Exercise Intensity and Fuel
Selection
• Low-intensity exercise (<30% VO2max)
– Fats are primary fuel
• High-intensity exercise (>70% VO2max)
– CHO are primary fuel
• “Crossover” concept
– Describes the shift from fat to CHO
metabolism as exercise intensity increases
– Due to:
• Recruitment of fast muscle fibers
• Increasing blood levels of epinephrine
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Illustration of the
“Crossover” Concept

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 Exercise Duration and Fuel
Selection
• During prolonged exercise there is a shift
from CHO metabolism toward fat metabolism
• Increased rate of lipolysis
– Breakdown of triglycerides into glycerol
and free fatty acids (FFA)
– Stimulated by rising blood levels of
epinephrine

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Shift From CHO to Fat Metabolism

During Prolonged Exercise

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 Interaction of Fat and CHO
Metabolism During Exercise
• “Fats burn in a carbohydrate flame”
• Glycogen is depleted during prolonged high-
intensity exercise
– Reduced rate of glycolysis and production of
pyruvate
– Reduced Krebs cycle intermediates
– Reduced fat oxidation
• Fats are metabolized by Krebs cycle

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Sources of Fuel During

Exercise
• Carbohydrate
– Blood glucose
– Muscle glycogen
• Fat
– Plasma FFA (from adipose tissue lipolysis)
– Intramuscular triglycerides
• Protein
– Only a small contribution to total energy production
(only ~2%)
• May increase to 5-15% late in prolonged exercise
• Blood lactate
– Gluconeogenesis via the Cori cycle
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Effect of Exercise Intensity on
Muscle Fuel Source

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Effect of Exercise Duration on

Muscle Fuel Source

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The Cori Cycle: Lactate As a
Fuel Source

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