PHYSICAL PERFORMANCE

BAIDURI WIDANARKO

Chapter 2 and 3 of The Physiology of Work (Rodahl, 1989)

Development of Work Physiology (1)

Originally, the science of physiology was

largely concerned with the function of the
healthy organism at rest

The function of the human body under the

stress of work (Wojciech Jastrzebowski -1882) and
exercise
Development of Work Physiology (2)
• During the war, applied human factors scientist – human
engineering
• Trying to adjust physical facilities, such as the aircraft cockpit to fit
the human body which was to occupy it
• Arranging the instrument panel to be more suitable for the operator
in terms of convenience and efficency
• Team of psychologist, physiologist, anthropologist, and
engineers
• After war – Human Factor Research
• In early 1950, known as ergonomics, anything that has to
do with work, including the entire subjects of work
physiology, work psychology, and human factors and
human engineering
Development of Work Physiology (3)
• Early days, heavy physical work ~ athletic performance
• Emphasis was on the energy cost of physical work, and
the corresponding requirement for dietary energy intakae,
rest pauses, endurance, movement, and the assessment
of maximal physical work capacity
• Hence, early stages, work physiology included both
• the physiology of physical work
• the physiology of athletic performance
Development of Work Physiology (4)
• Later on, there is no longer very heavy physical work in
manual labour
• Work loads in excess of 30%-40% of individual’s maximal
work capacity are very rare
• Hence, the metabolic events and the organic stress at the
cellular level are entirely different in ordinaly manual
labour and competitive athletic exercise

“In everyday life, the muscular work which we called upon to

perform is done at a far lower rate than that which is done by
the athlete who is pushing himself almost to the limit of his
power” (Courtice and Douglas 1936)

• Distinguishing between physiology of work and physiology

of athletic performance
From Dynamic to Static Work
Dynamic physical work

Gradually replaced with

• Prolonged static work
• Using relatively small muscle groups
• Fixed posistion
• At an intence working rate
• Involving considerable mental tension and
requiring a high degree of accuracy
A stress situation the human mind and body is
not ideally equipped to cope with
 Training

Psychic Factors
Somatic Factors Service Functions • Attitude
1. Fuel • Motivation
2. Oxygen Uptake • Sleep deprivation
• Stress

Nature of Work To
be Performed Environment
• Type • Altitude
• Load • High gas pressure
• Rhythm Energy yielding
• Temperature
• Duration processes
• Humidity
• Schedule • Air velocity
• Working position • Noise vibration
• working • Air pollution
techniques

Physical
Performance
Training and Adaptation
• Some of the service functions
would be improved by physical
training
• Increase the stroke volume of
the heart, which causes an
increase in the cardiac output,
augmenting the oxygen
transport from the lungs to the
muscles
• Physically fit workers were less
fatigued at the end of the work
shift than were who were unfit
Saltin et al, 1968)
Somatic Factors (1)
• State of health (healthy vs
sick)
• CV disease
• Pulmonary disorders
• Gastrointestinal problems
• Musculoskeletal complaints
• Fitness of work
• Gender (male vs female)
• There are few jobs which
cannot be equally well
performed by females as
males
• Females are better in certain
things
Somatic Factors (2)
• Body size (small vs large)
• Aerobic power
• Muscle strength
• Age (young vs old)
• Maximal oxygen uptake
• Heart rate
• Stroke volume
• Pulmonary ventilation
• Muscle strength
Somatic Factors (3)
• Nutritional stage (fed vs starved)
• No differences in room temperature for 10 days
• Nutritional deficiency combined with cold stress affects on
performance
• Individual differences
• Skills and capabilities whether genetically or not
Psychic Factors
• Attitude (positive vs negative)
• The individual willingness to devote himself to his work and to
make it a matter of pride to do a good job, varies greatly from one
individual to another
• Motivation
• The basic concept of reward and punishment
• Awareness of personal role in the working team
• Responsibility
• Sleep deprivation
• Sleep deprivation (>2 days) may cause deterioration of mental
performance, emotional effects
• Three hours of sleep improved the performance
• Stress (positive vs negative)
 Nature of Work to Be Performed (1)
• Type of work (mental vs
physical)
• Mental activity increases regional
cerebral oxidative metabolism and
regional cerebral blood flow
• Physical work accomplished by
muscular contractions, supported
by oxidative metabolic processes
in the muscle cells, in which fuel
(essentially carb and fat) is
oxidized in the presence of
oxygen.
• 1 liter O2 utilized, some 5 kcal (20
J) of energy liberated
• Mechanical efficiency of human
body is roughly 20%-25%
 Nature of Work to Be Performed (2)
• Physical work (light vs heavy)
• Maximum O2 uptake varies from
one person to another, for
example 6 l/min vs 2 l/min
• Team work
• A work load taxing 30%-40% of
the individual maximum O2 uptake
is an average upper limit for
physical work performed regularly
over an 8-hour working
• No more than 40% of maximal
muscle strength should be applied
in repetitious work in which the
time of each muscular contraction
is about one-half the time of each
period of relaxation
 Nature of Work to Be Performed (3)
• Physical work (small vs large
muscle groups)
• The smaller the muscle mass
involved in handling certain load,
the greater the stress on each
individual muscle fiber
• Arm work represent a heavier load
on the heart
• The maximal oxygen uptake in
arm work is about 70% of the max
oxygen uptake attained when
working with legs
 Nature of Work to Be Performed (4)
• Work rhythm (continuous vs
intermitten)
• In continuous work, further
increase in work load is not
accompanied by a further increase
in oxygen uptake
• The energy metabolism is largely
anaerobic, and the lactate
accumulation is the muscle tissue
and in the blood rises sharply
• During the recovery after physical
work there is no sudden drop, but
a gradual decline in oxygen
uptake
Nature of Work to Be Performed (5)
• Work rhythm (static vs dynamic)
• In static work, the muscles involed may be more or less maximally
contracted, causeing the intramuscular pressure to be higher than
the blood pressure, obstructing the circulation of the blood to the
region
Other factors will be discussed after
mid-semester exam