Exercise Physiology-Control of the

Environment

Tahir Mahmood
IIIRS ,Sialkot
 After the lecture, you will be able to
understand:
Brief introduction about exercise physiology
Homeostasis vs steady state
Dynamic constancy
Control systems of the body
Nature of the control systems
Examples of homeostatic control
Exercise: A test of homeostatic control
 Exercise Physiology
Exercise physiology is the physiology of physical
exercise. It is one of the allied health professions that
involves the study of the acute responses and chronic
adaptations to exercise. 
OR
A field of sports medicine that involves the study of
the body's response to physical stress, comprising the
science of fitness, the preservation of fitness, and the
role of fitness in preventing and treating disease.
 Exercise Physiologist
Exercise Physiologist conduct fitness evaluations
when a person undergoes physical activity
 First Exercise Physiology Laboratory
George Wells Fitz
Helped establish the Dept. of Anatomy, Physiology, and
Physical Training at Harvard University in 1891.
Harvard Fatigue Laboratory
David Bruce Dill established a fatigue laboratory at
Harvard University, 1927
Refocused his efforts from biochemistry to experimental
physiology
 What is Clinical Exercise Physiology?

A sub-component of exercise physiology that

involves the application of exercise physiology
principles, knowledge and skills for purposes of
the prevention, rehabilitation or diagnosis of
disease or disability in humans.”
Application of Exercise Physiology in other
Disciplines and Professions
 Systems involved in Exercise Physiology
 Consider the physiological systems:

Cardiovascular, Respiratory, Nervous, Renal, GI,

Temperature Regulation, Endocrine, Muscle, Bone,
Skin, Immune, Metabolism
Exercise tends to disturb homeostasis
Adaptations of physiological systems tend to
minimize this disturbance
 What is Exercise Training?
The repeated use of exercise to improve physical fitness.”

Adaptations to Exercise

 Acute adaptations
The changes in human physiology that occur during
exercise or physical activity.

 Chronic Adaptations
The alterations in the structure and functions of the
body that occur in response to the regular completion
of physical activity and exercise.
 Contents of Exercise Physiology
Physiology of exercise
Physiology of health and fitness
Physiology of performance
 SECTION-1
PHYSIOLOGY OF EXERCISE

TOPIC-1
Control of the Internal Environment
How to Understand Graphs
How to Understand Graphs
Homeostasis: Dynamic Constancy
Changes in Body Core Temperature during
Exercise
Changes in Arterial Pressure at Rest
Relationship between Exercise Time
and Body Temperature
 Concept of Dynamic Constancy

The dynamic
constancy of the
internal
environment is
called
homeostasis
In Summary
Control System of the Body
Non-Biological Control System
Biological Control System
Components of a Biological Control System
Negative Feedback
Positive Feedback
Gain of a control system
In Summary
Examples of Homeostatic control
Regulation of Body Temperature
Regulation of blood Glucose
 1. Regulation of Arterial blood
Pressure
Baroreceptor system
When B.P. increases from normal level
Activation of baroreceptor system
Impulses at cardiovascular control center at medulla of
brain
Decreased impulses to heart by center
Low B.P
When B.P. decreases from normal level
Vice versa
Failure of biological control system results in
Disease
Stress Proteins Helps maintain cellular
Homeostasis
Exercise
In Summary
 Exercise: A Test of Homeostatic Control

Muscular exercise can be considered a dramatic test of

the body's homeostatic control systems, because
exercise has the potential to disrupt many homeostatic
variables.

For example, during heavy exercise, skeletal muscle

produces large amounts of lactic acid, which causes an
increase in intracellular and extracellular acidity
Additionally, heavy exercise results in large increases in muscle
O 2 requirements, and large amounts of CO 2 are produced.
These changes must be countered by increases in breathing
(pulmonary ventilation) and blood flow to increase O 2
delivery to the exercising muscle and remove metabolically
produced CO 2 .
Further, during heavy exercise the working muscles produce
large amounts of heat that must be removed to prevent
overheating.
The body's control systems must respond rapidly to prevent
drastic alterations in the internal environment
Heavy exercise or prolonged work results in
disturbances in the internal environment that are
generally too great for even the highest gain
control systems to overcome, and thus a steady
state is not possible.
Muscular exercise results:
Increase in ICF & ECF acidity due to accumulation more
lactic acid
Increase O requirement and CO production
2 2
Heat production

If not overcome by control systems then leads to

fatigue and ultimately cessation of exercise