School for Health, Unit Catalogue 2008/09 |
FH50071 Exercise physiology |
| Credits: 6 |
| Level: Masters |
| Modular: no specific semester |
| Assessment: CW 100% |
| Requisites: |
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Aims & Learning Objectives: This unit aims to develop a critical appreciation of the physiological adaptations of the body to exercise and the environment and to introduce the principles of physiological assessment of exercise. Knowledge and Understanding: After taking this unit the student should be able to: * Identify cases of overtraining and justify the diagnosis. * Advise on appropriate nutrition for sportspeople. * Discuss the effects of environmental factors on performance. * Select and justify methods of exercise testing for the assessment of athlete performance. * Critically evaluate training programmes for men, women and children with reference to how the body adapts to exercise. * Critically analyse and evaluate physiological data. * Critically evaluate the effect of exercise on sporting performance Skills: On completion of this unit students should be able to: * Plan and manage their own learning through reflecting on and analysing their own learning needs. * Integrate and critically evaluate information gathered from a wide range of resources including the unit resource book, text books, journal articles, web pages and other online resources. An appreciation for a hierarchy of evidence should be displayed. * Communicate effectively with colleagues and tutors through asynchronous online discussions. Content: Exercise and muscle function. Mechanisms which resynthesise ATP, physiological responses to exercise in men, women and children, mechanisms of fatigue. Nutrition, training methods and the use of exercise testing. The effects of environmental factors on performance. * Exercise and muscle - structure of muscle tissue and the physiology of its function, together with a definition of exercise * Energetics - role of ATP and associated metabolic processes. Mechanisms for fatigue * Responses to exercise - muscle responses to submaximal and maximal exercises and requirements for effective cardiopulmonary function and endoctrinological responses to exercise. Physiological characteristics of men, women and children * Adaptations to exercise - cardiopulmonary and metabolic responses to exercise, changes that occur in skeletal muscle and age/sex-linked aspects of adaptation * Nutrition - principles of a sound diet in relation to athletic needs. Importance of hydration and effectiveness of nutritional supplements * Training - fitness in context of training and biological markers of overtraining * Exercise testing - assessments of aerobic and anaerobic capacity. Comparing and interpreting field and laboratory-based tests * Environmental factors - effects of circadian rhythms on performance and physiological adaptations that take place in extremes of temperature hypo and hyperbaric conditions. |