SPORTS PHYSIOLOGY

Paul H. Tang, MD
 Sex
• Hormones play a vital part in the discrepancies of the
athletic performances between a male and a female
• Testosterone has a powerful anabolic effect in
causing greatly increased deposition of protein
everywhere in the body
• At the same time, testosterone also promotes
aggressiveness
• Estrogen increases the deposition of fat in the
female, especially in the breasts, hips, and
subcutaneous tissues
 Muscles
1. Performance
• Strength is determined mainly by its size, with a
maximum contractile force between 3 and 4 kg/cm2
of muscle cross-sectional area
• Holding strength is the force that attempts to stretch
out the already contracted muscle; usually about
40% higher that the contractile strength
• Power is a measure of the total amount of work that
the muscle performs in a unit of time; generally
measured in kilogram meters per minute
 Muscles
• Power is determined by the
strength of the muscle
contraction, its distance of
contraction and the number of
times that it contracts per
minute
• Muscle Performance is measured
by:
1. Efficiency
2. Endurance
• Endurance depends on the
nutritive support for the muscle
– high carbohydrate diet will
enhance the endurance
2. Metabolism
1. Phosphagen System
– 2 components: ATP system and
Phosphocreatine system
– ATP is the basic source of energy, with the each
of the last 2 bonds yielding 7,600 calories of
energy
– Adenosine-PO3 ~ PO3 ~ PO3
– The amount of ATP in the muscles can only
generate energy that will last for 3 seconds
2. Metabolism
1. Phosphagen System
– The other source of high-energy phosphate
bond is phosphocreatine which can decompose
to creatine and phosphate ion with an yield of
10,300 calories per mole
– Ratio of phosphocreatine to ATP in muscles is
roughly 4:1
– Together, the Phosphagen system can generate
maximal muscle power for 8 to 10 secs
2. Glycogen-Lactic Acid System
• In the initial stage of glycolysis (anaerobic stage), 2 pyruvic
acid molecules are formed together with 4 ATP molecules
are formed from each molecule of glucose
• In the absence of oxygen, pyruvic acid will be broken down
into lactic acid instead but the ATP formed will be 2.5 times
faster
• Under optimal conditions, this system provide 1.3 to 1.6
minutes of maximal muscle activity
3. Aerobic system
• oxygenation of foodstuffs will generate large amount of
energy to convert AMP and ADP to ATP
• the energy will continuously be generated until the
nutrients is used up
3. Recovery
• The lactic acid produced if stored cause extreme fatigue and
needs to be removed either by 1) conversion to pyruvic acid
and then metabolized oxidatively by all the body tissues or
2) reconverted into glucose mainly in the liver to replenish
the glycogen stores of the muscles
• Oxygen Debt – after exercise, there is a need to replenish
the previously stored oxygen that is used up by increasing
oxygen uptake for the reconstitution of the metabolic
pathways. (Fig 84.2)
• It will take longer to replenish the glycogen in the muscles
and it will depend on the type of diet the athlete will have,
preferably high carbohydrate which will have the quickest
recovery period
4. Nutrients
• Aside from carbohydrates, muscles use large amounts of fat
for energy in the form of fatty acids and acetoacetate acids
• The sources of glycogen for energy may be the muscles and
the liver

5. Training
• Muscles that contract at >50% maximal force of contraction
will develop strength rapidly even if the contractions are
performed only a few times a day
• Along with increase in strength, an equal percentage
increase in muscle mass will occur – muscle hypertrophy
• In muscle hypertrophy there would be:
• increased numbers of myofibrils
5. Training
• up to 120% increase in mitochondrial enzymes
• 60-80% increase in the components of the phosphagen
metabolic system
• 50% increase in stored glycogen
• 75-100% increase in stored triglyceride
• fast-twitch fibers can deliver extreme amounts of power for
a few seconds to a minute or so whereas slow-twitch fibers
provide endurance, delivering prolonged strength of
contraction over many minutes to hour
 Respiration
• Relatively little concern in the athletic performance
of short duration
• Both oxygen consumption and total pulmonary
ventilation increase about 20x between the resting
state and maximum intensity of exercise in well-
trained athlete
• Maximal breathing capacity is bout 50% greater
during maximal exercise
 Respiration

• Oxygen diffusing capacity is increased 3x between

the resting state and the state of maximum exercise
due to increase blood flow through the lungs causes
all pulmonary capillaries to be perfused at their
maximum level
• Blood gases remain at normal range despite increase
in oxygen consumption, maximal breathing capacity
and oxygen diffusing capacity
 Cardiovascular System
• Muscle blood flow is increased during exercise but at
the same time at the height of contraction,
intramuscular blood vessels are compressed and will
have the opposite effect leading to muscle fatigue
• Several factors that increase muscle blood flow:
1. intramuscular vasodilation caused by muscle
metabolism
2. increased arterial blood pressure
3. reduced vascular resistance
 Cardiovascular System

• Increase muscle work output  increase oxygen

consumption  dilates blood vessels  increase
venous return and cardiac output
• In the well-trained athlete, cardiac hypertrophy
which equates to increased stroke volume is
compensated by and decrease in heart rate and
thereby maintaining a normal cardiac output during
rest
• During exercise, the stroke volume reaches its
maximum by the time the cardiac output has
increased only halfway to its maximum. Any
further increase in cardiac output must occur by
increasing the heart rate
• Increase in cardiac output is the single most
important physiological benefit of the
marathoner’s training program
• As age increases, the following would decrease
considerably:
1. maximum cardiac output
2. maximal breathing capacity
3. muscle mass
4. maximum achievable muscle power
 Body Heat
• The amount of heat liberated in the body is almost
exactly proportional to the oxygen consumption
• During endurance athletics, body temp rises. When
it reaches 41o – 42oC, tissue cells will be adversely
affected leading to heatstroke
• At high body temperature, the temperature-
regulating mechanism itself often fails and the rates
of all intracellular chemical reactions doubles
 Body Fluids and Salts
• Weight loss essentially is secondary to loss of sweat
but rapid loss of 5-10% in weight can often lead to
muscle cramps and nausea
• Sweat equates to loss of salt, sodium chloride and
should be replenish from time to time
• In hot and humid areas, the sweat glands will be
acclimatized by increasing aldosterone secretion by
the adrenal cortex and increase the reabsorption of
sodium chloride
• Potassium loss results partly from increased
secretion of aldosterone and therefore potassium
replacement should also be included
Drugs
• Caffeine – debatable
• Androgens undoubtedly will increase muscle strength but it
will increase the risk of cardiovascular disease such as
hypertension, increased LDL, decreased testicular function
• Amphetamines and cocaine can lead to deterioration of
performance as they are mainly a psychic stimulant.
Complications arise from overdose come in the form of death
secondary to overexcitability of the heart, ventricular
fibrillation
Muscle Power

kg-m/min

First 8 – 10 seconds 7,000

Next 1 minute 4,000

Next 30 minutes 1,700

 Energy Systems used in Various Sports

Phosphagen System 100m dash

Jumping
Weight lifting
Phosphagen & Glycogen-Lactic acid Systems 200m dash
Basketball
Baseball home run
Glycogen-Lactic acid System mainly 400m dash
100m swim
Tennis
Glycogen-Lactic acid & Aerobic Systems 800m dash
200m swim
Boxing
1 mile run
400m swim
Aerobic System 10,000m skating
Cross-country skiing
42.2K marathon run
Jogging
METS Calculation
• METS relates to oxygen requirements. Starting with 1,
which is the least amount of activity such as resting,
the values increase as does the amount of activity. For
example, walking 4 mph has a METS value of 5.
Standard tables exist that provide METS values for a
wide range of exercises and activities.
• To calculate the calories burned based on the METS,
use this formula:
Weight (kg) * METS = Calories Burned/hour
• This does not take into account differences in
metabolism due to gender, age, or body composition
which may cause results to vary.
 Sample METS Values
METS Activity
1 sitting quietly and watching television
2 walking, less than 2.0 mph, level
ground, strolling, very slow
3 loading /unloading a car
4 bicycling, < 10 mph, leisure, to work or
for pleasure
5 tennis, doubles
6 skiing, downhill, moderate effort,
general
7 climbing hills with 0 to 9 pound load
8 rock or mountain climbing
9 running, cross country
10 swimming laps, freestyle, fast,
vigorous effort
11 running, 6.7 mph
12 fire fighter, general