"Physiological Principles of Exercises & Sports" - A brief discussion

Sport life is full of challenge &competitions which only increases day by day. Players should therefore keep regularly update themselves with the most recent advancement & scientific training methods, equipments etc. Equally important is the basic knowledge of human anatomy, exercise physiology along with diet & nutrition etc. Given below is the basic physiology of exercise & sports which both a trainee & trainer should know, the details are not discussed here.

The knowledge of sport physiology helps us to understand the ultimate limits to which several of the bodily mechanisms can be stressed. Exercise, as we all know, is just like a double edged sword, which might proved lethal if some of the extremes of exercise were continued for even moderately prolonged periods.

Muscular physiology in exercise

Understanding the physiology of muscles in exercise is very important. The most important determinant of success in sports depends upon three qualities of muscles- Strength, Power & Endurance.

The strength of a muscle is determined mainly by its size, & resistance training which it received (which also increase a muscle size) & to some extent on hereditary/genetic & other factors. Males has a relative greater muscle mass in compare to females, thanks to the male hormones, testosterone which has a powerful anabolic effect & causing greatly increased deposition of protein everywhere in the body, specially in the muscles. Female hormone, estrogen on the other hand causes mainly deposition of fat specially in the breasts, hips & subcutaneous tissue.

This does not mean that females will always lag behind males in every sports, in some events like swimming in cool water for long distance, women have at times held records, which may be due to the availability of extra fat, providing heat insulation, buoyancy & the extra long-term energy.

The contractile & holding strength of a muscle depends upon its cross sectional area- maximal contractile force: 3-4 kg/cm sq. of cross sectional area & maximal holding force: 4.2-5.6 kg/ cm sq. of cross sectional area (1kg force means approx.10newton force). This amount of force is large enough to easily damage tendons, joints, ligaments & the muscle itself. As the holding strength is about 40% more than the contractile strength, a forceful stretching of maximally contracted muscle is one of the surest ways to create the highest degree of muscle soreness.