Exercise Science For Dummies

Title Page
Copyright Page
Table of Contents
Introduction
	About This Book
	Foolish Assumptions
	Icons Used in This Book
	Beyond the Book
	Where to Go from Here
Part 1 Getting Started with Exercise Science
	Chapter 1 Introducing Exercise Science
		Getting Familiar with Key Areas of Study
			Forming the foundation of exercise science
			Getting serious: Focusing on the fields specific to exercise science
				Biomechanics
				Exercise physiology
				Fitness and wellness
				Graduate-level health professions
				Rehabilitation therapy
				Sports and exercise psychology
				Strength and conditioning
		Understanding the Many Systems That Make Up the Human Body
			The brain and nervous system
			The circulatory system
			The cardiorespiratory system
			The skeletal system
			The muscular system
			Energy, metabolism, and nutrition
			The endocrine system
		Examining Exercise from Many Angles
			Studying the science of human performance
			Focusing on the health-enhancement aspects of exercise
			Using exercise as a tool for rehabilitation
		Determining Whether Exercise Science Is the Field for You
	Chapter 2 Better than a Pill: Exercise Is Medicine
		Getting People to Value Physical Activity
			Use it or lose it: The importance of staying active
			Knowing how intense physical activity should be
			Recommended amounts of physical activity
		Movement Matters: Physical Activity and Disease
			Treating diabetes using exercise
			Using exercise to treat cancer
			Surviving heart disease with physical activity
		Slowing Your Grow: Exercise and Health Span
			Staying younger longer
			Mending your brain
Part 2 Powering the Body: Exercise Physiology
	Chapter 3 Let’s Move, Baby! The Muscles
		The Foundations of Muscle Movement: The Science behind Contraction
			Uncovering the structure of the muscle
				Bundling up: Myofibrils
				Releasing calcium: T-tubules and the sarcoplasmic reticulum
				The motor unit: Connecting the nerve and the muscle
				The sarcomere and its parts: Shortening to produce force
				Binding sites for muscle contraction
			Filaments sliding past each other: Producing muscular force
		The Tortoise and the Hare: Fast- and Slow-Twitch Fibers
			Not too strong, but keeps on keeping on: The slow-twitch muscle fiber
			Big, strong, fast . . . and quickly tired: The fast-twitch fiber
			Fast-twitch X, or intermediate, fibers
		Working in Unison: How the Muscle Behaves
			Looking at a muscle’s response
			Noting muscles’ organizational structure
				The architecture of the muscle fiber
				Origin, insertion, and lights . . . camera . . . action!
				Two-joint and multi-joint muscles
			Pulling harder and harder: Gradation of muscle force
		Acting on Instinct: Hardwired Muscle Reflexes
			Developing tension
				Muscles spindles and the myotatic stretch reflex
				The Golgi tendon and the tension reflex
			Shortening, lengthening, or not: Types of contractions
				Comparing dynamic and static contractions
				Considering concentric and eccentric contractions
			Recognizing the different ways muscles work
				Examining the length-tension relationship
				Thinking about the force-velocity relationship
			Transitioning between forces: The electromechanical delay
		Training Muscles to Work
			Gaining the way you train: Specificity of training
				Training improvements are specific to the muscle fibers used
				Improvements occur at the speed of training and all slower speeds
				Changing the load changes your speed
				Adaptations are specific to the joint angle and body position used in training
				You need to train the chemistry of the muscle
			Making more muscle and gaining strength
				Rule 1: You must lift heavy enough
				Rule 2: You must lift to fatigue
				Rule 3: Growth happens during the recovery, so eat and rest
				Rule 4: Progressively increase the load as the muscle adapts
			Seeing how your body adapts to strength training
				Nervous system adaptations
				Muscle tissue adaptations
		Recognizing Sources of Muscle Fatigue
			Running out of gas
			Suffering from bad (lactic) acid
			More bad (lactic) acid: Slowing nerve conduction
			Getting the message from your brain to stop
	Chapter 4 Keeping the Big Wheel Turning: Exercise Metabolism
		Introducing The ATP-PC Energy System: Give Me Energy Now!
			Breaking (chemical) bonds
			Replenishing energy as you use energy: The air compressor analogy
				Phosphocreatine: An immediate source of ATP
				Anaerobic glycolysis: Fast energy with a price
				Cooking up ATP, oxygen-free: Anaerobic glycolysis
		The Oxidative (Aerobic) System: It Just Keeps Going and Going
			Aerobic metabolism: Making ATP with glucose, fat, and protein
			Using glucose and fat to make ATP
			Using protein for ATP
			The Krebs cycle: The body’s hydrogen producer
			The electron transport system: Running the battery
			Water under the bridge: Understanding oxygen’s role
		Measuring Metabolism: VO2
			The calorie: A measurement of heat
			Measuring the volume of oxygen consumed
			Comparing fitness levels: VO2 and body weight
			Measuring metabolism during exercise
			Measuring changes in metabolism: The anaerobic threshold
		Training for Improved Metabolism: It’s the Enzymes!
			Getting better at what you’re doing: Training specificity
			Training the ATP-phosphocreatine system
			Training the anaerobic glycolytic system
			Training the oxidative (aerobic) system
	Chapter 5 The Body’s Engine: The Cardiovascular System
		The Heart’s Structure: A Muscle Made to Pump
			Heart chambers and valves
			Two halves of the whole
				The right side
				The left side
		Seeing How the Heart Works
			Watching the blood flow through the heart
			Getting blood to the heart
			Identifying the force behind the heart beat: Blood pressure
			Setting the pace: What controls heart rate?
				Introducing the sinoatrial node
				Stimulating and contracting the heart, step-by-step
				Fast or slow, what makes it go? The nervous system’s influence on heart rate
			Key measures of heart function
		Delivering Fresh Air to Your Cells
			Transporting oxygen through the body: The pressure gradient at work
			Paying attention to partial pressure
			Tracking the movement of O2 and CO2
			Carrying gases in the blood
				Transporting oxygen
				Transporting carbon dioxide
			Extracting oxygen from the blood: a-VO2 difference
		Observing Blood Vessels in Action
			Noting blood-flow control points
			Factors that open and close blood vessels
				The nervous system’s role in blood-flow control
				Chemoreceptors: Sensors that know when you’re working
		Noting the Effects of Exercise on the Cardiovascular System
			Acute adjustments to aerobic exercise
				As the level of aerobic work increases
				As the boat levels: The steady state
			Acute adjustments to strength training
				During the lift
				After the lift
		Making Long-Term Changes to Cardiovascular Performance
			Adapting to aerobic exercises
			Adapting to strength training
	Chapter 6 Earthlings and the Earth: Adapting to Your Environment
		Keeping It Just Right: The Basics of Temperature Regulation
			The hypothalamus: Your internal thermostat
			Pass the heat, please: The core-to-shell model of heat transfer
		Some Like It Hot — But Not Your Body!
			Looking at the mechanisms of heat gain
			Turning on your personal air conditioner: The body’s cooling mechanisms
			Adding insult to injury: Exercising in hot environments
				Seeing the effects of a hot environment on the body
				Too hot to handle: Heat injury
			Getting your body to adapt to the heat
		When Chillin’ Ain’t Cool: Exercising in Cold Environments
			The chill can kill: Introducing hypothermia and wind chill
			Keep the heat: Dressing for the cold
		Live High and Train Low: Exercising at Different Altitudes
			Revisiting oxygen transport
			When going up brings you down: Altitude and reduced aerobic capacity
			A sick view from the top: Identifying altitude illnesses
				High-altitude pulmonary edema
				High-altitude cerebral edema
			I think I can, I think I can . . . Adapting to high altitudes
			Living high and training low: The best of both worlds
Part 3 The Physics of Movement: Basic Biomechanics
	Chapter 7 Planning Your Movements: Motor Control
		Introducing the Main Player: The Neuron
			Neuron basics: Parts and functions
			Neurotransmitters: The bridge over River Synapse
		Orders from Above: Motor Control
			The brain: The central processing center
			The spinal cord: The autobahn of nerve signals
			Feedback loops: Communicating between body and brain
				The open-loop system
				The closed-loop system
		Your Place in Space: Sensory Information and Control of Movement
			Where did I put my hand? Sensing body position
				Touch
				Vision
				Proprioception
			Hardwiring the nervous system: Reflex control
				Muscle spindles
				Golgi tendon organ
		Threading the Needle or Shooting a Free Throw: Coordinating Movement
			Making the speed-accuracy trade-off
			Following the phases in a movement
			Coordinating two arms: Bimanual coordination
			Come on, baby, do the locomotion: The rhythm of walking
				Leg movement
				Arm movement
				Trunk movement
	Chapter 8 The Nuts and Bolts of Movement
		Biomechanics: The Study of Movement
			The role of the biomechanist
			The biomechanist’s problem-solving process
				Understanding the nature and objective of the task
				Observing the task and collecting data
				Evaluating the data and making a diagnosis
				Sharing the findings with the athlete: Intervention and feedback
		Kinematics: A Compass Telling You Where You Are
			Looking at body systems
			Identifying forms of motion
				Linear motion
				Angular motion
				General motion
			Defining key terms
				Using directional terminology
				Planes of motion
				Axes of rotation
				Joint motions
			Working with Newton’s toolkit: Lever systems
				Types of levers
				Manipulating levers for maximum advantage
				Balance, equilibrium, and stability
			Feeling displaced and distant
			Measuring kinematics
		Studying Kinetics: May the Force Be with You!
			The secrets of movement
				Inertia
				Mass
				Force
				Center of gravity
				Weight
				Torque
				Impulse
				Velocity and acceleration
			What a load!
			Newton’s laws of motion
				Newton’s first law: The law of inertia
				Newton’s second law: The law of acceleration
				Newton’s third law: The law of action and reaction
			Measuring kinetics
	Chapter 9 These Joints Are A-Jumping
		Getting These Old Bones to Move: Types of Joints
			Structural classifications: Fibrous, cartilaginous, and synovial
			Functional classifications: Synarthroses, diarthroses, and more
				Immovable joints: Synarthroses
				Slightly movable joints: Amphiarthroses
				Freely movable joints: Diarthroses
			By degrees of freedom: Uniaxial, biaxial, and so on
		Enhancing Joint Stability and Longevity: Cartilage and Connective Tissues
			Smoothing it out: Articular cartilage and fibrocartilage
			Holding it all together: Articular connective tissue
		Getting Physical: Understanding the Functional Basis to Moving
			Perusing the factors that affect stability
				The shape (and contact points) of things to come
				It’s articulation time: Do you know where your ligaments are?
				How tight or loose are you?
				Long or short? It matters
				The role of other connective tissues
			Understanding restraint mechanisms
				Muscling in: The active restraint mechanism
				How stimulating! The passive restraint mechanism
			Being flexible: You can do it!
				Static flexibility
				Dynamic flexibility
			Wrangling with range of motion
				Factors influencing joint flexibility
				Measuring range of motion
				Paying attention to how the end feels
		You Want Me to Put My What Where? Stretching Redefined!
			Looking at what happens when you stretch
				Making the stretch possible: Autogenic inhibition
				Opposing muscle groups working together: Reciprocal inhibition
				It’s more than just the nerves: Collagen, elastin, actin, and myosin
				The push-pull of stretching: The balancing effects of agonists and antagonists
			Stretching techniques
				Active and passive stretching
				Static stretching
				Ballistic stretching
				Dynamic stretching
				Proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation: An advanced stretching technique
			Other things to keep in mind about stretches and stretching
	Chapter 10 Assessing Movement: Motion Analysis
		Investigating Movement: The Basics
			Choosing an approach
				Qualitative analysis
				Quantitative analysis
			Knowing types of tasks and feedback mechanisms
				Comparing simple and complex tasks
				Paying attention to open- versus closed-feedback mechanisms
		Breaking Down an Analysis Model
			Gaining background knowledge
				How to perform the task
				The objective of the movement and each of its components
				The specific attributes of the performer
			Observing the subject in action
				Three-phase model
				Power-and-return model
				A step-by-step guide to observing movement
			Making your evaluation and diagnosis
				Being mindful of personal differences
				Tying recommendations to the purpose of the analysis
				Taking into account repetition and situation variability
			Providing intervention and feedback
				Giving feedback
		Studying Motion Analysis Examples
			Analyzing a squat
			Checking out your gait (walking)
			Observing a kick in action
				The approach
				The execution
				The follow-through
			Analyzing phases in throwing
				The windup
				Early cocking
				Late cocking
				Acceleration
				Deceleration and follow-through
				Common pitching flaws
Part 4 Improving Fitness and Performance: Putting It All Together
	Chapter 11 Improving Physical Fitness: Training Wisely
		Thinking of Exercise like a Dose of Medicine
			How much aerobic exercise is enough? The minimum dose for health
			Parts of the aerobic exercise plan: Frequency, intensity, time, type
				Frequency
				Intensity
				Time
				Type
		Identifying the Key Components of an Exercise Session
			The warmup
			The exercise session
			The cooldown
		Building Strength
			Understanding the importance of strength training
			Strength programming plans for health, performance, and balance
				Strength training for health and daily function
				Strength training for athletic performance
				Strength training for balance
		Working on Flexibility Training
			Flexibility training for functional movement
			Flexibility training to avoid injury
	Chapter 12 Managing Your Body, Not the Other Way Around
		Staying Healthy While Staying Active
			Getting started
				Taking small steps
				Conditioning best practices
			Warming up and cooling down
			Managing discomfort and injury
		Understanding Your Body: What Is It Made of and What Force Can It Take?
			Mechanisms of injury
			Common structures involved in injury
				Bones
				Muscles
				Ligaments
				Tendons
			Types of stresses and common overloads leading to injury
		Identifying Common Injuries
			Sprains
			Dislocations
			Bursitis
			Arthritis
			Tendonitis
			Strains
			Fractures
		Treating Injuries
			Ice
			Heat
			Stretching, foam rolling, and massage
	Chapter 13 Molding the Clay: Body Composition and Weight Management
		Knowing What Makes Up the Human Body: Body Composition
			Fat: Subcutaneous, visceral, and more
			Muscle
			Bone
			Water
		Measuring Body Composition
			Body mass index: Uses and misuses
			Skinfold body fat
			Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry
			Hydrostatic weighing
			Air displacement plethysmography
			Bioelectric impedance
		Managing Your Body Composition
			When you want to lose weight
				Exercise guidelines
				Dietary guidelines
				Putting the plan together
			When you want to gain weight
	Chapter 14 Measuring Performance: Fitness Trackers and the Wearables Craze
		Seeing What Wearables Can Do
			Looking at different types of wearable devices
			Understanding how the technology works
				Physiologic information
				Biomechanical information
				Global Positioning System information
				Pedometers
		Measuring Activity and Performance
			Managing workload
			Tracking your sleep and recovery after training
			Staying hydrated
			Returning to play after injury
		Enhancing Performance
			Improving your aerobic fitness
				Heart rate
				Oxygen consumption
				VO2 max
				Energy expenditure
			Boosting your anaerobic power
	Chapter 15 Eating for Success: Sports Nutrition
		Macronutrients: Carbohydrates, Fat, and Protein
			Carbohydrates: The fuel that powers movement
				Glucose, glycogen, and exercise performance
				Dosing your carbs: Glycemic index and glycemic load
				Carbohydrate guidelines for performance
				Getting ready for the big race: Carbohydrate loading
				Get the formula right: Carbohydrates during exercise
				Carbohydrates after exercise: Recovering quickly
			Fat: Necessary in the right amounts
				The main types of fat
				The many functions of fat
				Guidelines for fat intake
			Protein: Building the body for optimal performance
				Amino acids: The building blocks that make protein
				Knowing how much protein you need
		Water: Most of What We Are
			Recognizing water’s role in temperature regulation
		Micronutrients: Vitamins and Minerals
			Vitamins
				Getting enough sunlight: Vitamin D
				Eating right to get the energy vitamins: B complex
			Minerals
				Getting enough iron
				Building bone with calcium
Part 5 The Part of Tens
	Chapter 16 Ten Foundations of Fitness
		Training Specificity
		Training Overload
		Reversibility: If You Don’t Use It, You Lose It
		Exercising to Build Better Bone
		Sticking with It: Exercise Adherence
		Cross-Training to Optimize Fitness
		Accepting That Fat Goes Where It Wants
		Keeping Blood Sugar under Control
		Allowing Yourself to Recover from Exercise
		Remaining Active as You Age
	Chapter 17 Ten Facts about Obesity and Physical Inactivity
		As One Goes Up, the Other Goes Down
		Just Adding Activity May Not Be Enough
		Obesity and Inactivity Can Lead to Metabolic Syndrome
		Sitting Is the New Smoking
		Obesity Is a Tough Burden for Children
		Caloric Restriction Has Its Limits
		There Is No Secret to Losing Fat
		Fat Can Hide in Your Body
		You Can Make a Difference in a Day
		It All Adds Up
	Chapter 18 Ten (or So) Careers for Exercise Scientists
		Cardiac Rehabilitation
		Strength and Conditioning Specialist
		Wellness Specialist
		Personal Trainer
		Sports Biomechanist
		Athletic Trainer
		Sport and Exercise Psychologist
		Wellness Coach
Index
EULA