Muscular Fitness Overview

These flashcards cover key vocabulary and concepts related to muscular fitness, including fiber types, muscular health, and training principles.

Muscular Fitness

Regarded as equally important to health as cardiovascular fitness, encompassing strength, endurance, flexibility, and more.

Slow Twitch Muscle Fibers

Do not burn oxygen efficiently, are delayed in muscle firing, and are best for endurance sports.

Fast Twitch Muscle Fibers

Efficient in using oxygen, fast to fire, best for explosive movements but tire out quickly.

Myostatin

A growth factor released by muscles that inhibits protein synthesis; mutations can lead to increased strength.

Muscular Endurance

The ability to perform repeated submaximal contractions over time, essential for sports and daily living.

Power in Muscular Health

A combination of strength and velocity of force production, described mathematically as Power = force x (distance/time).

Overload Principle

For improvements in muscular fitness, workloads must exceed the body's current capabilities or adaptability.

Eccentric Contraction

A type of muscle contraction where the muscle lengthens under tension, often associated with muscle damage and soreness.

Transient Hypertrophy

Temporary increase in muscle size during exercise due to fluid accumulation; this effect fades quickly.

Delayed-Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS)

Muscle pain that occurs 24 to 48 hours post-exercise, primarily resulting from eccentric actions.