Definitions

Tendon

A fibrous connective tissue that connects muscle to bone

Ligament

Tough band of elastic connective tissue that connects bone to bone and stabilises joints during movement

Origin

Point of muscular attachment to stationary bone which stays relatively fixed during contraction

Insertion

Point of muscular attachment to a moveable bone that gets closer to the origin during contraction

Agonist

Muscle responsible for creating movement at joint by contracting

Antagonist

Muscle that opposes the agonist by lengthening providing resistance for coordinated movement

Fixator

Muscle that stabilises one part of a body while another causes movement

Isotonic contraction

When a muscle changes length during contraction

Concentric contraction

When a muscle shortens producing tension and a force to pull 2 muscles closer together

Eccentric contraction

When a muscle lengthens producing tension, resisting forces to control joint movement

Isometric contraction

When a muscle contracts but doesn’t change length

Heart rate

The number of times the heart beats per minute

Stoke volume

The volume of blood ejected from the left ventricle per beat

Cardiac output

The volume of blood ejected from the left ventricle per minute

Starling’s law

Increased stretch of ventricular walls leads to increased stroke volume

Breathing rate

The number of inspirations of expirations per minute

Tidal volume

The volume of air inspired or expired per breath

Minute ventilation

The volume of air inspired or expired per minute

Partial pressure

The pressure exerted by an individual gas held in a mixture of gases

Energy

The ability to perform work

Energy expenditure

The sum of basal metabolic rate, the thermic effect of food and energy expanded through exercise

Basal metabolic rate

The minimum amount of energy required to sustain essential physiological function at rest

Thermic effect of food

The energy required to eat, digest, absorb and use food taken in

Energy intake

The total amount of energy from food/beverages consumed

Macro-cycle

Long-term training plan, over 1 year, to achieve a long-term goal

Meso-cycle

A mid-term training plan, 4-16 weeks, to achieve a mid-term goal

Micro-cycle

A short-term training plan, 1-3 weeks, to achieve a short-term goal

Tapering

Maintaining training intensity but decreasing the volume of training by 1/3 to prepare for competition

Aerobic training

The ability of the body to inspire, transport and utilise oxygen to perform sustained periods of aerobic training

VO2 max

The maximum volume of oxygen inspired, transported and utilised per minute during exhaustive exercise

Karvonen’s principle

Training HR = resting HR + %(HR max - resting HR)

Continuous training

Low to moderate intensity exercise for a prolonged period of time

High Intensity Interval Training

Periods of work then periods of recovery

Fartlek training

Continuous steady state aerobic training with varied higher and lower intensity bouts

Hypertension

Chronic high BP

Coronary heart disease

Narrowing of coronary arteries, reducing oxygenated blood flow to cardiac muscle

Power output

Amount of work performed per unit of time

Maximum strength

Ability to produce maximal amount of force in a single muscular contraction

Explosive strength

Ability to produce maximal amount of force in one or a series of rapid muscle contractions

Strength endurance

Ability to sustain repeated muscle contractions over period of time withstanding fatigue

Plyometric training

Series of explosive exercises to improve speed at which muscle shortens

Circuit training

Series of exercise stations to alternate muscle groups

Static flexibility

ROM about a joint without reference to movement speed

Dynamic flexibility

ROM about a joint with reference to movement speed

Atherosclerosis

Fatty plaque development in arterial walls progressively hardening walls and narrowing lumen

Acute injuries

Injuries that happen to a sudden impact

Chronic injuries

Injuries that build up over time due to repeated stress on the body

Rehabilitation

The process to regain full functioning following injury