Untitled Flashcards Set

Health and Fitness

1. What is health?

• According to the World Health Organization (WHO), health is “a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” Health exists on a continuum from positive to negative .

2. What are chronic diseases and why are they important?

• Chronic diseases persist over a long duration and are the leading public health burden worldwide. Examples include cardiovascular disease (CVD), cancer, arthritis, and diabetes. They account for approximately 60% of deaths globally each year .

3. Leading causes of death in the U.S. and how they have changed since 1900.

• The leading causes of death have shifted from infectious diseases to chronic diseases. Currently, cardiovascular disease (CVD) accounts for 40% of deaths, followed by cancer (23%), stroke (6%), and diabetes (3%). The risk of these diseases can be reduced through physical activity .

4. What are the 5 health-related components of fitness?

• The five components are:

1. Cardiovascular endurance

2. Muscular strength

3. Muscular endurance

4. Flexibility

5. Body composition .

Physical Activity and Health

5. What are the most up-to-date recommendations from ACSM?

• 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity per week OR

• 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity per week, AND

• 2 days per week of muscle-strengthening activities that work all major muscle groups .

6. Why are not all obese individuals the same? Is it better to be obese and active or normal weight and sedentary?

• Not all obese individuals are metabolically unhealthy. Metabolically Healthy Obese (MHO) individuals do not have metabolic syndrome, while Metabolically Unhealthy Obese (MUO) individuals do. Studies show that obese and active individuals have a 50% lower risk of mortality compared to normal-weight sedentary individuals .

7. Define physical activity and exercise. How and why do they differ?

• Physical Activity: Any bodily movement produced by skeletal muscles that results in a substantial increase in energy expenditure.

• Exercise: A structured, planned, and repetitive subset of physical activity aimed at improving or maintaining fitness.

• All exercise is physical activity, but not all physical activity is exercise .

8. How can heart rate be used to estimate energy expenditure and exercise intensity?

• Heart rate correlates with energy expenditure. Common methods include:

• % of VO2 Max

• % of Heart Rate Max (HRmax)

• % of Heart Rate Reserve (HRR)

• Metabolic Equivalents (METs), where 1 MET = resting energy expenditure .

9. How are light, moderate, and vigorous intensity exercise defined? What is a MET?

• Light Intensity: <3 METs

• Moderate Intensity: 3–6 METs (e.g., brisk walking)

• Vigorous Intensity: >6 METs (e.g., running)

• 1 MET = 3.5 ml O₂/kg/min .

10. How many people do not meet PA recommendations? Basic statistics on U.S. health status.

• 75% of Americans do not meet physical activity recommendations.

• 25% engage in no physical activity at all.

• 42.4% of U.S. adults are obese, and 73.6% are overweight .

Neuromuscular Anatomy & Physiology and Control of Force

11. Different types of muscles.

• Skeletal (Voluntary) – Controlled consciously, responsible for movement

• Cardiac (Involuntary) – Found in the heart, controlled by the nervous and endocrine systems

• Smooth (Involuntary) – Found in blood vessels and internal organs .

12. Basic structural components of muscle.

• Muscle → Muscle Fiber → Myofibril → Sarcomere (Functional unit)

• Sarcomere components:

• Thin Filament (Actin, Troponin, Tropomyosin)

• Thick Filament (Myosin) .

13. Characteristics of muscle fiber types.

• Type I (Slow-twitch): High endurance, fatigue-resistant, high mitochondria

• Type IIa (Fast oxidative): Moderate endurance, more forceful contractions

• Type IIx (Fast glycolytic): Powerful but fatigues quickly .

14. Motor neuron and motor unit importance.

• A motor neuron sends signals to muscle fibers.

• A motor unit consists of a motor neuron and all the fibers it innervates.

• Larger motor units generate more force but lack fine control .

15. What is an action potential?

• A brief electrical signal that travels down a neuron, leading to muscle contraction.

• If blocked, muscle contraction cannot occur .

16. Sequence of events in the cross-bridge cycle.

• Myosin binds to actin

• Power stroke: Myosin head pivots, pulling actin

• Cross-bridge detachment: ATP binds myosin, releasing actin

• ATP hydrolysis: Myosin resets to its “cocked” position .

21. General steps from cognition to contraction.

• Decision to move → Motor cortex → Motor neuron activation → Neuromuscular junction → Calcium release → Cross-bridge formation → Contraction .

18. Difference between muscle afferents and efferents.

• Afferent (sensory) neurons: Carry signals from muscles to CNS

• Efferent (motor) neurons: Carry signals from CNS to muscles .

19. Types of muscle contractions.

• Concentric: Muscle shortens (lowest force, highest energy use)

• Isometric: No length change (moderate force, moderate energy)

• Eccentric: Muscle lengthens (highest force, lowest energy) .

20. Why does increasing muscle size increase force potential?

• More cross-bridges = Greater force production.

• Increased cross-sectional area (CSA) enhances force output .

21. Size principle of motor unit recruitment.

• Small (slow-twitch) motor units recruit first, followed by larger (fast-twitch) units as more force is needed.

• Allows fine motor control and fatigue resistance .

Adaptations to Resistance Training

22. Understand the idea of specificity, progressive overload, and homeostasis and its importance to evoking training adaptations.

• Adaptations occur when the neuromuscular system responds to increased demands: “Adaptations are directly linked/related to the increased demands placed on the neuromuscular system (specificity). The system attempts to alter various aspects to limit the stress placed upon it (limit a disruption of homeostasis).”【7】

• Progressive overload ensures continual adaptation: “Training must take place at a higher intensity than your body is accustomed to. Can ‘overload’ system by altering any/all components of a training protocol.”【7】

23. What sort of strength gains can a person expect from training? Does it differ between men and women? Old and young? Trained and untrained?

• Strength gains range from “25-100% increases over a period of 3 to 6 months.”【7】

• Differences in strength gains: “Strength gains are similar between men, women, old, and young, but often related to initial strength levels and genetic potential.”【7】

• Untrained individuals typically experience greater relative improvements due to initial neural adaptations.

24. What physiological adaptations occur following resistance training?

• Neural adaptations: “Better able to recruit muscles to generate a given amount of force. Occur quickly (perhaps after one bout) and primarily responsible for strength increases in the first 8 weeks.”【7】

• Muscle hypertrophy: “Increase in muscle fiber cross-sectional area due to increased contractile proteins (actin & myosin).”【7】

• Bone and connective tissue adaptations: “Bone mineral density will increase with training in/on bones that experience stress or high force levels.” Tendons and ligaments also strengthen【7】.

25. Why is myostatin important?

• “Myostatin is a naturally occurring protein that partially blocks the function of satellite cells and helps protect muscles.”

• “Blocking myostatin results in greater muscle growth.”【7】

Muscular Fitness Assessment & Resistance Training Rx

26. What is meant by muscular fitness?

• “Muscular fitness is the ability to perform muscular work adequately.” It includes “muscular strength and muscular endurance.”【6】

27. Definition of strength, endurance, and fatigue

• Strength: “The ability to exert force. Determined by muscle size and the ability of the nervous system to recruit motor units.”

• Endurance: “The muscle’s ability to continue to exert the desired amount of force for successive repetitions (to resist fatigue).”

• Fatigue: “Failure to produce the desired or expected force.”【6】

28. Beneficial health aspects/outcomes associated with muscular fitness

• “Preservation or enhancement of fat-free mass and resting metabolic rate.”

• “Preservation or enhancement of bone mineral density with aging (helps prevent osteoporosis).”

• “Improved glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity (helps prevent diabetes).”

• “Lowered risk of musculoskeletal injury, including low-back pain.”【6】

29. Why is it important and useful to measure strength?

• “Identify muscle deficiency/imbalance that may lead to injury.”

• “Provides objective feedback for training progress.”

• “Measure of rehabilitation effectiveness.”【6】

30. Various ways strength can be tested, with advantages and disadvantages

• 1RM Testing (One Repetition Maximum): “Gold standard for dynamic strength testing, but may not be appropriate for all muscle groups and lift types.”【6】

• Multiple RM Testing: “Minimizes error in establishing training loads, useful in stable chronic conditions like hypertension or diabetes.”

• Isokinetic Testing: “Measures strength throughout a range of motion at a constant velocity. Expensive and requires expertise.”

• Isometric Testing: “Simple, cheap, saves time, but only measures strength at one joint angle and doesn’t correlate well with sports performance.”【6】

31. Two most common “field tests” for assessing muscular endurance

1. Push-Up Test: “Performed in standard or modified position. Assesses upper body muscular endurance.”

2. Curl-Up Test: “Not recommended past the 1st trimester of pregnancy or for those with low back pain. Assesses abdominal muscular endurance.”【6】

32. Current ACSM recommendations for resistance exercise

• “Each major muscle group should be trained with 2-4 sets.”

• “Performed 2-3 days per week.”

• “A resistance that allows 8-12 reps per set (60-80% 1RM).”

• “All reps should be controlled, deliberate, and through full range of motion.”【6】

33. PROS Principles and application

• Progression: “The demands on the body must continually increase over time for adaptations to continue.”

• Regularity: “Exercise must be performed regularly at set time intervals.”

• Overload: “The body must exercise beyond its normal stress level to improve.”

• Specificity: “Adaptations are specific to the type of training performed.”【6】

34. Concepts of progressive overload and specificity and their importance

• Progressive Overload: “Training must take place at a higher intensity than the body is accustomed to. This can be achieved by altering reps, sets, frequency, or rest intervals.”

• Specificity: “The body adapts specifically to the type of training performed.”【6】

35. Use the FITT principle to write a 4-8 week resistance exercise prescription

• Frequency: 3 days per week

• Intensity: 70-85% 1RM

• Time: 3 sets of 8-12 reps

• Type: Multi-joint and single-joint resistance exercises【6】

36. What is periodization?

• “A process of varying the training stimulus to promote long-term fitness gains and avoid overtraining.”

• Three Phases:

• Macrocycle: “Lasts about a year.”

• Mesocycle: “Lasts several months.”

• Microcycle: “Lasts about a week.”【6】

Cardiopulmonary A&P and Exercise Responses

37. Trace blood flow through the heart (know the heart chambers).

• Blood enters the right atrium via the superior and inferior vena cava, moves into the right ventricle, and is pumped through the pulmonary arteries to the lungs. Oxygenated blood returns via the pulmonary veins to the left atrium, moves into the left ventricle, and is pumped through the aorta to the body tissues .

38. Components of the cardiac conduction system and heart action potential.

• “The Sinoatrial (SA) node is the intrinsic pacemaker of the heart… Electrical impulse starts at the SA node, travels across the atria, arrives at the atrioventricular (AV) node, then moves to the Purkinje fibers, contracting the ventricles” .

39. The cardiac cycle and HR changes.

• “Includes all events between two consecutive heartbeats… Systole (contraction) and diastole (relaxation). 60% of the cycle is diastole at rest but decreases as HR increases” .

40. Label and explain the ECG components.

• P wave: Atrial depolarization (SA to AV node)

• QRS complex: Ventricular depolarization (AV node to Purkinje fibers)

• T wave: Ventricular repolarization .

41. How is heart rate regulated at rest and with exercise?

• Parasympathetic innervation (acetylcholine) slows HR.

• Sympathetic innervation (norepinephrine) increases HR.

• “HR increases proportionally to exercise intensity” .

42. Relationship of HR, exercise intensity, VO2, and HR reserve (HRR).

• “VO2 = HR × SV × (a-vO2 diff.)” (Fick equation) .

• HR reserve method: “THR = Resting HR + % (HR max − Resting HR)” .

43. Definitions: Stroke volume (SV), cardiac output (Q), A-V O2 diff, and blood pressure (BP).

• SV: Blood ejected per beat (SV = EDV - ESV).

• Q: Total blood pumped per minute (Q = SV × HR).

• A-V O2 diff: “The difference in oxygen content between arterial and venous blood” .

• BP: Force of blood against vessel walls .

44. How HR, SV, Q, A-V O2 diff, and BP change during exercise.

• HR and SV increase → Q increases

• A-V O2 diff widens (more O2 extracted)

• BP: Systolic increases, diastolic remains stable .

45. Calculation formulas for SV, CO, EF(%), MAP.

• SV = EDV - ESV

• CO = SV × HR

• EF (%) = (SV / EDV) × 100

• MAP = DBP + [0.333 × (SBP - DBP)] .

46. How blood flow changes during exercise.

• “Blood is redistributed to active muscles (up to 80%) while reducing flow to kidneys, spleen, and digestive organs” .

47. Blood vessel changes during exercise.

• “Vasodilation in active muscles increases blood flow; vasoconstriction reduces flow to non-essential organs” .

48. How oxygen is transported in blood.

• “98% of O2 is bound to hemoglobin, 2% is dissolved in plasma” .

Aerobic Exercise Adaptations and Prescription

49. VO2 max definition and influencing factors.

• “Maximal capacity to transport and utilize oxygen… Influenced by age, sex, training, and genetics” .

50. Fick equation and VO2 relationship.

• VO2 = HR × SV × (a-vO2 diff.) .

51. Calculation methods for intensity (%HRR, %HRmax, %VO2max).

• “THR = Resting HR + % (HR max − Resting HR)” (Karvonen method) .

52. VO2 max values for average and elite individuals.

• Average: Female ~35 ml/kg/min, Male ~42 ml/kg/min

• Elite: Female ~70 ml/kg/min, Male ~80-90 ml/kg/min .

53. Field vs. lab tests for cardiorespiratory fitness.

• Field tests: Cheaper, easier, less accurate (1.5 mi run, 6 min walk).

• Lab tests: More accurate, expensive (VO2 max test) .

54. ACSM recommendations for aerobic training.

• “30 min of moderate exercise 5x/wk or 20 min vigorous 3x/wk” .

55. Acute vs. chronic aerobic adaptations.

• Acute: HR, BP, ventilation increase.

• Chronic: Increased VO2 max, stroke volume, mitochondrial density .

56. Using FITT and PROS principles for a program.

• Frequency, Intensity, Time, Type (FITT)

• Progression, Regularity, Overload, Specificity (PROS) .

57. How to prescribe exercise intensity.

• “Use HR max, HRR, VO2 max, or RPE scales” .

Body Composition

58. Importance of body composition.

• “Indicator of nutritional status, health risks, and fitness level” .

59. Direct vs. indirect body comp measures.

• Direct: Dissection (impractical).

• Indirect: Skinfolds, DXA, BIA .

60. Fat mass vs. fat-free mass.

• Fat mass: Adipose tissue.

• Fat-free mass: Muscle, bone, water .

61. Essential vs. non-essential fat.

• Essential fat: Required for body functions.

• Non-essential fat: Storage fat .

62. 2-compartment vs. 3-compartment vs. 4-compartment models.

• 2C: Fat vs. fat-free mass (skinfold, BIA).

• 3C: Fat, lean tissue, bone (DEXA).

• 4C: Fat, water, protein, bone (most accurate) .

63. Indirect body comp assessment methods.

• Most accurate: DXA, MRI.

• Least accurate: BMI, BIA.

• Skinfolds: Good balance of accuracy and practicality .

64. Skinfold assessment sites (3-site, 7-site).

• Men (3-site): Chest, abdomen, thigh.

• Women (3-site): Triceps, suprailiac, thigh.

• Men (7-site): Chest, axilla, triceps, subscapular, abdomen, suprailiac, thigh.

• Women (7-site): Same as men .

65. Calculating % body fat using the Siri Equation.

• %BF = (495 / Body Density) - 450 .