training effect - ✔✔ An increase in functional capacity of muscles and other bodily tissues as a result of increased stress (overload) placed upon
... [Show More] them.
Homeostasis - ✔✔ The automatic tendency to maintain a relatively constant internal environment.
Metabolism - ✔✔ The total of all the chemical and physical processes by which the body builds and maintains itself (anabolism) and by which it breaks down its substances for the production of energy (catabolism).
Glucose - ✔✔ Principal circulating sugar in the blood and the major energy source of the body.
ketone bodies - ✔✔ Bodies produced as intermediate products of fat metabolism.
lactic acid - ✔✔ A by-product of glucose and glycogen metabolism in anaerobic muscle energetics.
Amino acid - ✔✔ The building blocks of protein. There are 24 amino acids, which form countless number of different proteins.
fatty acids - ✔✔ Any of a large group of monobasic acids, especially those found in animal and vegetable fats and oils.
Anabolism - ✔✔ The building up in the body of complex chemical compounds from simpler compounds (e.g., proteins from amino acids).
Catabolism - ✔✔ The breaking down in the body of complex chemical compounds into simpler ones (e.g., proteins to amino acids).
Metabolic set point - ✔✔ The base rate of metabolism that the body seeks to maintain; resulting in basal metabolic rate.
basal metabolic rate (BMR) - ✔✔ The minimum energy required to maintain the body's life function at rest; usually expressed in calories per hour per square meter of the body surface.
thermic effect - ✔✔ The heat liberated from a particular food; it is a measure of its energy content and its tendency to be burned as heat. This process of heat liberation is also commonly referred to as "thermogenesis"
Calorie - ✔✔ A unit of heat; specifically, it is the amount of energy required to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water 1 degree Celsius at 1 atmosphere.
kilocalorie (kcal) - ✔✔ A unit of measurement that equals 1,000 calories, or 1 Calorie. Used in metabolic studies, it is the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of 1 kilogram of water 1 degree Celsius at a pressure of 1 atmosphere. The term is used in nutrition to express the fuel (energy) value of food.
Respiratory Quotient (RQ) - ✔✔ A method of determining the "fuel mix" being used, giving us a way to measure the relative amounts of fats, carbohydrates, and proteins being burned for energy.
Oxidation - ✔✔ The chemical act of combining with oxygen or of removing hydrogen.
Maximal oxygen uptake (vO2 max) - ✔✔ The highest rate of oxygen consumption which a person is capable.
Branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) - ✔✔ The amino acids L-leucine, L-isoleucine and L-valine, which have a particular molecular structure that gives them their name and comprises 35 percent of muscle tissue. The BCAAs, particularly L-leucine, help increase work capacity by stimulating production of insulin, the hormone that opens muscle cells to glucose. BCAAs are burned as fuel during highly intense training and at the end of long-distance events when the body recruits protein for as much as 20 percent of its energy needs.
Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP) - ✔✔ An organic compound found in muscle which, upon being broken down enzymatically, yields energy for muscle contraction.
Creatine phosphate (CP) - ✔✔ A high-energy phosphate molecule that is stored in cells and can be used to immediately resynthesize ATP.
Strength/power - ✔✔ Energy coming from immediate ATP stores. Examples include shot put, powerlift, high jump, golf swing, tennis serve, and a throw. Activities last about 0 to 3 seconds of maximal effort.
Sustained power - ✔✔ Energy coming from immediate ATP and CP stores. Examples include sprints, fast breaks, football lineman. Activities last about 0 to 10 seconds of near-maximal effort.
Anaerobic power/endurance - ✔✔ Energy coming from ATP, CP, and lactic acid. Examples include 200- to 400-meter dash and 100-yard swim. Activities lasting about 1 to 2 minutes.
aerobic endurance - ✔✔ Energy coming from the oxidative pathway. Activities last over 2 minutes.
ATP/CP pathway - ✔✔ ATP and CP provide anaerobic sources of phosphate-bond energy. The energy liberated from hydrolysis (splitting) of CP re-bonds ADP and Pi to form ATP.
Adenosine Diphosphate (ADP) - ✔✔ An organic compound in metabolism that functions in the transfer of energy during the catabolism of glucose, formed by the removal of a phosphate molecule from adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and composed of adenine, ribose, and two phosphate groups.
Type II muscle fibers (fast-twitch) - ✔✔ Muscle fiber type that contracts quickly and is used mostly in intensive, short-duration exercises.
Type I muscle fibers (slow twitch) - ✔✔ A muscle fiber characterized by its slow speed of contraction and a high capacity for aerobic glycolysis.
glycolytic pathway - ✔✔ A metabolic process in which glucose is broken down to produce energy anaerobically.
Gluconeogenesis - ✔✔ Chemical process that converts lactate and pyruvate back into glucose. When glycogen (sugar stored in muscles) stores are low, glucose for emergency energy is synthesized from protein and the glycerol portion of fat molecules. This is one important reason that ATP/CP athletes and glycolytic athletes are warned to stay away from undue aerobic exercise: It's muscle-wasting. [Show Less]