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Exercise science branches off into many careers
First off, let's address some confusion...
First off, let's address some confusion...
Exercise science is often referred to as "exercise physiology."
It is usually mixed up with kinesiology, sports medicine, and exercise medicine. Here are their exact definitions to clarify:
Exercise science is just a broader term that envelops all the topics covered (including exercise physiology).
Kinesiology is the study of human movement: “More broadly defined, kinesiology focuses on the biological, developmental, social and behavioral bases of physical activity, recreation, sport, and human performance.” (css.edu)
“Sports medicine deals directly with injuries sustained in sports, exercise, and physical activity, including their prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.” (css.edu)
So, what exactly is exercise science?
So, what exactly is exercise science?
Exercise physiology is a specialization within the field of kinesiology. Medical professionals in this specialization study the body’s responses to physical activity as well as how the body adapts to physical activity over time. Exercise physiologists are responsible for conditioning clients to higher levels of physical fitness and improved health while staying tuned into safety issues that can be associated with single-session exercise.
Why do muscles grow from exercise?
Why do muscles grow from exercise?
The Basics: Hypertrophy
The body repairs or replaces damaged muscle fibers through a cellular process where it fuses muscle fibers together to form new muscle protein strands or myofibrils (occurs during rest) → myofibrils increase in thickness and thus lead to hypertrophy (an increase in muscle mass).
Knowing what hypertrophy is, we can discuss the three essential mechanisms needed for muscle growth:
Muscle Tension: The main way is to lift progressively heavier weights. This additional tension on the muscle helps to cause changes in the chemistry of the muscle, allowing for growth factors that include mTOR activation and satellite cell activation.
Muscle Damage: Soreness → Local muscle damage causes a release of inflammatory molecules and immune system cells that activate satellite cells to jump into action.
Metabolic Stress: The “burn” or “pump” you feel when you work out → Swelling around the muscle helps to muscle growth without necessarily increasing the size of the muscle cells. This is from adding muscle glycogen, which helps swell the muscle along with connective tissue growth. This type of growth is known as sarcoplasmic hypertrophy and is one of the ways that people can get the appearance of larger muscles without increases in strength.
Hypertrophy is simply an increase in cell size
The three mechanisms illustrated
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