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Aerobic Exercise
Christy Tomkins, PhD
So what happens with exercise?
Increased muscle activity with aerobic
exercise requires more energy (ATP) and
therefore more O
2
!
Changes in the cardiovascular and Changes in the cardiovascular and
respiratory systems must occur to support
the increase in muscle metabolism
Muscle contraction
ATP
Oxidative phosphorylation
O
2
DEMAND
Meeting the increased O
2
demand
Increased delivery of O
2
What system is responsible for delivery of
oxygen to the muscles?
C di i t ! Cardio-respiratory!
We also see higher uptake of oxygen at
the mitochondria (oxidative capacity) but
will not discuss this aspect
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Lungs: supply
oxygen to the blood
Heart: pumps
blood to the body
Blood: carries oxygen to
the muscles
Muscle: uses oxygen
combined with food fuel to
produce energy (ATP)
Fitness
The ability of the body to respond to
stressors such as exercise is considered a
measure of physiologic competence
To measure fitness we examine a number To measure fitness we examine a number
of exercise parameters..
Heart rate response to exercise
Measured in beats per minute (bpm)
What will happen?
Linear increase with increasing workloads
Will reach a steady state if workload is
maintained
Will plateau at or near max
Age predicted max HR = 220 age
Exercise prescription! What is yours?
Heart rate response to exercise
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VO
2
Represents the volume of oxygen taken
up and used by the cells of the body
20 20
When exercise begins oxygen consumption
increases until a steady state is reached.
The steady state reflects a balance between the
energy required by the muscles and ATP production
via aerobic metabolism.
e

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Steady state Steady state
55
10 10
15 15
00
00 00 22 44 6 6 88 10 10
Exercise time (min) Exercise time (min)
O
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yy
If you continue to increase work load, oxygen
consumption will continue to increase in a linear
fashion until a maximum VO
2
is reached
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Maximum Oxygen Consumption
(VO
2
max)
The maximal capacity to transport and utilize
oxygen during exercise is termed the maximum
oxygen uptake or VO
2
max.
The greater the VO
2
max the more efficient the
oxygen metabolism oxygen metabolism
Demonstrated when VO
2
does not continue to
increase with increasing exercise intensity
(work load): PLATEAU
Gold standard measure of aerobic fitness or
aerobic power
Can be expressed at absolute (L/min) or
relative (ml/kg/min)
ATP and muscle contraction
ATP (adenosine triphospate)
High energy molecule that is essential for
muscle contraction
E i t d i th h t b d Energy is stored in the phospate bond
Energy is released when the bone is
broken (hydrolysis)
ATP +Pi +Energy ADP +Pi
Where do we get ATP?
Aerobic/oxidative pathways
Require oxygen
Produces the majority of ATP
Anaerobic pathways
No oxygen needed
Can produce only limited amounts of ATP
Energy Systems
The body has three systems it uses to
produce energy during exercise:
Anaerobic alactic
A bi l ti Anaerobic lactic
Aerobic
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Metabolic Sources of ATP:
ENERGY SYSTEMS
Anaerobic alactic system
Phosphocreatine
Glycolysis/Anaerobic lactic
canbe part of aerobic respiration or can be part of aerobic respiration, or
without O
2
, glycolysis supplies ATP by
breaking down glucose
Aerobic respiration
Breakdown of carbohyrate, fats and
proteins to form ATP
Glycogen Glycogen
Glucose Glucose
Pyruvate Pyruvate
Anaerobic Metabolism Anaerobic Metabolism
ATP
Aerobic Metabolism Aerobic Metabolism
Mitochondria
OO
22
ATP
ATP Lactic Acid Lactic Acid
No O No O
22
ATP-PCr Sytem: Anaerobic Alactic
A small amount of ATP is stored in muscles
As this ATP is broken down into ADP and Pi,
another compound, Phosphocreatine (PCr) is
broken down
PCr breaks into Phosphate +Creatine
Phospate is transferred to ADP to form new ATP
This transfer replenishes the ATP supply
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ATP ADP Pi
15 seconds of
maximal effort
exercise
Anaerobic Alactic Metabolism
PCr Cr Pi
Anaerobic Alactic
The supply of muscle ATP and PCr can
only support very short durations of
exercise
Approximately 15 seconds of maximal Approximately 15 seconds of maximal
effort exercise
Short duration +high intensity
Sprinting, power lifting
No lactic acid produced
Anaerobic Lactic System:
Glycolysis
When oxygen needs exceed the supply
Glucose is recruited from muscle glycogen and blood
glucose
Instead of being converted to acetyl coA and entering
Krebs cycle, pyruvate is converted to lactic acid y py
Due to the accumulation of lactic acid this energy system
can only sustain high intensity exercise for 15s-3minutes
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Aerobic Respiration
In the presence of oxygen
Complex series of reactions take place
break down glucose to form lots of ATP
C b t i d f l i d f ti Can be sustained for long periods of time
(hours)
Break down of carbs, fats, proteins
Review of energy systems
Anaerobic alactic: ATP-PCr
Short duration, high intensity (15sec)
No O
2
needed, No lactic acid produced
Chemical source: PCr
Anaerobic lactic: pyruvate lactic acid
Short to medium duration, high intensity (90 seconds)
No O
2
needed, lactic acid produced
Chemical source: carbohydrate
Aerobic
Long duration
O
2
needed, no lactic acid produced
Chemical source: carbohydrate, fat, protein
Energy systems
Keep in mind, the energy systems do not
work in isolation
During all intensities and durations of
exercise all systems will be active to exercise, all systems will be active to
some degree, just in varying percentages
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l

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60 60
80 80
100 100
Relative Contributions of
Energy Systems
Aerobic Aerobic
Maximum Work Time (min.) Maximum Work Time (min.)
P
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20 20
40 40
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00 10 10 20 20 30 30 40 40 50 50 60 60
Anaerobic Anaerobic
Resting
Substrate
2/3 from fats and 1/3 from glucose
Metabolic pathway
Aerobic (primarily)
Lactate
Negligible
Short duration exercise
Substrate
Glucose and glycogen (some fats)
Metabolic pathway
ATP PC (anaerobic alactic) ATP-PC (anaerobic alactic)
Anaerobic glycolysis (anaerobic lactic)
Limited aerobic contribution
Lactate
Yes
Prolonged exercise
Substrate
First 1-2 hours the substrate is glucose
After 2 hours fats are recruited
Metabolic pathway p y
Aerobic primarily
Anaerobic glycolytic (lactic) at the beginning of
exercise and if intensity is increased
Lactate
Very little accumulation
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Relative contribution of energy
systems
Activity PCR Glycol Aerobic Duration
Kicking a
ball
high low low 5 sec
Pole vault high Mod low 10 sec
100m sprint high mod low 10 sec
400-800m
sprint
high high mod 1-3 mins
5km-10km
run
low low high 12-30 mins
o
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L
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Light Exercise Moderate
Exercise
Intense
Exercise
Trained
Untrained
Lactate
B
l
o
o
B
l
o
o
C
o
n
C
o
n
Oxygen Consumption Oxygen Consumption
(%VO (%VO
22
max) max)
50 100 75 25
Threshold