Chapter 1 Why Study Exercise Physiology?

Key Concepts

hypothesis hunch physiology of exercisephysiology of exercise principle professional theory

Review Questions

What are the major conclusions of the 1996 Surgeon General’s Report on Physical Activity and Health? 1.All people regardless of age or gender benefit from regular physical activity. 2.Significant health benefits can be obtained by including a moderate amount of physical activity on most days of the week. 3.Additional health benefits can be gained through greater amounts of physical activity. 4.Physical activity reduces the risk of premature death and certain diseases, and promotes mental health.

What are the major conclusions of the 1996 Surgeon General’s Report on Physical Activity and Health? (cont.) 5.More than 60 percent of American adults do not regularly exercise, and 25 percent are not active at all. 6.Nearly half of American youth years of age are not vigorously active on a regular basis, and activity declines during adolescence. 7.Daily enrollment in physical education classes declined among high school students from 42 percent in 1991 to 25 percent in Interventions to promote physical activity in schools, work sites, and health care settings are being evaluated.

According to the study by Grund et al., which is better, endurance training or resistance training in terms of health promotion? Endurance training. Why? The endurance-trained men in the study received greater overall aerobic benefits.

1.State the problem 2.Develop a hypothesis 3.Determine an experimental method to test the hypothesis 4.Observe the results 5.Draw conclusions What are the five main steps of the scientific method?

In what four ways are professional exercise physiologists better than lay coaches and trainers? 1.Can better predict results 2.Can better control the conditioning/training process 3.Can get better results per unit of time spent 4.Can understand the cause-and-effect relationships

Useful Websites

The President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports National Association for Health and Fitness American College of Sports Medicine National Strength and Conditioning Association American Society of Exercise Physiologists The Scientific Method