Practical Guide to Exercise Physiology guides readers through the scientific concepts of exercise physiology with highly visual, easy-to-follow content. The text applies complex concepts of physiology to exercise program design, giving personal trainers, strength and conditioning specialists, and other health and fitness professionals an accessible resource to use with their clients. Written specifically for those in the fitness industry, the text covers various training goals and considerations when working with clients and athletes at all levels.
Part I. Warming Up: Physiology 101
Chapter 1. Muscles Move Us
How Do Muscles Work?
How Do Muscles Adapt to Training?
How Do Muscle Cells Get Bigger and Stronger?
Chapter 2. Food Really Is Fuel
From Food to Energy
How Do Nutrients Fuel Muscle?
What About Vitamins and Minerals?
Water Is a Nutrient, Too
Chapter 3. Muscles Need Oxygen
How Does Oxygen Get to Muscles?
How Does Oxygen Use Relate to Fitness and Energy Expenditure?
How Does Training Help the Body Use More Oxygen?
Oxygen Delivery and Performance Enhancement
Chapter 4. Fatigue: What Is It Good For?
What Causes Fatigue?
What’s the Difference Between Fatigue and Overtraining?
What Role Does Fatigue Play in Adaptations to Training?
Part II. The Science of Training Program Design
Chapter 5. Principles of Designing Training Programs
What Are the Basics of Program Design?
What Makes an Effective Training Program?
Training Terms
Chapter 6. Training to Improve Muscle Mass and Strength
How Do Strength and Mass Increase?
What’s the Best Way to Gain Strength and Mass?
What’s the Role of Nutrition?
Chapter 7. Training for Weight Loss
Weight Loss Is All About Energy Balance
Why Do Some People Have Difficulty Losing Weight?
What’s the Best Way to Lose Fat but Protect Muscle Mass?
Chapter 8. Training for Speed and Power
What Are Speed and Power?
What Adaptations Are Needed to Improve Speed and Power?
What Kinds of Training Improve Speed and Power?
What Does a Speed and Power Training Session Look Like?
Chapter 9. Training for Aerobic Endurance
What Are the Main Adaptations to Aerobic Training?
What’s the Best Way to Improve Aerobic Endurance?
Should Endurance Athletes Engage in Strength Training?
Why Is Endurance Capacity Important for Sprinters and Team-Sport Athletes?
Part III. Special Considerations
Chapter 10. Heat, Cold, and Altitude
Exercise in the Heat Impairs Performance
Cold Stress Chills Performance
Exercise at Altitude
Chapter 11. Training Children, Older Adults, and Pregnant Women
Do Children Respond Differently Than Adults to Exercise Training?
Can Children Improve Strength With Training?
Can Older Adults Adapt to Training?
Should Women Exercise During Pregnancy?
Bob Murray, PhD, FACSM, is the cofounder of the Gatorade Sports Science Institute (GSSI) and served as director from 1985 to 2008. Murray oversaw a broad program of GSSI- and university-based research in exercise science and sport nutrition that set industry standards and consumer expectations for science-based product efficacy. Murray has been an invited speaker at professional meetings worldwide.
W. Larry Kenney, PhD, is the Marie Underhill Noll Chair in Human Performance and a professor of physiology and kinesiology at Pennsylvania State University at University Park. He received his PhD in physiology from Penn State in 1983. Working at Noll Laboratory, Kenney is researching the effects of aging and disease states such as hypertension on the control of blood flow to human skin and has been continuously funded by NIH since 1983.