Exercise physiology paper 2

• Acute injury.

  A sudden injury caused by a specific impact or traumatic event where a sharp pain is felt immediately. E.g. fractures, dislocations, strains and sprains.
• Chronic injuries.

  Often referred to as over-use injures e.g. stress fractures, achilles tendonitis.
• Lateral epicondylitis.

  Medical term for tennis elbow.
• ECG.

  Stands for an electrocardiogram machine where electrodes are placed onto the player's chest and the wires connect to an ECG machine and a printout is produced of the heart's electrical activity.
• Active Stretch.

  When a stretched position is held by the contraction of an agonist muscle.
• Passive stretch.

  Uses an external force to help the stretched position.
• Static stretching.

  When the muscle is held in a stationary position for 30 seconds or more.
• Ballistic stretching.

  Uses swinging and bouncing movements.
• Cryotherapy.

  The use of cold temperatures to treat an injury.
• RICE.

  Stands for Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation.
• Deep vein thrombosis (DVT).

  A blood clot in one of the deep veins in the body.
• Soft tissue.

  Includes tendons, ligaments, muscles, nerves and blood vessels.
• Fascia.

  A layer of fibrous connective tissue which surrounds the muscle or group of muscles.
• Oedema.

  A build-up of fluid which causes swelling.
• Non-REM sleep (NREM).

  Means there is no rapid eye movement. It consists of three stages of sleep which get progressively deeper.
• How would you treat a muscle strain?

  Rest

  Ice

  Compress

  Elevate
• How does an ice bath help a performer to recover?

  Sitting in ice cold water for 20 minutes:

  Causes blood vessels to tighten (vasoconstriction)

  Restricts blood flow to the area

  Reduces swelling and aids muscle repair

  After leaving the bath, the area is flooded with new blood (vasodilation)

  Fresh oxygen removes lactic acid.
• What is the difference between an acute injury and a chronic injury? Use examples when you explain your answer. (4)

  An acute injury occurs suddenly during exercise or competition. Pain is felt immediately and is often severe e.g. fractured bone.

  
  

  A chronic injury occurs after playing sport or exercise for a long time. They are often called overuse injuries e.g. achilles tendonitis.
• How can hydrotherapy help sports rehabilitation? (3)

  Takes place in warm water.

  Improves blood circulation, relieves pain, relaxes muscles.

  Buoyancy of water helps support body weight.

  Reduces the load on joints.

  Allows for more exercise than is permitted on land.

  Exercise is done against the resistance of the water to strengthen the injured area.
• Why is sleep important for improved recovery? (3)

  More sleep needed following a heavy exercise programme.

  Deep sleep rebuilds the damage done to muscles.

  Deep sleep is where the blood is directed towards the muscles to restore energy.

  8+ hours as a guide for an elite athlete.
• How can hyperbaric chambers aid injury rehabilitation?

  Chamber is pressurised.

  Pressure increases the amount of oxygen that can be breathed in.

  More oxygen diffused to injured area.

  Excess oxygen dissolves into blood plasma and reduces swelling, stimulates white blood cell activity and increases blood supply at injury site.
• What are the 3 crucial parts of a warm-up?

  Pulse raiser.

  Stretching.

  Movement patterns.
• Evaluate the importance of screening.

  • Screening identifies those at risk of

  complications from exercise/detects a problem

  early before any symptoms occur/reduces risk

  of injury/saves lives.

  • It prepares performers for their sport/

  enhances performance.

  • The musculoskeletal condition of an athlete

  can be assessed by screening to highlight any

  past or current injuries.

  • This will enable the performer to select a

  relevant conditioning training programme that

  will prevent further injury.

  
  

  • However, some screening tests are not 100 percent accurate and may miss a problem (false

  negative) or identify a problem that doesn't

  exist (false positive).

  • It can increase anxiety when an athlete finds

  out they have a health problem or are more

  susceptible to injury.
• Describe the different types of stretching that can be used to prevent injury.

  • Active stretching - holding a stretched position by contraction of your own agonistic muscles

  • Passive stretching - stretch position being held by something other than the agonistic muscles

  • Static stretching - holding the muscle in a

  stationary position for 30 seconds or more

  • Ballistic stretching - using movement to

  'bounce' in and out of a stretch position
• How can hydrotherapy help sports rehabilitation?

  • Hydrotherapy takes place in warm water.

  • It improves blood circulation, relieves pain and relaxes muscles.

  • The buoyancy of the water helps to support

  body weight, reducing the load on joints.

  • It allows for more exercise than is permitted on land.

  • Exercise is done against the resistance of the

  water to strengthen the injured area.
• Explain the use of an ice bath as a method of recovery from exercise.

  • Involves sitting in ice cold water for between 5 and 10 minutes

  • Causes blood vessels to tighten/vasoconstrict,

  restricting blood flow to the area

  • Reduces swelling/tissue breakdown and aids

  muscle repair

  • After leaving the ice bath, area is flooded with new blood/vasodilation

  • Removes lactic acid
• Why is sleep important for improved recovery after exercise?

  • More sleep is needed following a heavy

  exercise programme.

  • A deep sleep rebuilds the damage done to

  muscle cells.

  • Blood is directed towards the muscles to

  restore energy.

  • 8+ hours is a guide for an elite athlete.
• The use of ice baths and cryotherapy can aid recovery. Analyse which of these methods you think is the most effective and give reasons why. (4)

  • Both methods use the same principle of using cold temperatures to aid recovery

  • through vasoconstriction of the blood vessels

  • therefore reducing inflammation and blood

  flow and

  • getting rid of waste products such as lactic acid.

  • The value of ice baths is that anyone can use

  one (you can do it at home).

  • Cryotherapy chambers are only available to

  elite athletes.

  • Cryotherapy is less time-consuming

  • Returns the body back to normal quicker.
• Explain why an elite performer may suffer from achilles tendonitis. (3)

  • Achilles tendonitis is a chronic injury.

  • It occurs after playing sport or doing exercise for a long time/overuse injury.

  • It causes pain and inflammation of the Achilles tendon located at the back of the ankle.

  • This is used for walking, running and jumping

  • so when an elite performer does a lot of

  training it can be prone to tendonitis.
• Explain how hyperbaric chambers can aid injury rehabilitation. (4)

  • Reduces pressure at injured area/reduces

  swelling

  • Chamber delivers oxygen at high pressure

  • 100 per cent pure oxygen

  • Haemoglobin/red blood cells fully saturated

  with oxygen

  • Excess oxygen dissolved in plasma

  • Oxygen reaches parts of body that not normally saturated

  • Increased white blood cell activity at injury site
• Simple or closed fracture

  A clean break to a boe that does not penetrate the skin or damage any surrounding tissue.
• Compound or open fracture

  When soft tissue or skin has been damaged. This is more serious as there is a higher risk of infection.
• Dislocation

  When the ends of bones are forced out of position. It occurs at joints.
• Sprain

  Occurs to ligaments when they stretch too far.
• Strains


  When muscle fibres are stretched too far or tear.
• Achilles tendonitis

  Pain and inflammation of the tendon.
• Stress fractures

  When muscles become fatigued and are no longer able to absorb the added shock of exercise. The fatigued muscle eventually transfers the stress overload to the bone and the result is a tiny crack. The area becomes tender and swollen.
• Tennis elbow


  Occurs in the muscles attached to the elbow that are used to straighten the wrsit and the muscled and tendons become inflamed and tiny tears occur on the outside of the elbow. The area becomes very sore and tender due to the repeated stress on the elbow.
• Screening


  Used to help identify those at risk of complications from exercise, prepare performers for their sport, enhance their performance and reduce injury. It can detects problems before they occur and help them select a relevant training programme to prevent injury. However, not always accurate and can increase anxiety when athletes find out they have a problem.
• Taping


  Taping a weak joint can helpt with support and stabiity to reduce the risk of injury.

  Can be used on a muscle to provide controlled support as the muscle contracts.