Archive for the ‘Limiting Mechanisms’ category

Motor Units, Tired Legs, and Weariness

July 12th, 2010

Attn: Those curious about Exercise Science

Here are more questions concerning the factors that limit endurance performance that have ‘popped up in my head’ since the 2010 ACSM annual meeting in Baltimore:

  • How are motor units (MUs) with fast twitch (FT), slow twitch (ST), or other muscle fibers recruited and maybe derecruited during first ten minutes of constant, locomotor exercise at the ventilatory threshold?
  • What’s the latest about recruitment and/or derecruitment of various MUs of during the last half of prolonged exercise to exhaustion at the ventilatory threshold?
  • Any psychophysiological differences between individuals with predominantly FT MUs and those with predominantly ST MUs while producing self-selected exercise intensity above the ventilatory threshold?
  • How is MU recruitment monitored by the different regions of the cingulate cortex and other subcortical structures?
  • How is the prefrontal cortex and its subdivisions involved in anticipatory, proscriptive forecasts of possible motor adjustments during the last half of prolonged exercise to exhaustion at the ventilatory threshold?
  • How does the insular cortex, cingulate cortex, etc. determine that an error has occurred while force is being generated during locomotor exercise?
  • How does one become aware of changes in our ‘mental state’ during the last half of prolonged exercise?
  • How similar are the responses of anterior insular cortex (AIC), when experiencing pain as an unpleasant feeling, to the AIC changes when one becomes aware of weariness, i.e., subjective fatigue?
  • What is the mechanism whereby we can talk with ourselves and others, i.e., vocalize, about being weary, as having subjective fatigue symptoms?

More questions associated with an ACSM presentation examining cool-down after exercise session can be found in the post: “Cool Down and Enjoy”

Comments anyone? Any suggestions for pertinent reviews? Any thoughts or personal insights? Additional related questions?

Reviews about Exertion Pain during Cycling

May 28th, 2010

Hooray!

Today the REAL POST (Part 1) about Coping with Pain during Cycling is up. (Read this post)

And For The Curious, the Part 1 Post is continued as the First Review today: What describes Exertion Pain during cycling? (Read this review)

 

Cyclists’ Cognitive Strategies for Coping with Pain (Part 1)

May 2nd, 2010

“Wow! Amazing!!” I said one day. This was on the day I discovered an article entitled entitled “A naturalistic investigation of former Olympic cyclists’ cognitive strategies for coping with exertional pain during performance”. It was by Jeffery Kress & Traci Statler detailing a fascinating study of nine former Olympic cyclists and was published in 2007 by the Journal of Sports Behavior (1).

What was ‘pain’ for the cyclists? How did they deal with this pain?

This review blog consists of 4 posts. This 1st post will discuss methods and the cyclists’ personal description of pain. The 2nd post will focus on their perceptual and temporal modification of pain. Then the blog’s 3rd and 4th posts will discuss preparing for and ways of handling pain.   CLICK TO READ MORE