PEP-426 : Intermediate Exercise Physiology

Pre-requisites

Purpose

To  evaluate how the body regulates the demand and use of energy to support the muscle contraction of differing exercise intensities and durations.

Rationale

The research and knowledge base of exercise physiology has expanded exponentially over the last 30 years.  In addition, the understanding of the influence of exercise on human physiology is now known to have profound importance to each of disease diagnosis, rehabilitation, and prevention.  Such applications are all the more relevant given the increasing age of citizens of most western countries, combined with worsening statistics on the incidence of inactivity, cardiovascular diseases, obesity, diabetes and stroke.

Objectives

1. the large filed and profession of exercise physiology.
2. the bioenergetics laws that govern metabolism and all energy transfer.
3. the biochemical regulation of energy metabolism.
4. the phosphagen energy system.
5. the glycolytic-lactate energy system.
6. mitochondrial respiration.
7. neuromuscular function and adaptation to exercise.
8. ergometry.
9. calorimetry and indirect calorimetry.
10. calculation of whole body oxygen consumption (VO2) and carbon dioxide production (VCO2).
11. how to test for VO2max.
12. how to process data from metabolic systems used to measure VO2max.
13. the biochemistry of metabolic acidosis.
14. cardiovascular adaptations to exercise
15. pulmonary adaptations to exercise
16. ergogenic aids and ethics in sport and athletics
17. exercise and fatigue

Alliance With Program, Division and College Missions

There is an increasing need to justify how academic courses "fit" within the theoretical framework of the college they are located within.  Explanations of the College of Education Mission and Conceptual Framework are found within the College section of the UNM website.

This course provides pertinent knowledge that extends the academic training in exercise physiology of the graduate students of UNM.  While primarily serving the needs of Exercise Science students, other students from teacher-training programs within the College of Education would also find this course interesting with respect to the environmental challenges faced by students from Elementary to High school years.  Students from the School of Medicine, Nursing, and Biology could also justify the inclusion of this course into their program of studies.

Academic Dishonesty

Academic Dishonesty is defined from the UNM Student Code of Conduct as follows:
   "...dishonesty in quizzes, tests or assignments; claiming credit for work not done or done by others; hindering the academic work of other students; misrepresenting academic or professional qualifications within or without the University;  and nondisclosure or misrepresentation in filling out applications or other University records."

The Exercise Science faculty support the importance of academic integrity.  A student violating academic dishonesty guidelines will receive an "F" for the course.  A second violation will result in the student being withdrawn from the Exercise Science program.

Format

This course is taught by lecture using computerized PowerPoint slide projection.  Lecture/slide notes are found linked to this website, organized by the topics listed on the course calendar.  Lectures are each 75 min in duration, and are based on the presentation of the material, frequent question and answer segments, and time for class discussion of important issues and concepts.

Students will be required to attend laboratories (attendance will be compulsory and each absence will cause a 5% reduction in final grade points used to assign a final letter grade.  Each laboratory will have a report needed to be written by each student. Graduate students will be required to assist in the implementation of the laboratory sessions, as well as present a short review of a given section of material during each of the exam review sessions.

Textbook and Other Required Items

We will use my new electronic textbook:

Robergs RA. Exercise Physiology: An Electronic Text and Learning Experience.  Edition 2, NEXSIS.org, Albuquerque, 2008.

The book costs $70, and also comes with a separate compilation of all the support programs within the book that is better suited to program use outside of using the text.  

Purchase the text via NEXSIS.org.  I will be informed by NEXSIS.org who has purchased the text and will be able to bring the CDs to class and distribute them to each purchaser.  CDs are available for Windows 2000, XP, Vista and Mac.  Versions are available for each platform in either a high resolution (desktop with at least a 19" monitor), or low resolution version (laptop or small [<17"] desktop monitor).

The required textbook is essential for you to follow all lecture content and illustrations, in addition to having custom software necessary for many aspects of data processing required in the laboratory sessions.

Assessment

Student assessment is based on the scores from,

Graduate students will be required to help me with review sessions for both exams.

Your final grade will simply be based on your percentage score of the 250 total assessment points.  I will only grade on a curve, or do a simple adjustment, if student performance on test and quiz items is poor.  You are responsible for learning the material I cover in class, and this content represents the standards required for becoming competent in knowing and understanding exercise physiology.

The grade letter and points distribution is provided in the table below.

Note that according to Department of Physical Performance and Development policy, a grade of C^- or worse is a failing grade.

Academic Dishonesty

Academic dishonesty, which includes plagiarism, will not be tolerated.  The College of Education, as with the entire university, has policies on how to handle such infractions.  All faculty are required to abide by these rules and punishments, and students should read about such issues at the following sites:

Exams

The format of each exam is a combination of multiple choice, True/False, matching, figure interpretation, and short answer questions. Some questions will require calculations.  Each exam will require a full class session, and consist of approximately 20 multiple choice, 10 True/False, 10 matching, 3 figure interpretation, and 10 short answer questions.

Practice Exams

To help you prepare for exams, and better familiarize yourself with the format, I have a web page devoted to providing links to past exams.  You can get to this page from the Lecture Notes page link.

Graduate Student Review Sessions

Graduate students enrolled in this class for graduate credit must assist Dr. Robergs with the running of the exam review sessions.

Research Critiques

There is a web page devoted to providing direction on how to write your critiques.  Note that both need to be completed and submitted prior to Thanksgiving.

Added Reading

There is a web page devoted to providing you links to added reading.  These links will either direct you to pdf files of research manuscripts, or other web sites in the internet.