Download Fatigue and the Recovery Process

In order to exercise we must break down
the energy stored in our body and turn it
to ATP (This is what provides energy to
our cells and working muscles)
 sources of energy come from
 1)Phosphocreatine
 2)Glucose
 3)Glycogen

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We only have enough phosphocreatine
(CP) to last us 10 seconds of maximal
exercise
We then switch to glucose for energy
production
We have 15-20g of glucose in blood
stream
 345g glycogen in our muscles and 110g
stored in our liver

When out blood sugar is low the liver
converts its stores of
glycogen into glucose/ or the skeletal
muscles glycogen to glucose
Overall the glycogen gets turned into
Glucose
These stores only last 2 hours so once these
are used up the body becomes fatigued
Lactic acid is the main waste product of
anaerobic glycolysis
 Blood always contains a small amount of
lactic acid, but during high intensity this
increases sharply decreasing ph – 6.4 or
lower means that neural messages an
not be sent and prevents exercise being
carried out.

The muscle are not able to receive
signals from the CNS that stimulate the
muscle to contract or the muscle tissue is
not able to function properly
 Signals an be affected by a lack of
calcium ions being release and
acetylcholine which prevents the
nervous stimulation of the muscle
tissue/motor unit

After any bout of Exercise, the body has
to recover and return to its pre exercise
state
 After exercise we need to breathe in
extra amounts of oxygen to return to pre
exercise state. This is also know as
Excess post- exercise oxygen consumption
(EPOC) but is also known as oxygen debt

Its occurs when we have been using the
aerobic system- as a result energy has
been produced by the anaerobic
energy system which as we know
produces lactic acid
 When we stop exercising out breathing
rates remain high in order to get rid of
the lactic acid and break it down to CO2
and H20
 Restock ATP, PC and glycogen
 Pay back any O2 from haemoglobin
and myoglobin

After hard exercise five events must take
place before the muscle can operate
again
 ATP must be replaced
 PC Stores must be restocked
 Lactic acid must be removed
 Myoglobin must be replenished with 02
 Glycogen stores must be restocked

The replacement of ATP and PC
3
mins
 Removal of LA= 20mins
 Myoglobin and glycogen stores = 2448hrs
 The fitter you are the faster the recovery,
and the quicker the debt can be repaid
 The debt is paid in 2 stages known as
 Alactacid debt (fast component)
 Alactacid debt (slow component)

This process does not involve lactic acid
 The aerobic system is used to produce ATP
to restock the PC Stores and ATP Stores in
the body
 Around 50% occurs in 30 seconds and is fully
recovered by 3 minutes
 The oxygen debt needed for this is between
2-3.5l of O2 the fitter you are the greater the
debt (more oxygen) because you will have
more stores to replenish but it will also be
quicker

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

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This process takes much longer and can last
minutes to hours depending on the intensity
of the exercise
Oxygen is needed to break down the lactic
acid back to Pyruvate. (LA +O2 = Pyruvate)
Pyruvate can then enter the aerobic system
and leave as CO2 and water
Lactic acid can also be converted back
into glycogen and stored in the liver or
muscle
What can an active recovery do?