Reference no: EM132349858
Answer the following two questions below then respond to the 9 responses below.
1. What mechanisms explain how improved aerobic fitness increases exercise tolerance in a warm, humid environment?
2. Your Maine, U.S. - based soccer team competes in Hawaii in early spring. Discuss how you would prepare the team to compete in this hot-humid environment making all pre-competition preparations if time, money and travel were not considerations.
Response 1 (Anthony P) :
Increased aerobic fitness can increase exercise tolerance in warm and humid environments in a couple of ways. The first is through reduced necessity for oxygen uptake and myocardial efficiency. The more efficient the heart is, the less it needs to exert itself and the higher the stroke volume. With less need for cardiac output, this results in less need for oxygen uptake and as the blood needs to be oxygenated less due to the efficiency of the heart. In the heat and humidity, the aerobically trained athlete will not suffer as badly from increased core temperature because when the body is becoming overheated due to the inability to evaporate sweat from the body, their body will not react as quickly to peripheral vascular vasoconstriction. This is due to their increased stroke volume being higher and requiring less beats to supply the same regions.
Response 2 (Anna O):
When figuring out when and where you'll be having a marathon there are many obstacles that you have to understand. Especially in the summer you'd want to have it start early in the morning so that the runners don't get over heated. You definitely want to look at the temperature for that day along with the relative humidity. Relative humidity "represents the most important factor in determining the effectiveness of evaporative heat loss." (McArdle, Katch&Katch, 2015) In athletes who are participating in an event that lasts longer than 30 minutes in above 60% relative humidity will have a dangerous rise in core temperature. But, individuals are able to tolerate high temperatures only when the relative humidity is low. Overall, I think that when looking at a time to start a marathon, it should always be in the early morning so that the athletes feel as comfortable as possible while running.
Response 3 (Riley S):
In deciding on the starting time for an upcoming summer marathons, there is a prior meteorologic information that is important to take into consideration. Meteorologic information is important to take into consideration for summer marathons because the weather conditions can make the environment unsafe. The meteorologic information that would be most valuable would be temperature, humidity, and rain. Air temperature can have a significant effect on marathon runners because high temperature can be more exhausting, can effect running ability, and cause dehydration. The more the air temperature increases, there is a larger decrease in running speeds. (Vihma, 2009). Humidity and rain are important to take into consideration because both have an effect on the overall air temperature. Humidity is the amount of water vapor present within the air and amount of water vapor needed to achieve saturation increases as the temperature increases. (Latter, 2013). The more water vapor that saturates the air, the more the possibility of rain is likely. As a marathon runner competes, they will sweat which is the body's attempt of staying cool and maintaining its current temperature. Sweat is released through the pores in the skin and is ideally evaporated into the air. When the humidity is high, sweat will not be evaporated which will cause the runner to feel hotter than the actual temperature. (Vihma, 2009).
Response 4 (Scott W):
Based on what we have learned from previous chapters, the core muscles play an important role in balance. The core muscles are made up of several muscles-one group being the abdominal muscles. "The postural muscles only work properly if the body is in a good posture or correct alignment. If not, a vicious cycle can develop where weakness through injury or lack of use plus poor posture leads to the core muscles becoming less efficient. Less efficient muscles need more energy to move, and the paired muscles that move each part of your body become imbalanced. Some of your muscles end up working harder and becoming shorter and tighter. Others become long and weak" (MS Trust, 2018). In my experience, when you have weak core muscles, other muscles will begin to over exert themselves. I have experienced this first hand-I was basically just running and not lifting any kind of weights or doing any strength training. My posture was pretty weak, and as a result I was starting to have a lot of lower back problems.
Response 5 (Adam J):
When speaking with someone who is wanting to incorporate weight training into their conditioning routine, I would stress posture as an important aspect to help avoid debilitating injury. Liebenson (2007) expresses that having good posture and keeping the lifted weight within the line of gravity will assist the athlete in avoiding injury. Liebenson expresses that when a weight is held at a greater distance from this line of gravity, the risk of injury is greatly increased. Additionally, the athlete in question should avoid any twisting motion during a lift. Hall (2019) expresses that a twisting motion during weight lifting can lead to three times more stress to be placed on the back. Because of this, maintaining good posture throughout a lift can limit the stress to the back and limit the likelihood of injury.
Response 6 (Kendra C):
The plank works your anterior muscles of the trunk. This is one of the easiest and most effective core strengthening exercises. Place the body face down, supporting yourself by the forearms and the tips of the feet on the floor (Beyond 6 packs: 15 exercises to strengthen your core, 2016) Keep legs, trunk and head stretched out in a line parallel to the ground. Dumbbell side bends target the oblique muscles that run laterally on the sides of your abdomen. This exercise is frequently used to isolate the muscles just above your hips and can help strengthen your core. Holding a weighted dumbbell in one hand and standing with feet shoulder-width apart, gradually move into a lean to the side; you will lean to the side of the hand holding the weight. Pay attention to maintaining your torso and head inline and bend only at the waist. When you've completed your desired number of repetitions for one side, place the weight in your other hand and repeat the exercise (Banar, 2016). The superman is a great exercise for the posterior aspect of your trunk. Lie face down on your stomach with arms and legs extended. Keep your neck in a neutral position. Keeping your arms and legs straight (but not locked) and torso stationary, simultaneously lift your arms and legs up toward the ceiling to form an elongated "u" shape with your body - back arches and arms and legs lift several inches off the floor. Hold for two to five seconds and lower back down to complete one (May, 2013).
Response 7 (Josh Y):
Having weak abdominal muscles creates two issues. The first is that stability through the trunk is compromised if the abdominal muscles are weak and inactive. Body weight, muscular tension, and tension in the ligaments all contribute to loads on the spine (Hall, 2019). Because of this force, the spine and core have to be stabilized to avoid "crumpling". That is where the abdominal muscles come into play. Those muscles stabilize the spine and trunk and keep us from slouching. The second issue is that the abdominal muscles protect the internal organs (Hall, 2019). If those muscles are not strengthened, then our internal organs will have less protection from external blows.
Response 8 (Todor P):
Our posture is our structure and if the structure is not aligned the right way it will create major problems. Just like the foundation of a house, building or a bridge. If the foundation is insufficient, the load will not be distributed to the right places and eventually the house, building or bridge will fall. Our bodies are the same in a way. However, our bodies are also designed to move, and the key is to maintain proper posture while moving. So, for the strength coaches out there, the key is to design training protocols with the focus of training stability and mobility at the same time. This brings us back to the oxymoron of stability and mobility. You have to be stable in order to be mobile, and you have to be mobile in order to function. The human body is truly amazing.
Response 9 (Thomas Ell):
Exercises that designed to strengthen the anterior, posterior and lateral aspects of the spine include planks. Planks are a great exercise to strengthen all aspects of the spine because the spinal muscles are primarily stabilizers. Hall (2012) explains the primary stabilizing aspect of the spine and planks require a person to hold a static position and keep the hips from dropping, causing the muscles of the spine to contract and hold position. Another great exercise to strengthen all aspects of the spine are glute bridges. This exercise especially will help with people who suffer from low back pain to strengthen the spinal muscles in the lumbar region. Some other exercises that can help to strengthen the different aspects of the spine include medicine ball Russian twists, bird dogs, and hanging leg raises.