Jump to content
Science Forums

Humans' internal chemistry is Amazing!!


Racoon

Recommended Posts

From ATP to Vestibular nuclei, the body's chemistry is facinating and very complex!

Even as we simply type on our computers, the human body is performing myriad tasks, primarily for homeostasis.

I am studying Exercise Physiology right now, and it really puts things in a new perspective.

REMEMBER THIS: Get out there and do some exercise! jogging, cycling, walking, swimming, anything, JUST DO IT! Your body will thank you!

 

The control of voluntary movement is complex and requires cooperation from many areas of the brain.

First, subcortical and cortical structures send signals to the association cortex, which forms a "rough draft" of planned movement. The movement plan is then sent to the cerebellum and basal ganglia which convert "rough draft" into precise temporal and excitation programs. From there it goes through the thalamus to the motor cortex, which then forwards said message down those good ol' spinal nuerons, and finally towards skeletal muscle!

There is also a feedback loop to the Central Nervous System (CNS) from muscle receptors and proprioceptors which allows for modification of those motor programs.

 

Everytime you participate in exercise/sport, the brain does this, but we don't usually think about it obviously.

NEXT POST I'll talk a little more about skeletal muscle;

MEANWHILE, MAKE SURE ALL YOU HYPOGRAPHITES GET ADEQUATE EXERCISE!! Its fun! or at least its good for you:)

 

As the New Years resolutions are getting made, I suspect this could be a popular thread!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh yes, the internal chemistry and structure is definatly amaising. Another thing to remember when working out is to target the muscle types you need more often; white muscle and red muscle are both useful, but each has it's areas where it excells.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

EXERCISE?!?!?!

 

 

With a foot and a half of freshly fallen snow, and more on the way?

 

 

Do you have any idea how cold it is out there?

 

 

What do you want me to do? Run up and down my hallway for 1/2 hour?

 

 

 

:cup: I tease.

 

But I do have to admit that winter is **NOT** a good time of year for to exercise. That is to say I become completely unmotivated. I love snow, but seriously HATE the cold. All the more reason to exercise I know, but ooof! Odd though, because when I have to, and the conditions are acceptable, I do bicycle in the winter. I do love my bike!

 

I totally agree about the amazingness of the body, even though I don't understand it's complexities anywhere near as much as you. But when you think of all the things a body does, it leaves you in awe!

 

Take care!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

___This is amazing! My ignorance of chemistry is showing.:cup:

 

___I have a long familiarity with exercise however, & I am anxious to understand the chemical processes at play. For example, given the three categories of exercise, miometric, plyometric, & isometric, what variations in the chemistry at play is observed? (Mmmmm. did I leave out a ...metric form of exercise?:D ) Anyway, those three suffice for now.

 

Off to do some chores....er....exercise.:cup:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

___Back in the 60's I was using an exercise book that broke exercise into those three categories. I checked my home dictionary & didn't find the terms. I just read your post (thank you very much) & that prompted me to Google. Here is one link that sounds like what you have said & a quote from the paper that pertains to the terms isometric, pliometric, & miometric.

Thanks again.:cup:

 

http://jap.physiology.org/cgi/content/full/95/2/455#SEC1

Because the dictionary definition of "to contract" is "to generate force" and "to shorten," a number of investigators have modified the terms action (15) and condition (24) to signify the type of contraction that occurred. Fick (15) employed the terms "isometric" and "isotonic" to describe the actions of a contracting heart muscle when the muscle remained at a fixed length or shortened with a fixed load. In 1938, Fenn (12) noted that shortening, isometric, and lengthening more accurately represented the three types of contractions that muscles make than the terms proposed by Fick, but Fenn was careful to dissociate the directionality of the muscle movement from the term contraction. The same year, in correlating the contractions of muscles of humans with the movements of the limbs during walking and running, Hubbard and Stetson (24) recognized that muscles underwent contractions during three different "conditions." The three conditions were termed "miometric," "isometric," and "pliometric," by coupling the Greek prefixes "mio" (shorter), "iso" (same), and "plio" (longer) to the noun "metric," defined as "pertaining to measures or measurement." Consequently, the noun condition was used with the appropriate adjective to differentiate among the three conditions under which the muscles "contracted."
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

OK, and now a Bit of good news!

I got a B+ in my Exercise Physiology class !

Yeeaaaahhh Baby!! :)

 

 

____Woot woot! Nice job Racoon.:)

___I know you're not a doctor, but as a fitness trainer I have a question. I have in the last couple of days noticed a burning pain in my right pec just below my armpit; it strikes when I bring my right arm across my body. I think I may have torn a muscle, although I don't recall a specific exercise period when this may have happened. Most of my exercise is from clearing brush & working outdoors & the burning pain doesn't occur even during strenuous exercise until I make the movement described. I hate going to the doctors unless I have a severe condition & I'm not sure if this qualifies. Any tips etc.? Thanks.:)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Raccoon, good idea to prod your mates to work off the holiday intake. while you're studying the physiology of exercise, see if you can come across any information about how the body cells know how to perform these energy producing reactions. you may get involved in studying the Krebs cycle and the nutritional requirements for cellular metabolism. after you see how the enzymes and co-factors operate and the miracle of it all, you may want to ponder what type of reactions are occurring at the atomic and sub-atomic level to make these miracles happen.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Incredibly, the human body was once equipped with a self-sustaining muscular and skeletal vigourisation mechanism. But as the years went by and cavemen, cavewomen and cavechildren sat lazily at home, constantly playing countless games of Dungeons and Dimetredons, sipping bucket-loads of fresh dew from the mountains, the human body readjusted itself - evolutionarily - by altering the vigourisation system and forcing the brain to take control of the exercising and created the Fat Gene (of which is found in 96% of all children not from your native country) to wreak havok on those who don't exercise or those who do, but the body disregards it.

Amazingly, the vigourisation system returned, but only until the first television was invented.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Good post Racoon. Much of that, as you mentioned, I knew, but you clarified a number of details.

 

Let me ask... do you know of anything related to pressure points and their connections from your studies? I'd be led to believe that knowledge in this regard would provide some assistance when it comes to inferring the nature of chi.

 

 

Chi, to me, is somewhat like the Tao. I sense it, but cannot explain it. I understand it, but as soon as I try to put terms around it, it leaves and changes. It's like the water, following the path of least resistance and flowing like a stream.

 

Granted, I notice it's intensity much more when I throw a side kick meant to disable someone, but that's not the most powerful chi that I can feel. The powerful stuff is more subtle and quiet. Man... it's been too long since I've worked out. My channels are blocked! (whatever that means :Waldo: )

 

:Waldo:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...