2023-08-25 04:00:00
Special attention should always be paid to the functions of the supply lines. For such, it is necessary to possess a clear knowledge of the metabolic machinery. In humans, the supply problem was solved thanks to a system in which oxygen and fuels are transported through a network of closed tubes (blood vessels) to the body’s tissues.
Napoleon (1769-1821), the French military commander and political leader, claimed that “an army moves on its stomach.” Being more realistic, his army moved thanks to the combined effort of four key elements: 1.- oxygen (O2); 2.- fuels; 3.- the lungs; and 4.- the heart. Just as Napoleon’s army depended on the action and integrity of its military supply lines, the muscles of the body also depend on the supply of oxygen and fuel.
Oxygen is soluble in water, but to a very limited extent; approximately 2.0 ml per liter at body temperature. Thanks to hemoglobin (Hb), this value increases a hundred times more. All body hemoglobin is contained in red blood cells or erythrocytes.
It is vital for an athlete that as much hemoglobin is charged with oxygen as the blood passes through the heart and lungs, and discharged as it passes through the muscles. This happens automatically; charging occurs when the free oxygen concentration is high and discharging when it is low.
Considerably more oxygen might be carried in the blood if the blood contained more red blood cells. Knowing how important oxygen transport is for muscle work, we might assume that the number of erythrocytes would increase. But, in reality, it does not increase.
If the hematocrit were to rise above the normal value (±45%), the viscosity of the blood would also rise, making the heart work harder at rest and during exercise. Total blood volume rises, raising the number of red blood cells without raising the hematocrit.
Blood does not carry oxygen and removes carbon dioxide (CO2) from the tissues. Carbon dioxide is more soluble in water than oxygen, but not enough to rapidly remove it from tissues. This time the answer to the metabolic problem is different. Carbon dioxide is converted to another compound that is more soluble in water. Carbon dioxide reacts with water to form first carbonic acid (CO3H2), and then hydrogen carbonate ions (CO3H), which are highly soluble in water.
In the lungs these reactions occur in reverse. Hydrogen carbonate ions are converted to carbon dioxide to diffuse into the lung air and be exhaled to the outside. The formation of hydrogen carbonate ions is very advantageous since it is accompanied by a production of protons (H+) that bind to hemoglobin and weaken the union between it and oxygen.
As the muscle works harder it will produce more carbon dioxide and therefore also more protons (H+). More oxygen is automatically released from the hemoglobin to be used by the muscle. During its stay in the lungs, the oxygen content of atmospheric air falls from 21% to 14.5%, while that of carbon dioxide increases from ±0% to 5.5%.
It is understandable that the heart attracts our attention since, if it stops, we also stop. The heart represents a kind of muscular bag with valves so that blood enters at one end and is eventually expelled at the other.
It consists of a pair of closely attached muscular pumps. The human being has a closed circulatory system where blood leaves the heart through the arteries to the tissues, where it is distributed through the capillaries, and then returns to the heart through the veins.
The various adaptive effects of training on the cardiovascular and muscular systems do not occur quickly and overnight. It takes a long time to achieve the proper metabolic adaptations, as well as in the proper sense, for athletic performance.
Ultimately, all of the aforementioned changes and adaptations have evolved over time to maintain the concentration of ATP (adenosine triphosphate) in the various muscle fibers and therefore allow for the enormous increase in energy consumption that every day achieves. athletes during their demanding and well-periodized training sessions.
The central core of any training program is to repeat the activity on a regular basis, planning it not only to perfect the execution of the technique, but also to enhance the metabolic systems and processes that limit the storage and release of energy. Only by applying metabolically stressful progressive loads is it possible for us to improve sports performance.
Guillermo Laich
Doctor of medicine and surgery
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#SPORTS #MEDICINE #SCIENCE #Oxygen #fuel #muscle
