Research in Exercise Science

What is Exercise Science?
Exercise Science involves the investigation of acute and chronic responses of exercising on the body. The reasons why the human body adapts to physical activity is additionally an an area of concentration. The Exercise Science discipline is quite varied and consists of a number of fields of study. A couple of topics of study for those attracted to this major include athlete functionality or performance and health benefits of exercising and physical activity.

 

What does an Exercise Scientist do?

The health benefits of physical activity have been investigated for decades and the demand for additional research is pronounced due to the obesity upsurge and the deficiency of exercise in many countries. Athletic performance of kids, teens and adults consists of biomechanical and psychological breakdown of sport in addition to physiological and nutritional components. This is where the Exercise Scientist comes in. In addition to addressing human performance and fitness, Exercise Science is an area of study which has developed as a result of concerns pertaining to the inadequacy of physical activity, excessive weight, and elevated health consequences of metabolic, pulmonary and cardiovascular diseases.

 

The field of Exercise Science presents the chance to examine the clinical and scientific foundation of human performance. The ACSM’s Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription offers criteria for fundamental skill-sets for this major. This discipline is also referred to as Kinesiology, Movement Science or Exercise Physiology depending on the academic institution.

 

Preparing for a career in Exercise Science

Students who intend to find jobs in personal training, corporate fitness, cardiac rehab or strength and conditioning will all need to share a comparable knowledge and skills foundation. As part of the core Exercise Science curriculum, students must acquire a solid foundation to which they will apply to their specific area of interest. Almost every college and university has varying criteria nevertheless a typical course of study may consist of: human nutrition, anatomy & physiology, emergency response, kinesiology, exercise physiology, athletic training, fitness assessment and exercise prescription, and practicum. High school courses in biology, health & wellness, weight training, and communication serve to get you ready for the classes you will take as an Exercise Science major.

 

 

 

SOME KEY THEMES DRIVING EXERCISE SCIENCE FIELD IN THE FUTURE 

 

The following topics listed below were provided by investigators that responded to the inquiry. They are by no means the end-all of where the science should be heading.

Exercise mimetics: The controversial paper of Ron Evans et al (34) has sparked keen interest into whether there are a wide range of pharmacological agents (exercise pills) that can activate certain pathways linked to enhancing running capacity and/or muscle growth. The key question is whether exercise stimuli are essential requirements to enhancing physical fitness and improved metabolic outcomes. See the reviews of Booth and Laye on this controversial topic as well as the article by Hawley and Holloszy, the latter of which puts exercise mimetics in proper perspective

 

Studies are already unfolding to search for large numbers of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and invariant genomic probes (IGPs) to unlock genomic variation contributing to fitness, performance, and trainability. These probing breakthroughs are made possible by both human and mouse genotyping arrays generated by collaborations between Jackson Laboratories and Affymetrix (note that the authors have no financial conflicts of interest on these technology advancements).

 

Reactive oxygen species: The focus will be to understand the underlying biology of these species, including their role in regulating muscle mass under different impacting loading state and as signaling molecules for organelle, organ, and organismal adaptations.

 

Genomics: the genomic basis of muscle function is already expanding (due to new technologies) to gain insights on athletic performance, general health, and the exercise impact on different diseases.

 

The muscle from inside and out: The role of myokines, cytokines, and adipokines are thought to impact both organ systems and organism homeostasis; the new emphasis should focus on mechanisms driving such synergism.

 

The processing of substrate fuels during acute and chronic exercise in athletic, sedentary, and obese lifestyles.

 

Experiments need to be designed to ascertain the mechanism(s) of cell signaling regulation when aerobic and anabolic training paradigms are simultaneously imposed on animal and human subjects.

 

Muscle fiber, connective tissue, bone and satellite cell integration: each of these systems is dynamic and the challenge is to understand their integrative role in responses to various mechanical stimuli.

 

Mechanical sensos and signaling regulators that control muscle size: this area is largely unexplored.

 

Discovering biomarkers for predicting exercise and altered health settings: it is accepted that there is a large variability in how humans respond to different types of training stimuli; is it possible to predict who are the responders versus non responders.

 

Extreme Environments: there are many challenges to frame the underlying mechanisms as to how individuals perform in stressful environments of heat, cold, hypoxia, and insufficient nutrition.

 

The link between exercising muscle and brain plasticity: This is possibly the key to the real quality of life in the aging population.

 

Exercise and disease prevention: probably the biggest challenge for impacting the health industry in the next decade and beyond.

 

Mechanisms regulating aging and exercise induced longevity: The real bottom line to exercise research endeavors.

 

In the context of the above topics, it is important to note that several of the previous possible future research topics may involve epigenetic research to answer some critical questions which could not be solved with basic genomic approaches.

 

 

Fonte: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2846553/