Exercise And Aerobic Exercise Essay

Exercising is known to be beneficial to one’s health so it is interesting to see how this process affects one’s physiology. Exercising entails the contraction and relaxation of the muscles in the body. There are two general types of exercise that are characterized by the amount of oxygen that is present. Aerobic exercise is when there is sufficient oxygen present to meet the body’s needs, and anaerobic exercise is when there is not. In both cases, the muscles are able to contract and relax by using cellular energy. This energy is generated through a three step process that results in the high-energy molecule known as adenosine triphosphate or ATP. The beginning of the three step cycle is known as glycolysis which consists of breaking down glucose that is obtained in the diet to a molecule known as pyruvate or pyruvic acid while also creating two ATP molecules. Pyruvate can undergo changes depending on if it is in anaerobic or aerobic conditions, but in the process of creating ATP, it has a conformational change to another molecule called acetyl CoA which enters the second stage of the cycle known as the Citric Acid Cycle. During this

ATP is the major energy source for a cell and it helps in the process of oxidative phosphorylation. ATP helps to supply the energy needed for muscle contraction and transporting molecules across cell membranes. Dynamic exercise depends upon the production of ATP to help with the breaking down of glycogen and the need for oxygen molecules being sent to the contracting muscles. Dynamic exercise has a depletion of intramuscular glycogen due to muscles contracting and causing exhaustion. When exhaustion occurs, the amount of glycogen stored within cells of muscles controls how high of an intensity muscles can be worked to their maximum. It is important to note that glycogen storage differs for every individual and it depends on genetics, diet, and fitness of each individual