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Evolution of fitness studies
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Fitness for life The evolution of exercise physiology over the years is remarkable
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Photo K.R. Deepak
Keep fit Mind-boggling research and studies went into defining fitness
A decade before the French Revolution, Antoine Lavoisier and Pierre de Laplace, independently developed methods to measure oxygen use at rest and during exercise. Lavoisier, the father of modern chemistry, was guillotined after the fall of Bastille.
Laplace, the Newton of France, was fired by Napoleon for hair-splitting as an administrator. However, their work on respiration soars far above the rough seas of their personal lives. Measuring oxygen use is basic to exercise physiology even today.
In 1857, Edward Smith, who invented an early spirometer, studied the effect of hard labour on prisoners and the role of diet in exercise. By the early 20th century, exercise physiology was a solid science and its research frequently came under the eye of the Nobel Committee. In 1922, Archibald Hill and Otto Meyerhof won the Nobel Prize for describing how muscles work.
After Hill and Meyerhof, the focus of study shifted to the effect of altitude, cold, heat, stress, and fatigue on exercise. In 1927, Lawrence Henderson of the Harvard Fatigue Laboratory proved that aerobic exercise increases the volume of blood pumped by the heart and decreases resting heart rate.
World War II moved research towards the military aspects of human physiology. Americans had the notion that European children were sturdier, and physiologists looked for causes and solutions. They studied the effect of exercise and diet on growth, body weight and strength.
After the War, researchers focussed on defining and measuring the various components of physical fitness, resulting in basic concepts, definitions and terms in use today. They studied how exercise affects metabolism of oxygen, glucose and cholesterol. The popularity of exercise as a leisure activity in the 1950s drove research in training methods, aerobic and anaerobic exercise, and the rational design of exercise equipment.
In 1957, Karvonen published a paper that showed how to calculate exercise intensity. This allowed researchers to compare the effect of different exercise intensities on metabolism and cardiac function. Karvonen’s concept of “maximal heart rate reserve”, a forerunner of “target heart rate”, is fundamental to exercise research.
Later decades helped define the exercises needed to produce particular health benefits. Research showed, for example, that weight training increases bone density and can help prevent osteoporosis. Psychologists entered the field, studying motivation, and the behaviour of sedentary people.
After Lavoisier’s execution, Joseph Louis Lagrange, the mathematician, lamented, “It took them only an instant to cut off his head, but France may not produce another like it in a century.” The revolution that Lavoisier started in exercise physiology has long outlived the one that killed him.
RAJIV. M
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