Blooming Dale School Dataganj

Fastrack Revision Chapter – 7

Physiology and Injuries in Sports
Physiological Factors Determining Components of Physical Fitness: Sports physiology is the study of
how exercise alters the function and structure of the body. The components of physical fitness like
strength, endurance, speed and flexibility can be determined with the help of various physiological
factors.

➢ Physiological Factors Determining Strength

• Muscle size

• Muscle composition

• Age

• Intensity of the nerve impulse

• Gender

➢ Physiological Factors Determining Endurance

• Aerobic capacity (oxygen uptake, oxygen intake, Oxygen transport, energy reserves)

• Lactic acid tolerance

• Movement economy

• Muscle composition

➢ Physiological Factors Determining Speed

• Mobility of the nervous system

• Muscle composition

• Explosive strength

• Flexibility

• Bio-chemical reserves and metabolic power

➢ Physiological Factors Determining Flexibility

• Muscle strength

• Structure of joint

• Age and gender

• Stretchability of muscles
 • Internal environment
• Previous injury

Parts of Cardio respiratory system

➢ Cardiovascular System: It consists of three parts: the heart, blood vessels and blood. Its major
function is to deliver oxygen and nutrients, remove CO, and other metabolic waste products, to
transport hormones and other molecules, to support thermoregulation and lastly to regulate
immune function.
➢ Respiratory System: The important parts of the respiratory system are the nose, nasal cavity,
pharynx, larynx, trachea, bronchi and lungs. Its major functions include, transporting air to the
lungs, exchanging gases (02 and CO2) between the air and blood and regulating blood pH.

Effects of Exercise on cardiovascular system

➢ Short-term Effects: When you do exercise or take part in a strenuous sport, you will notice
several changes taking place in your body:

• Increased heart rate

• Increased stroke volume

• Increased cardiac output

• Increased blood flow

• Increased blood circulation

• Blood pressure increase

➢ Long-term Effects: Exercises are good for the overall well-being of a person. The long-term effects
of exercise are as follows:
• Increases size and strength of heart

• Blood volume increases

• Low level of accumulation of lactic acid

• Resting heart rate decreases

• Normal blood pressure

• Increase in stroke volume and cardiac output

• Increase in capillaries network

Effect of Exercise on Respiratory System

➢ Short-term Effects:
• Respiratory rate increases

• Tidal volume increases

 • Rate of exchange of gas increases

➢ Long-term Effects:

• Increased efficiency of respiratory muscles

• Increased lung volume

• Increased pulmonary diffusion

• Increased residual volume

Effects of Exercises on Muscular System

➢ Short-term

• Increased blood supply

• Increased muscle temperature

• Increased muscle flexibility

• Accumulation of lactic acid

• Micro-tears in muscle fibres

➢ Long-term Effects

• Increase in muscle size (muscle hypertrophy)

• Increase in strength of ligaments and tendons

• Increase in size and number of mitochondria

• Increase in myoglobin storage

• Increase in lactic acid tolerance

Physiological Changes due to Ageing: The major physiological changes due to ageing are as follows:

• Decrease in muscle size, strength of muscles also decreases.

• Increase in the accumulation of body fat.
• The efficiency of lungs diminishes with age. The uptake and exchange of oxygen reduces.
• The stroke volume, cardiac output and blood flow decrease with increase in age.
• Reaction time and movement time slows down with increasing age.
• The sense of smell, taste, sight, touch and hearing are all diminished overtime.
• Bone density decreases which increases the chances of fractures and dislocations.
• The mass of the kidneys decreases and the chances of urinary infections are increased.

Classification of Sports Injuries: Injury causes damage to any part-external or internal, which affect the
health of an individual. Injuries can be classified as:

➢ Soft Tissue Injuries: It is of two types:

 • Skin Injuries: It is an injury over skin like contusion, abrasion, laceration, incision, etc.

▪ Abrasion: Abrasion is an injury on the surface of the skin. In this injury, skin is scrapped
or rubbed by friction. It causes severe pain and sometimes bleeding over affected part.
It rubs the upper layer of skin. It exposes the blood vessels and the superficial layer of
skin is scraped off. This injury is commonly caused by sliding, slip over surface, friction,
etc. Abrasion is common over knee, elbow, palm, etc.
▪ Contusion: It is the crushing of soft tissues by a violent external force without breaking
the continuity of skin. It causes collection of blood over the skin. Contusion is the injury
of skin caused by severe blow or impact by external object without breaking the
continuity of skin. Generally, contusion is caused due to hitting of blunt object. It
causes acute pain and sometimes loss of function of affected part and swelling over
that part.
▪ Laceration: Severe injury of tearing or ripping of the layers of skin and the fatty tissues
and muscles below the wound. It is often caused by blunt object and is deep.
▪ Incision: Injury produced by a sharp edge (knife etc.) and is usually longer than it iseep.
• Muscle Injuries: In this injury, the muscles, tendons and ligaments are affected like cramp,
sprain, strain etc.
▪ Cramp: Cramp is inability of muscles to contract properly causing severe pain over
affected part. In other words. This is unbalance contraction of muscles.
▪ Strain: In this injury the muscles or tendons are overstretch or overstress due to violent
pull. This is caused by the violent stretch of muscle beyond its normal limit.
▪ Sprain: An acute or chronic soft tissue injury which is caused by twisting or pulling of a
muscle, tendon or both.
➢ Hard Tissue Injuries: These injuries involve damage to bones of skeletal system like fracture and
dislocation. So, it is of two types:
• Dislocation: It means partial or total separation of a joint. Types of dislocation includes:
▪ Dislocation of Shoulder Joint: It occurs when a strong force pulls the shoulder
outward or extreme rotation of the joint pops the ball of the humerus out of the
shoulder socket.
▪ Dislocation of Hip Joint: It occurs when the head of the thigh bone is forced out of its
socket in the hip bone.
▪ Dislocation of Lower Jaw: It occurs when the lower jaw becomes detached from one
or both of the TMJs (temporomandibular joints, which connects the lower jaw to the
skull).
• Fractures: It is a crack or full break in a bone or bones. It can be closed or open. Fractures can
be stress fracture, greenstick, comminuted, transverse, oblique and impacted.
▪ Stress Fracture: Also known as hairline fracture, these are tiny cracks in a bone,
caused by repetitive force or overuse.
▪ Greenstick: It is an incomplete fracture which involves bending of bone instead of
breaking completely.
▪ Comminuted: It is a fracture in which the break is in three or more pieces and
fragments are present at the fracture site.
▪ Transverse: Here, the break is in a straight line across the bone.
▪ Oblique: It is a diagonal break across the bone.
▪ Impacted: It occurs, when the broken ends of the bone are jammed together by the
force of the injury. Impacted fracture can be categorised as:
(a) Closed Fracture : In this fracture, the broken bones remain inside the covering of
skin, there is no open cut over the skin.
(b) Open Fracture : In this fracture, there is cut over the skin by the sharp edges of
broken bone or by external object along with broken bone.
By: Ashish Sir