Exercise physiology has at times been in the forefront of the advances made in basic science. The greatest respiratory physiologist of all time was the eighteenth-century Frenchman Antoine L Lavoisier, who used exercise to study physiology. Lavoisier contributed more to the understanding of metabolism and respiration than anyone will ever again have the opportunity to do.
During the late nineteenth century in Germany, great strides were made in studying metabolism and nutrition under conditions of rest and exercise. Nathan Zuntz and his associates (including Schumburg and Geppert) were particularly important. Tables developed by Zuntz and Schumburg (1901) relating metabolic rate to O2 consumption, CO2 production, and amount of carbohydrate and fat used are essentially the same as those frequently referred to today by respiratory physiologists, exercise physiologists, and nutritionists. Work in exercise (Arbeits) physiology was also carried out in Germany, centered at the Max-Planck Institut für Arbeits physiologie. The Nazi regime and the events of World War II resulted in the emigration of many of these scientists to the United States, among them Ernst Simonsen (University of Minnesota) and Bruno Halke (University of Wisconsin).
In the early twentieth century, Francis C. Benedict and his associates, including Edward P. Cathcart and Henry M. Smith at the Carnegie Nutrition Laboratory in Boston, performed detailed studies on metabolism on people at rest and during steady-rate exercise. The precision, thoroughness, and insightful interpretation of results by the Carnegie Nutrition group is seldom matched today. The works of Benedict and Cathcart (1913) on the efficiency of the body during cycling exercise and similar work by Smith (1922) on the efficiency of walking should be required reading for all graduate students specializing in exercise physiology.
The giant in the field of exercise physiology, however, is English physiologist and Nobel laureate Archibald Vivian (A. V.) Hill. Hill’s tremendous understanding of physiology was coupled with a likewise tremendous stamina for work and the technical ability to develop experimental devices. Throughout his career, Hill performed detailed studies on the energetics of muscles isolated from small animals. Moreover, he sought to relate the results of those detailed studies to the functioning, intact human. Hill and his associates (see Hill, Long, and Lupton, 1924) performed many studies on athletes and other individuals engaged in heavy exercise. In 1926, as a visiting lecturer at Cornell University, Hill studied acceleration in varsity sprinters. His influence was so great that he inspired a group of American scientists who later went on to help found the Harvard Fatigue Laboratory.
As recounted by David Eruce (D. B.) Dill (1967), the Harvard Fatigue Laboratory, established in the late 1920s at Harvard University to study exercise and environmental physiology, became a center for the study of applied physiology in the United States, attracting scientists from around the world. Included among visitors to the laboratory were Nobel laureate August Krogh of the University of Copenhagen (see below). In the field of exercise physiology the laboratory is perhaps best known for the attempt by Margaria, Edwards, and Dill in the 1930s to understand metabolic responses to “non—steady-rate” exercise. As noted, earlier work in Germany and the United States had laid the foundation for understanding metabolic responses to continuous exercise of moderate intensity. The problems of understanding non—steady-rate metabolism, however, were—and remain—far more difficult. In tackling these problems, the Harvard group was carrying on in the tradition of A. V. Hill. The enormity of their task is revealed by the fact that these problems have still not been resolved.
When the laboratory was dissolved following World War II, its members dispersed, carrying with them their work and their commitment, Their dispersal led, perhaps, to a wider and more vigorous proliferation of work in exercise arid environmental physiology than would have been possible had the laboratory remained the main site of research. Of particular note has been the work in the United states throughout the 1960s to 1980s of Sid Robinson at the University of Illinois and Steve Horvath at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and, in Italy, of Rudolfo Margaria at the University of Milan.
During the early twentieth century in Copenhagen, August Krogh established a laboratory for the study of zoological (comparative) physiology. Although Krogh’s range of physiological interests was wide, he and his associates (Johannes L. Lindhard, Erik Hohwü-Christensen, Erling Asmusen, and Marius Neilsen) became known as exercise physiologists. When Krogh retired, Asmussen and Nielsen continued the work in Copenhagen; Hohwi-Christensen, in 1941 became professor at the Gynmastik-och Idrottshogkolan (Gil-I) in Stockholm. In 1960, Hohwü-Christensen was succeeded at the GIH by Per-Olaf (P.-O.) Astrand.
The period from the late 1960s through the 1970s was an important time for exercise physiology. During this time, scientists began increasingly to apply the tools and techniques of biochemistry to the study of exercise physiology. In the United States, Philip Golinick and John Holloszy, in large measure, invented the field of “exercise biochemistry.” The’ arid their associates developed the use of animal models to study basic metabolic and biochemical responses to exercise and exercise training. At about the same time in Sweden, Jonas Bergstrom and Eric Huitman first used the biopsy needle for studies of exercise physiology. This technical advance allowed lessons learned from animal experimentation to be extended to human subjects.
Also in the United States during this period, scientists at several Big-10 midwestern universities were playing essential roles in the development of the field. At the University of Wisconsin, Bruno Balke, whose contributions were many, was bringing to exercise physiology a European tradition, in which the disciplines and professions of medicine, exercise and environmental physiology, and physical education were all closely allied. At the University of Iowa, Charles M. Tipton’s broad range of physiological interests were inspiring a generation of exercise physiologists, including Kenneth M. Baldwin, R. James Barnard, Frank Booth, and Ron- aid J. Terjung. Today. Baldwin (a coauthor of this work) and Booth are among the leaders in applying the techniques of molecular biology to the study of the effects of exercise and other stresses on cardiac and skeletal muscle structure and function. At the University of Michigan, John A. Faulkner’s work in exercise and environmental physiology was instrumental in gaining acceptance for these areas as legitimate parts of basic physiology. Today, John Faulkner remains a driving force in muscle physiology and the physiology of aging. Faulkner’s former students and postdoctoral fellows—and their students and fellows—have had a wide impact on the field. Included are George Brooks a coauthor of this text.
Meanwhile, discoveries were being made by exercise physiologists on the effects of activity on nerves and muscles. At UCLA, R. J. (Jim) barnard, who had studied with Tipton at the University of Iowa, and V. R. (Reggie) Edgerton began a series of investigations that have shaped our views of how muscle function is controlled during acute and chronic exercise. The basic groundwork for their investigations was laid by neurophysiologists such as Elwood Henneman.
In the area of pressure flow and other cardiovascular responses to exercise, progress was also being made. Significant contributions were made by many scientists, especially Jere Mitchell (Dallas), Peter Raven (Fort Worth), Aif Holrngren (Stockholm), Larry Rowell (Seattle), Peter Wagner (San Diego), and John T. (Jack) Reeves (Colorado). At the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and the University of California, Davis, Jerry Dempsey and Marc Kaufman are making major strides in understanding the control of breathing during exercise. Today in Italy, the tradition of Rudolfo Margaria in studying exercise energetics and basic environmental physiology is being carried on by Pietro di Prampero (Udine) and Paolo Cerretelli (Milan).
In Scandinavia today, the rich tradition of studies in exercise physiology is continuing. Erik Richter is now professor in the University of Copenhagen Institute of Exercise and Sport Sciences. Michael Kjaer is professor and chief physician in the sports medicine unit at the Bispebjerg Hospital, and for 2003—5 Dr. Kjaer will be president of the European College of Sport Sciences. Also in Copenhagen, distinguished scientists such as Henrik Galbo, Bente Kiens, Bente Karlund-Pedersen, Bengt Saltin, and others are conducting important research in the field of fuel energy utilization in exercise. Together, they form the Copenhagen Muscle Research Center, which is preeminent in the fields of exercise and muscle physiology and exercise science and sports medicine.
In Canada, which may have the strongest research program per capita, interest in exercise physiology is flourishing. Whether or not they consider themselves exercise physiologists, Canadian resarchers continue to make major contributions to the field. From Quebec (with François Peronnet, an-Pierre Despres, and Angelo Tremblay) to British Columbia (where the late Peter Hochachka worked and resided), there exist remarkable research and educational institutions. The province of Ontario, in particular, is noted for its numerous exercise physiologists, including Roy Shephard and Mladen Vrarnic (University of Toronto), David Hood, Enzo Cafarelli and Norman Gledhill (York), Arend Bonen, Lawrence Spriet, and Michael Lindinger (Guelph), Howard Green (Waterloo), and Norman Jones, Mark Tarnopolski, George Heigenhauser, and Duncan MacDougall (McMaster). Recently, Hood and Bonen have been recognized as Canada Research Chairs for their innovative and pioneering research.
Australia, too, is experiencing a resurgence of interest in exercise physiology. After years on the faculty at McMaster University in Ontario, John Sutton returned to the University of Sydney and instituted a center for sports medicine and basic and applied exercise physiology. Today, Maria Firatone Singh holds the John Sutton Chair of Exercise and Sports Science at the University of Sydney. In the United Kingdom, Clyde Williams directs the very active and distinguished program at Loughborough, where Ron Maughan has recently joined the faculty. h Scotland, several scientists are noted for their accomplishments; among them is Neil Spurway (Glasgow). In Cape Town, South Africa, Tim Noakes developed the Sports Sciences Institute, a research center that is making major contributions to both clinical sports medicine and the study of human energetics during exercise. hi France, there is also a resurgence of effort; notable among French scientists are Jacques Mercier of Montpellier, who is known both as a scientist and a physician.
Interest in exercise physiology is evident in Asia as well. Though long unknown in the Western world because of language differences, programs in the study of exercise physiology are thriving. For example, in Japan, Mitsumasa Miyashita heads the sports medicine and exercise physiology group at the University of Tokyo, and Hideo Hatta has
achieved worldwide prominence in the field of lactate transport protein expression. Hiroshi Nose is Professor of Sports Medicine at the Shinshu University School of Medicine, and Sadayoshi Taguchi is Professor of Human and Environmental Sciences at Koto University. Until his retirement, Chung Sung Tae headed a strong research program at Seoul National University in Korea. In China, efforts are directed more toward the application of exercise physiology to improving athletic performances.
Interest in exercise physiology is truly international, and the interest is growing in scope and sophistication, as is interest in the Olympics.
Source: McGraw Hill, Brooks, Fahey, Baldwin – Exercise Physiology, Human Bioenergetics and Its applications – Fourth Ed(book)
