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What is Fatigue?
Temporary loss of strength and energy resulting
from hard physical or mental work; "growing
fatigue was apparent from the decline in the
execution of their athletic skills͞

Feeling of tiredness or weariness usually

associated with performance decrement
What is Fatigue?
A feeling of tiredness or weariness resulting in a
decreased capacity for physical and mental work

A condition that results when the body cannot

provide enough energy for the muscles to
perform a task

Physical weariness resulting from exertion

 Fatigue
È Fatigue is caused by:
- The type of activity
- Muscle Fibre type (White fast twitch/Red slow twitch)
- The type of muscle contraction
È The intensity of exercise
È The duration of exercise
È The level of fitness
 Types of Fatigue
È Local ʹ pain or heaviness at the muscle eg:
sore bicep from doing 100 bicep curls
È General ʹ can be both physical and mental
fatigue, eg: exhausted from training
È Long term ʹ over training and will lead to
injury
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decrease in muscular performance usually seen as a

failure to maintain or develop a certain expected force
or power.
 ¬entral versus Peripheral
È Where does fatigue occur?
¬entral fatigue
È Proximal to the motor unit
Peripheral fatigue
È Residing within the motor unit
 ¬entral Fatigue
È Brain and spinal cord; ¬
fatigue

tudies that used voluntary exhaustion and then
additional electrical stimulation
È After voluntary exhaustion, electrical stimulation
evoked sizable force production
È ¬entral location of fatigue
 Peripheral Fatigue
È Fatigue occurring within the local motor unit;
local fatigue

tudies that fatigued a muscle with electrical
stimulation to the point of no muscle twitch
È Muscle action potentials were relatively unaffected
È Peripheral location of fatigue (but not at the MJ)

o, where does fatigue occur?
È In both central and peripheral locations.
The location of fatigue is intensity-dependent
È Lower-intensity, longer duration fatigue will primarily
occur centrally
È Higher-intensity, short duration fatigue will primarily
occur peripherally
È Example ƒ Why do we slow down during the course
of a 1600 m race? Do we slow down?
¬auses of Fatigue
1. Fatigue of energy generating systems within
and external to muscle
2. Accumulation of metabolic by-products &
failure of the muscular contractile mechanism
3. Disturbances to homeostasis
4. ¬entral or peripheral nervous system
dysfunction
 1. Fatigue of energy generating
systems
within and external to muscle
ʹ Muscle glycogen depletion
ʹ Liver glycogen depletion
ʹ Depletion of fat stores
 Depletion of Fuels

È ¬P and Glycogen is the dominate fuel used for high intensity activities.
È Once these fuels run out your body can no longer work at high intensity
and must resort to fats. This is not as efficient and causes the athlete to
slow down or stop.
È ¬P stores will last continually for 10 seconds.
È Your body has enough Glycogen stores for 90 ʹ 180 minutes of continual
exercise.
È Anaerobic glycolysis will last continually at high intensity for 30-100
seconds or for as long as the individual can with stand the increasing by
products
È High intensity activities require fast twitch muscle fibre (white) that
fatigue faster than slow twitch (Red).
 2. Accumulation of metabolic by-
products & failure of the muscular
contractile mechanism

ʹ Lactic acid accumulation

ʹ Phosphocreatine depletion and phosphate
accumulation
ʹ Hypoxia/impaired of oxygen delivery
ʹ Disturbance to calcium metabolism
 Disturbance to calcium metabolism

Both mechanisms thought to

be important in development
of fatigue during prolonged
exercise
 By-Products
È ADP
È Inorganic phosphate (Pi)
È Pyruvic Acid
È Lactic Acid (LA)
È Hydrogen ions (H+)
 By-Products
ADP
È Produced by the break down of ATP

By-Product
Inorganic Phosphate (Pi)
 Produced from the breakdown of ¬P
 Pi is leading cause of fatigue in muscles
 By-Product
Pyruvic Acid
È Formed when the body creates ATP through
Anaerobic glycolysis.
È Pyruvic Acid will not cause fatigue and can
actually be used to create ATP when there is
plenty of oxygen present.
tage two of aerobic
system, Krebs ¬ycle
 By-Product
Lactic Acid

È Lactic Acid is produced when Pyruvic Acid is not converted to

ATP through Krebs cycle, from high intensity anaerobic
activity.
È Lactic Acid does not cause muscle fatigue but will increase pH.
È Increased pH will not cause muscle fatigue but will increase
recovery time.
È LA will inhibit key enzymes from working producing slower
reaction times.
È LA will inhibit calcium which is needed for muscle
contractions.
È LA can be used to produce ATP if oxygen is present through
Krebs cycle. LA can be good and produce ATP
 By-Product
Hydrogen ions (H+)
È By-Product of Anaerobic Glycolysis
È Inhibits muscular contractions.
È Increases pH.
È Inhibits enzymes that assist glycolysis
3. Disturbances to homeostasis
ʹ Electrolyte concentrations and their
compartmentalisation
ʹ ¬oncentrations of glucose in blood, muscle and
other tissues (e.g. brain)
ʹ Muscle and systemic pH and osmolality
ʹ Temperature (especially muscle and brain)
ʹ ¬oncentrations of FFA
ʹ Blood and plasma volume
ʹ Hormone concentrations
 Dehydration
È Loss of fluid from
-
weat, the bodies natural response to
thermoregulation
- vasodilation, the increase in size of capillaries to
reduce heat.
È Effected by
- Duration of exercise
- Environment eg. hot day, humid
- Athletes acclimatisation to conditions
 Dehydration will result in
È ¬ontinual loss of water will increase body temperate.
È An increase in body temperature will require the
body to increase sweat production and vasodilation.
È This will result in more loss of water and higher
temperatures
È Results in fatigue
 Effects of Dehydration
È ¬ramps
È Heat stress
È Heat stroke
È Fatigue
 Guidelines to avoid Dehydration
È Be well hydrated before exercise up to several hours prior to
exercise
È Do not wait until you are thirsty as an indicator to dehydration
È ¬old water is absorbed faster
È Drink at least 500ml 30 minutes before exercise
È Drink at least 200ml every 15 minutes while exercising
È Drink at least 500ml to 1 litre of water after exercise

È 1 kilo of weight loss during exercise = 1 litre of water loss

 4. ¬entral or peripheral nervous
system
dysfunction
 
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 What factors affect the time to onset
of fatigue?
ͻ Intensity, duration and pattern of exercise
ͻ Fitness
ͻ Age
ͻ Body ¬ondition
ͻ Environmental conditions
ͻ Heat, heat & humidity or cold
ͻ Altitude
ͻ Pollution
Indicators of fatigue
Ataxia, stumbling, unwillingness to exercise
ʹ Pain
ʹ Weakness
ʹ Hyperthermia
ʹ Low blood glucose
ʹ Hypovolaemia
ʹ Low BP
ʹ erve dysfunction
 Indicators of fatigue
ͻ Hypoglycaemia
ʹ Muscle glycogen depletion
ʹ Liver glycogen depletion
ͻ ¬hanges in muscle EMG output
ͻ Dehydration
ʹ Hypovolaemia
ʹ Electrolyte loss
ʹ Acid-base disturbance
Fatigue    


FATIGUE EXHAU
TIO
Able to restart exercise ot able to continue to
exercise
after a short rest
Physiologically normal Physiological extremes

Risk of pathology low Pathological changes

Definitions of Exhaustion
ͻ Extreme fatigue
ͻ
erious weakening and loss of energy
ͻ The act of exhausting something entirely
ͻ The depletion of energy stores resulting in
muscle fatigue to the point where physical
activity cannot be performed
 Recovery
È The aim of recovery is to minimise the effects of
fatigue
È It aims to
- Replenish ¬P and ATP stores
- Breakdown and remove LA
- Restore muscle and liver glycogen
- Rehydration replace lost water and electrolytes
- Repair damaged muscle tissue
- Reduce oxygen debt
 Passive recovery
È Athlete remains still or lies on the ground
È Best for
- Replenishing muscle P¬
- Is the faster form of recovery
- 70% of P¬ restored in 30 seconds
- 95 % of P¬ restored in 120 seconds
 Active Recovery

È Involves athlete moving walking after exercise.

È This pumps oxygen to the working muscle
È Oxygen is essential in:
- Breaking down and removing LA
- Removing H+
- Removing Pi and removing

È 50% removal of LA takes 30 minutes with Passive recovery

È 50% removal of LA takes 15 minutes with Active Recovery