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Exercise Physiology Questions

Exercise physiology studies how the body responds and adapts to physical activity, from a single workout to long-term training. It examines energy transfer, muscle contraction, cardiovascular and respiratory function, neural and hormonal control, and how temperature and fluids are regulated. Using testing and evidence-based principles, it informs training, performance, and recovery, and guides safe exercise for health, prevention, and rehabilitation. It is applied in sport, fitness, and clinics. Please note that the questions require knowledge and not all questions are the same difficulty level. Ready for my exercise physiology questions?

Maximal oxygen uptake primarily reflects the capacity of which system to deliver and use oxygen during whole-body exercise?
A) Integumentary system
B) Digestive system
C) Cardiovascular and respiratory systems
D) Urinary system

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During the first seconds of an all-out sprint lasting ten seconds, the predominant energy source is:
A) Oxidation of fatty acids
B) Oxidation of glucose
C) Phosphocreatine breakdown and stored adenosine triphosphate
D) Oxidation of amino acids

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Which statement best describes the lactate threshold during incremental exercise?
A) The point where fat use stops entirely
B) The intensity where blood lactate begins to rise faster than it can be removed
C) The highest intensity at which blood lactate is zero
D) The point where ventilation decreases

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Which fiber type generally has the highest oxidative capacity?
A) Fast-twitch glycolytic
B) Slow-twitch
C) Fast-twitch intermediate
D) Fast-twitch fatigable

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Excess post-exercise oxygen consumption is best explained by:
A) Oxygen stored in the lungs refilling
B) Ongoing processes to restore homeostasis including phosphocreatine resynthesis and temperature recovery
C) Carbon dioxide storage in bone
D) Continued digestion after exercise

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True or false: Stroke volume typically increases with exercise intensity and then plateaus at moderate to high intensities in many individuals.

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Fill in the blank: The difference between the oxygen content of arterial blood and venous blood is called the ____________________________.

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Short answer: Define cardiovascular drift and state one main contributing factor.

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Which variable is most directly used to calculate cardiac output?
A) Blood pressure and total peripheral resistance
B) Stroke volume and heart rate
C) End-diastolic volume and end-systolic volume only
D) Hemoglobin concentration and saturation

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During submaximal exercise, an increase in end-diastolic volume because of venous return most directly enhances stroke volume through which mechanism?
A) Bohr effect
B) Frank-Starling mechanism
C) Haldane effect
D) Reduced afterload

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True or false: Hyperventilation at rest will increase carbon dioxide in blood.

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Fill in the blank: The respiratory exchange ratio near 0.70 suggests predominant ____________________________ oxidation.

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Short answer: Why does maximal oxygen uptake usually increase after endurance training? Provide two physiological adaptations.

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During high-intensity exercise lasting two minutes, the largest contribution to adenosine triphosphate resynthesis typically comes from:
A) Immediate phosphocreatine system only
B) Anaerobic glycolysis with growing oxidative support
C) Fat oxidation
D) Protein oxidation

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Which change is expected in the oxygen-hemoglobin dissociation curve during heavy exercise with increased temperature and hydrogen ions?
A) Leftward shift, increased affinity
B) No shift
C) Rightward shift, decreased affinity
D) Vertical shift with no change in affinity

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True or false: Slow-twitch fibers generate less absolute force than fast-twitch fibers but resist fatigue better.

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Fill in the blank: The maximum amount of air that can be exhaled following a maximal inhalation is called the ____________________________.

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Short answer: Define oxygen deficit at exercise onset.

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Which hormone increases blood glucose by promoting liver glucose release during exercise?
A) Insulin
B) Glucagon
C) Aldosterone
D) Antidiuretic hormone

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What is the most important immediate stimulus for increased ventilation at the start of exercise?
A) Increased arterial oxygen
B) Central command and rapid neural feedback from muscles and joints
C) Slow endocrine signals
D) Decreased body temperature

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True or false: During prolonged moderate exercise in the heat, plasma volume tends to increase.

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Fill in the blank: The highest running speed at which a person can sustain a steady state of oxygen consumption is often near the ____________________________.

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Short answer: Explain why trained individuals have lower blood lactate at a given submaximal workload than untrained individuals.

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The primary cellular site of aerobic adenosine triphosphate production is the:
A) Nucleus
B) Cytosol only
C) Mitochondrion
D) Lysosome

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Which change most directly increases end-diastolic volume during dynamic exercise?
A) Lower venous return
B) Higher intrathoracic pressure during inhalation
C) Enhanced muscle pump and venoconstriction
D) Decreased heart rate

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True or false: The ventilatory threshold typically occurs at a lower intensity than the lactate threshold.

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Fill in the blank: The capacity to buffer hydrogen ions produced during intense exercise is improved by increased ____________________________ content within muscle.

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Short answer: Describe two cardiovascular adaptations to endurance training that lower submaximal heart rate.

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Which of the following best explains why arm exercise elicits higher heart rate than leg exercise at the same oxygen uptake?
A) Greater muscle mass in arms
B) Less sympathetic activation in arm exercise
C) Higher peripheral resistance and lower mechanical efficiency with arm exercise
D) Greater venous return during arm exercise

During prolonged exercise, which hormone primarily promotes water retention?
A) Thyroxine
B) Antidiuretic hormone
C) Insulin
D) Parathyroid hormone

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True or false: The partial pressure of oxygen in arterial blood decreases markedly during low-to-moderate intensity exercise at sea level in healthy individuals.

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Fill in the blank: The volume of air exchanged per minute is called ____________________________ and equals tidal volume times breathing frequency.

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Short answer: What is the effect of endurance training on the number of capillaries around each muscle fiber and why does that matter?

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Which substrate contributes the greatest fraction of energy during very high-intensity exercise lasting thirty seconds?
A) Fatty acids
B) Blood glucose only
C) Phosphocreatine and muscle glycogen via glycolysis
D) Amino acids

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Which variable most strongly limits maximal oxygen uptake in healthy, well-trained individuals?
A) Pulmonary diffusion capacity
B) Oxygen carrying capacity at rest
C) Maximal cardiac output
D) Skin blood flow

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True or false: Resistance training never improves maximal oxygen uptake.

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Fill in the blank: The increase in breathing at the beginning of exercise before chemical changes occur is due to ____________________________ and neural feedback.

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Short answer: Define economy of movement and state one factor that influences it in running.

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Which training method most effectively increases mitochondrial enzyme activity in skeletal muscle?
A) Low-repetition, high-load resistance training only
B) Sprint training once per week
C) Regular endurance training with sustained or interval workloads
D) Flexibility training

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During heavy exercise in heat, which circulatory trade-off can limit performance?
A) Reduced skin blood flow to favor muscle at all times
B) Competition between skin and muscle for blood flow
C) Elimination of muscle blood flow to protect the brain
D) Increased kidney blood flow to aid cooling

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True or false: The oxygen cost of breathing increases as exercise intensity rises, especially near maximal effort.

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Fill in the blank: The primary reason for a lower resting and submaximal heart rate in trained individuals is a higher ____________________________.

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Short answer: Explain why blood lactate can be used to estimate training intensity domains.

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Which intracellular signal is most directly linked to mitochondrial biogenesis after endurance exercise?
A) Increased cytosolic sodium
B) Increased protein kinase signaling including the coactivator commonly called PGC-1 alpha
C) Decreased calcium transients
D) Lower adenosine monophosphate to adenosine triphosphate ratio

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In altitude exposure at rest and during submaximal exercise, which initial ventilatory change is typical?
A) Decrease in breathing frequency
B) Hyperventilation to compensate for reduced arterial oxygen pressure
C) No change
D) Complete cessation of breathing during sleep

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True or false: Fast-twitch fibers have greater maximal shortening velocity than slow-twitch fibers.

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Fill in the blank: The increase in muscle fiber size after resistance training is termed ____________________________.

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Short answer: How does endurance training affect the respiratory exchange ratio at a given submaximal workload and why?

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Which change would most likely increase venous return during rhythmic leg exercise?
A) Prolonged Valsalva maneuver
B) Greater skeletal muscle pump activity
C) Standing still between intervals
D) Higher intrathoracic pressure during exhalation only

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During prolonged exercise, which substrate becomes increasingly important as muscle glycogen declines?
A) Amino acids only
B) Fatty acids and blood glucose
C) Adenosine triphosphate stores
D) Phosphocreatine only

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True or false: At a fixed absolute workload, trained individuals usually have lower ventilation than untrained individuals.

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Fill in the blank: The product of arteriovenous oxygen difference and cardiac output equals ____________________________.

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Short answer: Why does heart rate recovery after exercise occur faster in trained individuals?

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Which factor most directly increases oxygen diffusion from blood to muscle during exercise?
A) Reduced capillary recruitment
B) Increased capillary surface area and shorter diffusion distance
C) Lower muscle temperature
D) Decreased mitochondrial density

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Which statement about the phosphocreatine system is correct?
A) It provides energy slowly but for a long duration
B) It provides energy rapidly but depletes quickly
C) It requires oxygen to function
D) It relies on fatty acids

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True or false: Blood flow to the kidneys and digestive organs tends to decrease during intense dynamic exercise.

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Fill in the blank: The relationship between heart rate and oxygen consumption during incremental exercise is approximately ____________________________ over a wide range of intensities.

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Short answer: Define rating of perceived exertion and describe one use in training.

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Which pulmonary volume increases most from rest to heavy exercise?
A) Residual volume
B) Tidal volume and breathing frequency together
C) Total lung capacity
D) Functional residual capacity

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Which factor most strongly increases skin blood flow during exercise in heat?
A) Increased carbon dioxide
B) Reduced arterial oxygen
C) Thermoregulatory signals from the hypothalamus causing cutaneous vasodilation
D) Reduced plasma volume

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True or false: Muscle glycogen supercompensation strategies can increase glycogen storage and delay fatigue in endurance events.

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Fill in the blank: The ratio of ventilation to oxygen consumption is called the ____________________________.

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Short answer: State two reasons why children have lower glycolytic capacity than adults during maximal exercise.

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Which neuromuscular change most directly increases maximal voluntary force after early weeks of resistance training?
A) Immediate large muscle hypertrophy
B) Improved motor unit recruitment and synchronization
C) Decreased neural drive
D) Fewer active fibers

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During high-intensity interval training, which variable most strongly determines the contribution of anaerobic glycolysis?
A) Length of recovery intervals only
B) Work interval duration and intensity
C) Ambient temperature
D) Body mass alone

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True or false: Blood hemoglobin concentration always increases during a single prolonged exercise session.

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Fill in the blank: The tendency for blood pH to decrease during intense exercise is termed exercise-induced ____________________________.

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Short answer: Why does ventilation continue to be elevated briefly after very intense exercise?

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Which combination best describes typical chronic adaptations to high-volume endurance training?
A) Decreased capillary density and decreased mitochondrial content
B) Increased capillary density and increased mitochondrial content
C) Decreased stroke volume and increased resting heart rate
D) Increased blood pressure at rest

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Which factor most directly increases maximal stroke volume after months of endurance training?
A) Reduced heart size
B) Increased left ventricular volume and compliance
C) Increased peripheral resistance
D) Loss of plasma volume

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True or false: During submaximal exercise at the same relative intensity, women and men display identical absolute oxygen consumption values.

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Fill in the blank: The increase in the number of mitochondria in trained muscle is called mitochondrial ____________________________.

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Short answer: Explain why ingesting fluid and electrolytes can help maintain performance during prolonged exercise in the heat.

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Which primary factor determines whether steady-state oxygen consumption is achievable during constant-load exercise?
A) Ambient light
B) Whether the work rate is below the heavy-to-severe intensity boundary
C) Footwear choice
D) Body mass index category

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Which mechanism explains the rapid initial decline in heart rate during the first minute after exercise?
A) Slow metabolic clearance only
B) Parasympathetic reactivation
C) Dehydration
D) Increased catecholamines

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True or false: Muscle temperature decreases during short, intense exercise.

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Fill in the blank: The transport of lactate between tissues to be oxidized or converted to glucose is called the ____________________________.

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Short answer: Why can high-intensity interval training improve endurance performance despite short total training time?

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During prolonged cycling at a constant power in the heat, an increase in heart rate over time with maintained oxygen consumption indicates:
A) Cardiovascular drift
B) Central command failure
C) Onset of disease
D) Hyperventilation syndrome

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Which factor reduces the oxygen cost of running at a given speed?
A) Excessive vertical oscillation
B) Improved elastic energy storage and return
C) Overstriding
D) Unstable footwear

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True or false: The ventilatory equivalent for oxygen typically rises at intensities above the lactate threshold.

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Fill in the blank: The pressure-volume relationship of the heart that influences afterload is most closely related to ____________________________.

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Short answer: State one reason why older adults may have lower maximal oxygen uptake even when physically active.

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Which training approach is most effective to increase one-repetition maximum strength?
A) Low-load, very high repetition training exclusively
B) High-load, low repetition training with progressive overload
C) Stretching only
D) Endurance cycling only

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Which of the following most directly increases oxygen delivery to active muscle during exercise?
A) Reduced heart rate
B) Increased cardiac output and local vasodilation
C) Generalized vasoconstriction of muscle
D) Decreased hemoglobin concentration

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True or false: The partial pressure of oxygen in the alveoli always equals the partial pressure of oxygen in arterial blood during heavy exercise.

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Fill in the blank: The buildup of heat that impairs performance during long exercise in warm conditions is called ____________________________.

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Short answer: Explain why a warm-up can improve performance in short, intense efforts.

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Which statement best describes the effect of dehydration of two percent of body mass on endurance performance in heat?
A) No effect
B) Likely small to moderate impairment due to reduced plasma volume and thermoregulation
C) Large improvement from reduced mass
D) Only psychological effects

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Which of the following best explains why trained endurance athletes have higher lactate threshold expressed as a percentage of maximal oxygen uptake?
A) Lower mitochondrial density
B) Greater buffering, capillarization, and mitochondrial content
C) Lower stroke volume
D) Reduced fat use

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True or false: Muscle fiber type distribution is entirely determined by training with no genetic influence.

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Fill in the blank: The highest running speed that can be sustained for several minutes without continual rise in oxygen consumption is sometimes approximated by the ____________________________.

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Short answer: Describe one acute and one chronic effect of resistance training on blood pressure.

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Which blood variable increases to enhance oxygen transport during acclimatization to high altitude?
A) Plasma water only
B) Hemoglobin concentration through increased red cell production
C) Platelet count
D) Calcium concentration

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Which best explains the reduction in reliance on carbohydrate at a given absolute workload after endurance training?
A) Lower fat transport
B) Increased fat transport and oxidation with glycogen sparing
C) Decreased mitochondrial enzymes
D) Reduced capillaries

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True or false: Prolonged sitting before a workout has no effect on exercise responses.

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Fill in the blank: The term describing reduced performance following excessive training without adequate recovery, but typically reversible with rest, is ____________________________.

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Short answer: Why does inspiratory muscle training sometimes improve endurance performance?

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Which environmental condition most increases evaporative heat loss during exercise?
A) High humidity
B) Low humidity with air movement
C) Still air at high humidity
D) No air movement at any humidity

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Which of the following primarily explains the steeper heart rate increase when the same absolute workload is performed with smaller active muscle mass?
A) Lower sympathetic activation
B) Greater peripheral resistance and pressor response
C) Higher venous return
D) Lower metabolic cost

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True or false: During exhaustive exercise, central nervous system factors can contribute to fatigue in addition to peripheral mechanisms.

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Fill in the blank: The process by which glucose is produced from non-carbohydrate precursors during prolonged exercise is called ____________________________.

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Short answer: What is the main reason a cold environment can impair endurance performance without proper clothing?

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Which combination of training variables best supports increases in maximal oxygen uptake for most individuals?
A) Very low frequency and very low intensity
B) Moderate to high frequency with moderate to vigorous intensity and progressive overload
C) Flexibility only
D) Random sessions without structure

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Which change during endurance training most closely explains improved submaximal ventilation efficiency?
A) Reduced tidal volume
B) Increased tidal volume with lower breathing frequency
C) Constant small breaths at high frequency
D) Lower oxygen diffusion capacity

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True or false: Muscle oxidative capacity can improve within weeks of training.

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Fill in the blank: The increase in carbon dioxide output relative to oxygen consumption above the second ventilatory breakpoint reflects greater ____________________________ from buffering.

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Short answer: Give one reason why interval training can benefit individuals with limited time while still improving health.

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Which variable is most practical for day-to-day monitoring of internal training load across different exercise modes?
A) Shoe color
B) Session rating of perceived exertion times duration
C) Maximum heart rate measured monthly
D) Body mass index

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Which occurs during an effective taper before an endurance event?
A) Increased training volume and intensity
B) Reduced training volume with maintained intensity
C) Elimination of all intensity and volume
D) Only strength training

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True or false: The force-velocity relationship shows that maximal force decreases as shortening velocity increases in concentric contractions.

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Fill in the blank: The circulatory adaptation that increases venous return during rhythmic muscle contractions is commonly called the ____________________________.

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Short answer: Why is carbohydrate intake during endurance events beneficial even when starting with high glycogen?

Which of the following is the best indicator that a constant-load exercise bout is above the heavy-to-severe boundary?
A) Oxygen consumption reaches steady state in three minutes
B) Oxygen consumption drifts upward without plateau and exhaustion occurs within tens of minutes
C) Heart rate decreases steadily
D) Ventilation falls as intensity rises

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Which neuromuscular factor explains greater rate of force development after explosive training?
A) Reduced motor unit firing rate
B) Increased motor unit firing rate and earlier recruitment of fast units
C) Fewer active motor units
D) Smaller neural drive

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True or false: The total oxygen debt concept is identical to excess post-exercise oxygen consumption as used today.

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Fill in the blank: The minimal running speed that elicits maximal oxygen uptake is called the ____________________________.

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Short answer: Describe one peripheral and one central factor that limit maximal endurance performance.

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Which training adaptation most directly improves heat tolerance?
A) Reduced plasma volume
B) Increased plasma volume and earlier sweating
C) Reduced sweat rate
D) Lower skin blood flow

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Which description best matches the slow component of oxygen consumption during heavy constant-load exercise?
A) Immediate rise to steady state
B) Continued gradual increase in oxygen consumption over time
C) Sudden drop in oxygen consumption
D) No change

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True or false: Performing resistance training on alternate days is sufficient stimulus for most beginners to gain strength.

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Fill in the blank: The increase in heart rate before exercise due to anticipation is called ____________________________.

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Short answer: Why does wearing very tight, non-breathable clothing impair thermoregulation during exercise?

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