ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of key concepts that are essential to understanding sports and exercise physiology. In the first section we introduce ATP – adenosine triphosphate – and the basis for the energy systems which maintain ATP supplies to working muscle and, indeed, all cells in the body. We introduce the phosphagen system, which will be the focus of Chapter 8; glycolysis, covered in detail in Chapter 9; and the aerobic system, which is described in Chapters 10 and 11. The next section in the chapter looks at bioenergetics, how energy is stored and exchanged in the body – the rules of energy within the body that make ATP the petrol for our bodies. In the final section of the chapter, we provide an overview of enzymes and their role within the body – how they help reactions take place.
