Applied anatomy and physiology
What's covered
Key facts
The arteriovenous oxygen difference (a-vO2 diff) is the difference in oxygen content between arterial blood entering a muscle and venous blood leaving it; more capillaries and mitochondria let trained muscles extract more oxygen, widening it.
The arteriovenous oxygen difference (a-vO2 diff) is the difference in oxygen content between arterial blood entering a muscle and venous blood leaving it.
A 400 m race is fuelled mainly by the anaerobic systems (largely the lactic acid system), NOT the aerobic system.
The abdominal muscles flex the trunk and stabilise the core.
Air travels nose/mouth → trachea → bronchi → bronchioles → alveoli.
Abduction is movement of a limb away from the midline of the body.
Blood doping artificially raises red blood cell count and haematocrit (e.g. via reinfusion or EPO), boosting the blood's oxygen-carrying capacity.
The lower aerobic training threshold is about 60% of maximum heart rate; 60% of a 200 bpm max HR is 120 bpm.
For prolonged low-intensity exercise the aerobic system uses primarily fats (fatty acids), with some glucose.
During elbow flexion the biceps is the agonist (prime mover): it contracts and shortens to bend the elbow.
Sample questions
A taste of the 187 questions in this topic, answers marked. Sign up to practise the full set with spaced repetition.
What are the four main components of blood?
- •Arteries, veins, capillaries and plasma
- •Haemoglobin, fibrin, plasma and lymph
- •Oxygen, carbon dioxide, glucose and platelets
- ✓Red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets and plasma
What is the formula for cardiac output?
- •MAP × TPR
- ✓SV × HR
- •TV × RR
- •VO2 max ÷ HR
In Edexcel terminology, what is the phosphocreatine system?
- •Aerobic system converting glucose to ATP using oxygen
- ✓High-intensity anaerobic system using stored phosphocreatine for energy
- •Lactic acid system producing ATP from glycolysis over several minutes
- •System using fat stores to generate ATP for low-intensity exercise
What is a fixator muscle?
- ✓A muscle that stabilises a joint so the agonist can work effectively
- •Muscle that assists the prime mover to produce movement
- •Opposing muscle that lengthens as the agonist contracts
- •Prime mover generating the main force during a joint action
Which muscles contract to draw air in during inspiration?
- •The abdominal muscles only
- ✓The diaphragm and external intercostals
- •The diaphragm and internal intercostals
- •The internal intercostals only
Which part of the skeleton includes the skull, vertebral column and ribcage?
- •The appendicular skeleton
- ✓The axial skeleton
- •The peripheral skeleton
- •The structural skeleton
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