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Anaerobic Exercises
Anaerobic Respiration, also called anaerobiosis, biochemical process in living things whereby sugars and similar substances, resulting from the digestion of food, are broken down to release energy in the absence of oxygen. "Anaerobic" means "without oxygen''. It thus differs from the allied process of aerobic respiration, which requires the presence of oxygen. Life processes such as growth and repair of tissues require energy, and this is obtained by the chemical breaking of bonds in organic molecules such as sugars and other carbohydrates present in digested food. The chemical energy released by this process in cells is transferred to molecules of adenosine-diphosphate (ADP), which become converted to adenosine-triphosphate (ATP), forming the energy "bank" for the cell.
In animal and human muscle cells that are working so hard that their blood circulation cannot bring in enough oxygen, aerobic respiration cannot occur. Anaerobic respiration then produces pyruvic acid that is converted to lactic acid. This situation is called oxygen debt, and the accumulating lactic acid may cause cramps. As the physical activity eases off and the oxygen level begins to rise again, the oxygen is used to break down the lactic acid aerobically.
The process of anaerobic respiration contains three main chemical steps or stages. The starting substance or "fuel molecule" is usually the six-carbon sugar, glucose. The chemical process by which this is broken down is termed glycolysis. The results are usually substances such as lactic acid (lactate), pyruvic acid (pyruvate) or ethylalcohol (ethanol).
That is, sugar and oxygen react together to produce two smaller three carbon molecules and hydrogen, with the release of chemical energy.
Anaerobic respiration occurs in the cytoplasm of the cell and releases only a small proportion of the total energy contained in the fuel molecules such as glucose sugar, yielding up to 8 molecules of the high energy ATP. If oxygen is available, the products of glycolysis can be used further in the oxygenrequiring breakdown process of the citric acid or Krebs cycle, to yield up to another 30 molecules of high energy ATP. In this way, glycolysis becomes the first stage of aerobic respiration.
Types of activities
1. A sprinter, after the command set, breathes deeply and
completes the event. His type of training before the
competition is anaerobic so that the oxygen demand
for the activity will be met by within his body resources
and not from outside. The number of times they breathe
will be less comparatively to those doing the long
distance runs. The muscle fibres will be white and they
only will be fit for such activities.
2. Throwers and jumpers in athletic events do not supply
oxygen from outside for the demand of the body. The
body gets its supply from within.
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