Table of Contents

Skeletal Muscle Morphology 1. Human Body Composition and Muscle Mass 2. Functional Morphology of the Striated Muscle 3. Mechanisms of Muscle Contraction and Relaxation 4. Motor Units and Muscle Receptors

Muscle Energetics and its Performance 5. Muscle Energetics 6. Efficiency of Skeletal Muscle 7. Muscle Function: Strength, Speed, and, Fatigability 8. Critical Power: Possibly the Most Important Fatigue Threshold in Exercise Physiology 9. Energy Cost of Human Locomotion on Land and in Water

Muscle Metabolism and Exercise Physiology 10. The Coupling of Internal and External Gas Exchange During Exercise 11. Carbohydrate Metabolism During Exercise 12. Muscle Lipid Metabolism 13. Muscle as an Endocrine Organ 14. The Role of Reactive Oxygen and Nitrogen Species in Skeletal Muscle 15. Exercise, Immunity and Illness

Body Adaptation to Exercise 16. The Evolution of Skeletal Muscle Plasticity in Response to Physical Activity and Inactivity 17. Muscle Blood Flow and Vascularization in Response to Exercise and Training 18. Metabolic Transitions and Muscle Metabolic Stability: Effects of Exercise Training 19. Human Aging - Impact on Muscle Force and Power 20. The Role of Exercise on Fracture Reduction and Bone Strengthening

Heart Muscle and Exercise 21. Functional Morphology of the Cardiac Myocyte 22. Exercise and the Coronary Circulation 23. Cardiac Energetics 24. Regulation of Heart Rate and Blood Pressure During Exercise in Humans 25. Sympatho-excitation in Heart Failure: Contribution of Skeletal Muscle Reflexes and the Protective Role of Exercise Training

About the Author

Professor Jerzy A. Zoladz (Ph.D.) is an internationally recognised scientist specializing in human exercise physiology, with special focus on muscle energetics, muscle performance and fatigue. He received his Ph.D., from the Free University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands in 2000, based on the thesis entitled.: Limitations to sustained power output with special reference to the change point in the V?O2/power output relationship. In the same year, he become an associate professor (dr hab.) at the University School of Physical Education in Kraków, Poland, based on the thesis entitled.: Power output, mechanical efficiency and fatigue in human skeletal muscles. He is currently a full professor at the University School of Physical Education in Kraków, Poland. Professor Zoladz’s scientific interests include factors determining muscle power generating capabilities, muscle energetics, mechanisms determining the kinetics of oxygen uptake in human skeletal muscles and the impact of physical training on the muscle metabolic stability. He is the author/co-author of over a hundred of scientific papers/research communications published in international journals and he is a co-author of five textbooks for students. He has been a member of The Physiological Society (London) since 1996. Professor Zoladz also authored a number of successful practical applications of science into sport practice, including the design of the field running test for athletes (known as the Zoladz-test) as well as the development of a new method of training of muscle strength and power for the Polish national team in ski jumping. In connection with these activities, he has participated in the Winter Olympics Games in Salt Lake City (2002) as a member of the Medical Commission of The Polish Olympic Team.