Brian Hatzel

Being physically active and training for fitness and performance can seem pretty complex when you consider all the factors involved: mechanical loads and forces applied, energy metabolism, musculature and bone health, and so on. Kinesiologists study these areas to help athletes and others improve athletic performance, enhance mobility, and avoid or heal from injury, but anyone can apply the basic principles of kinesiology.

Because all blood to the heart comes by way of the coronary arteries, any problem with the arteries can greatly affect the heart. Artery walls can be damaged. Just as a cut or scrape on your finger can leave a scar, an “injury” to your arteries can leave scars. The big difference is that, when the artery wall heals, the scar left behind forms a bump on the inside of the artery.

You may think that the more motivated or “edgy” you feel before a performance, the better. Although that may be true to a point, you may find yourself getting so excited or anxious that it actually interferes with the way you perform. To perform at your best, you have to figure out how to get yourself into that perfect zone where your energy and anticipation level is, as Goldilocks would say, “just right.

If you’re active in some form of recreational or athletic event, you know that it’s important to you to perform successfully. Performance enhancement commonly involves the assessment of your biomechanics, that is, how your body moves. Often, making small adjustments to how you move can produce significant effects on your performance.

Everyone likes to be in a comfortable position that makes work or activity efficient and comfortable. But sometimes the positions we put our bodies in can cause discomfort and even pain. (If you’ve ever sat at a computer for any length in time, you’ve certainly experienced neck or back discomfort.) Ergonomics refers to the body and its relationship to the environment in which it must work.

Bone modeling occurs throughout life in two ways: hypertrophy (growth) or atrophy (shrinking). Understanding the difference between the two enables you to acknowledge the effects that being physically active has on your support system and general health as you age. Bone development in the early years During the early years, as children walk, run, and otherwise function in their daily activities, bones are continually ossifying (hardening and becoming more dense) and meeting the demands of the structural system.

Ergogenic refers to something that helps you generate more work. An ergogenic aid may be something that helps make the work easier to perform (like a shoehorn helps you put on your dress shoes) or provides a boost to your physiology so that you can do more work. Some ergogenic aids are legal and common in sports; others are banned.

Kinesiology covers a wide range of subdisciplines, with many organizations that provide excellent resources for the practitioner. The following resources provide a good starting place for those wanting to enter the profession. Consider joining one or more to begin building your kinesiology network: American College of Sports Medicine: A global organization, the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) has 45,000 members and certified professionals from 90 countries and represents 70 occupations within the sports medicine field, including exercise physiologists, physical therapists, sports medicine doctors, cardiologists, personal trainers, and other fields that use exercise and movement as therapy.