Exercise is a necessity for good health – it helps your body stay fit as well as fight diseases. Anyone interested in how exercise affects the body may like the field of Exercise Physiology. Exercise Physiology is the field of study regarding exercise and its effects on the body. Exercise Physiologists are health professionals who study the body’s responses to different types of stress, such as exercise. These professionals use their knowledge to help people through phase I and II of cardiac rehabilitation, train athletes to enhance performance and to do research on various subjects. Dr. Beck, who graduated with his Masters and PH.D at the University of Nebraska and now works at the University of Oklahoma explains that every Exercise Physiologist has a different niche that they specialize in. The Exercise Physiology department at the University of Oklahoma specializes in focusing on what he calls “motor control strategy.” Using a surface EMG, the Exercise Physiologists record the signals the brain sends to a muscle when the subject contracts his or her bicep. “We examine the signals that are picked up with sensors, which tell a lot about how the person’s brain is motivating the muscle,” Beck said.
As for training athletes, Beck suggests large, multi-joint exercises using dumbbells. “There is very little carryover from training a single joint to training multiple joints,” he explains.
Matthew Stock is a graduate student of Exercise Physiology at the University of Oklahoma and currently conducts research alongside Dr. Beck and the other Exercise Physiologists. He explains that he and his colleagues analyze some people who have their eyes open, and some who have their eyes shut. “Studies have shown that the way people contract their bicep varies depending on whether their eyes are opened or closed,” he said.
The EPs (Exercise Physiologists) examine the results of their research, and then write a research paper that is submitted to other professionals in the industry. The goal is to get the research paper published in a scientific journal. The professionals ‘peer review’ the research paper and provide feedback. If the paper is accepted, it is published in the journal.
The Exercise Physiology department at the University of Oklahoma continues to conduct research in the specialization of how the brain motivates muscle contractions by subjects who either have their eyes open or closed. Mr. Stock expects to graduate this May. Anyone interested in being a subject for a study should contact Matthew Stock at mattstock@ou.edu or visit Collums, near the Everest Training Center on the University of Oklahoma campus.



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