ADBI 1750 Special Topics: Exercise Physiology in Action

This course examines how human physiological systems respond and adapt to physical training and environmental stressors, from the cellular level to whole-body performance. Students investigate energy metabolism, muscle contraction, cardiovascular and respiratory function, and thermoregulation, with special attention to athletes and physically active populations. Laboratory-style activities emphasize hypothesis generation, data collection (e.g. heart rate, blood pressure, oxygen consumption estimates, rating of perceived exertion) and quantitative analysis to explore performance, recovery, and health. Students also consider howphysiological knowledge underpins training methods, wearable technologies, and performance enhancement practices, and they weigh the ethical questions these raise as a recurring content area of the course rather than a single unit: the integrity of measuring and reporting one's own data, duty of care in heat and other high-risk environments, equity of access to safe movement, and privacy and human dignity in performance technology. Throughout, students reflect on how scientific understanding of the body shapes personal and societal views of risk, equity, and human potential in a changing environment.