CPSS Foundational Scientific Disciplines 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which organ is the primary site of gluconeogenesis during prolonged fasting or endurance exercise?
- Skeletal muscle
- Kidneys
- Liver (Correct answer)
- Pancreas
Correct answer: Liver
The liver is the dominant gluconeogenic organ, synthesizing glucose from lactate, amino acids, and glycerol to maintain blood glucose homeostasis during prolonged exercise.
Question 2: According to Newton's second law applied to sport, doubling an athlete's acceleration while keeping mass constant will:
- Double the power output
- Halve the net force required
- Double the net force required (Correct answer)
- Have no effect on net force
Correct answer: Double the net force required
Newton's second law (F = ma) shows that force is directly proportional to acceleration; doubling acceleration while mass stays constant doubles the required net force.
Question 3: The term 'periodization' in sport science refers to:
- Scheduling rest periods within a single training session
- Systematic variation of training load and volume over time to optimize performance (Correct answer)
- Dividing athletes into performance categories for team selection
- The cycle of menstruation and its effect on training capacity
Correct answer: Systematic variation of training load and volume over time to optimize performance
Periodization is the planned manipulation of training variables (volume, intensity, frequency) across time blocks (microcycles, mesocycles, macrocycles) to maximize performance at target competitions.
Question 4: Which type of measurement scale has a true zero point and allows meaningful ratio comparisons?
- Nominal scale
- Ordinal scale
- Interval scale
- Ratio scale (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Ratio scale
Ratio scales have all properties of interval scales plus an absolute zero, allowing statements like 'twice as much' (e.g., force in Newtons, VO2 in mL/kg/min).
Question 5: Excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC) is primarily caused by:
- Increased glycogen storage in the liver post-exercise
- Elevated metabolism needed for restoration of homeostasis after exercise (Correct answer)
- Reduced cardiac output during recovery
- Decreased ventilation as breathing normalizes
Correct answer: Elevated metabolism needed for restoration of homeostasis after exercise
EPOC reflects the elevated oxygen consumption during recovery that supports ATP/PCr resynthesis, lactate clearance, temperature normalization, catecholamine metabolism, and protein synthesis.
Question 6: In motor learning, the SAID principle stands for Specific Adaptations to Imposed Demands, which means:
- Athletes improve fastest when training is unpredictable and random
- Physiological adaptations are specific to the type of stress applied in training (Correct answer)
- All athletes respond identically to a standardized training stimulus
- Training adaptations transfer completely across all movement patterns
Correct answer: Physiological adaptations are specific to the type of stress applied in training
The SAID principle establishes that the body adapts specifically to the nature of the training stress — endurance training produces cardiovascular adaptations, strength training produces neuromuscular adaptations.
Question 7: Which branch of physiology specifically examines how the body's regulatory systems maintain a stable internal environment during changing external conditions?
- Biomechanics
- Homeostasis and integrative physiology (Correct answer)
- Histology
- Kinematics
Correct answer: Homeostasis and integrative physiology
Homeostasis and integrative physiology study the feedback mechanisms (hormonal, neural, metabolic) that maintain stable internal conditions such as temperature, pH, and blood glucose during exercise stress.
CPSS Foundational Scientific Disciplines 5
Which organ is the primary site of gluconeogenesis during prolonged fasting or endurance exercise?