What is meant by fatigue in physical activity?

Fatigue is a decline in the ability to produce force or maintain performance. Energy running low, fluid loss and the accumulation of by-products can all cause it.

How does phosphocreatine depletion cause fatigue in a sprint?

Phosphocreatine stores are largely used up after about 10 seconds of maximal effort. ATP can then only be resynthesised more slowly, so speed falls.

What is meant by 'hitting the wall' in a marathon?

Hitting the wall is sudden, severe fatigue when muscle and liver glycogen run out. The runner must rely on fat, which cannot supply energy fast enough to hold race pace.

When does glycogen depletion usually become a limiting factor?

Glycogen depletion usually limits continuous moderate-to-high intensity exercise after about 90 minutes. Marathon running, road cycling and triathlon are affected.

Why does falling blood glucose affect a performer late in a long event?

The brain relies on blood glucose for fuel. Low blood glucose causes central fatigue, poor decision-making and loss of coordination.

How does dehydration reduce endurance performance?

Dehydration reduces blood plasma volume, so the blood becomes more viscous. Stroke volume falls and heart rate rises to maintain cardiac output.

Edexcel A-Level Physical Education 9PE0

The Musculo-Skeletal System

Topic overview Muscles, bones and movements of the upper body Muscles, bones and movements of the lower body and trunk Contraction types and the stretch-shortening cycle Muscle roles and the acute response to a warm-up

Levers, Newton's Laws and Stability

Topic overview Lever systems in the body Mechanical advantage and disadvantage of levers Newton's laws of motion and force calculations Centre of mass and stability

The Respiratory System

Topic overview Structure of the airways and alveoli The mechanics of breathing Gas exchange, partial pressure and diffusion Lung volumes and capacities

The Cardiovascular System

Topic overview Heart structure and the conduction system Blood vessels, circulation and vascular shunting Heart rate, cardiac output and bradycardia Exercise responses and the effects of an unhealthy lifestyle

The Neuromuscular System

Topic overview Muscle fibre types and their characteristics Motor units, recruitment and gradation of contraction Muscle structure and the sliding filament theory Neuromuscular transmission and the response to warming up

Adaptations to Training

Topic overview Heart and lung adaptations to training Muscle and bone adaptations to training Nervous system and muscle fibre adaptations

Energy Systems

Topic overview Forms of energy and ATP The ATP-PC and glycolytic systems The aerobic system and fuel use The energy continuum and priming exercise

Fatigue and Recovery

Topic overview Fatigue from energy depletion and dehydration Lactic acid, hydrogen ions and fatigue Oxygen deficit, EPOC and the fast component The slow component and recovery windows

Diet, Nutrition and Supplements

Topic overview Energy balance, nutrients and optimal weight Hydration, electrolytes and sports drinks Legal supplements and their effects Carbohydrate loading and fuelling around exercise

Fitness Testing

Topic overview Gas analysis and aerobic field tests Lactate and functional threshold testing Anaerobic capacity and power tests Strength, agility and sprint tests

Components and Principles of Training

Topic overview Aerobic, anaerobic and muscular fitness Speed, agility, balance and coordination Principles of training and FITT Measuring intensity, Karvonen and monitoring technology

Training Methods and Periodisation

Topic overview Periodisation cycles and recovery strategies Continuous, fartlek, interval, circuit and cross training Flexibility, resistance, plyometric and SAQ training Training at altitude and in heat and humidity

Injury Prevention and Rehabilitation

Topic overview Classifying injuries and acute injuries Overuse injuries: shin splints, tendonitis and stress fractures Preventing sports injuries Rehabilitation methods, POLICE and RICE

Linear and Angular Motion

Topic overview Distance, displacement, speed and acceleration Distance–time, speed–time and velocity–time graphs Angular motion and moment of inertia Conservation of angular momentum

Projectile Motion and Fluid Mechanics

Topic overview Forces acting on a projectile in flight Release velocity, height and angle Drag, streamlining and technology Lift, the Bernoulli effect and spin

Coaching and Skill Classification

Topic overview Mosston's coaching styles Tactics and strategies in competition Analysing a skill in phases Classifying skills on continuums Transfer of skills

Learning Theories

Topic overview Classical and operant conditioning Reinforcement, punishment and the S-R bond Thorndike's laws of learning Fitts and Posner's stages of learning

Practice and Guidance

Topic overview Whole, part, progressive part and whole-part-whole practice Massed, distributed, fixed and variable practice Visual, verbal, manual and mechanical guidance Technology in guidance

Feedback and Motor Control

Topic overview Purposes and effectiveness of feedback Types of feedback Feedback technology and performance analysis Open and closed loop control

Information Processing and Memory

Topic overview Welford and Whiting's information processing models The sensory store and short-term memory Long-term memory and the multi-store model Reaction time, Hick's law and the psychological refractory period Schmidt's schema theory

Personality and Attitudes

Topic overview Sport psychology and the nature–nurture debate Trait theory: Eysenck and Cattell Interactionist theory and personality structure Attitudes, Wood's triadic model and cognitive dissonance

Arousal and Anxiety

Topic overview Arousal and the optimal level for performance Drive, inverted-U and catastrophe theories Anxiety, stress and stressors Cognitive and somatic stress management strategies

Aggression

Topic overview Aggression and assertion in sport Types of aggression Theories of aggression: Lorenz, Bandura, Dollard and Berkowitz Causes of aggression and strategies to reduce it

Motivation

Topic overview Types of motivation Internal, external, tangible and intangible rewards Achievement motivation: NACH and NAF Developing a need to achieve

Social Facilitation

Topic overview Social facilitation, social inhibition and types of others Zajonc's dominant response and evaluation apprehension Home advantage, distraction, proximity and coping with an audience

Group Dynamics and Cohesion

Topic overview Groups, teams, and task and social cohesion Carron's four factors of cohesion Steiner's model and the Ringelmann effect Social loafing and building team cohesion

Goal Setting

Topic overview SMARTER targets Outcome, performance and process goals Goal timescales and the benefits of goal setting

Attribution Theory

Topic overview Weiner's attributions for success and failure The three dimensions of attribution Attribution retraining

Confidence and Self-Efficacy

Topic overview Self-confidence and its effect on performance Vealey's model of sport confidence Bandura's four sources of self-efficacy Learned helplessness

Leadership

Topic overview Qualities and impact of an effective leader Autocratic, democratic and laissez-faire styles Fiedler's and Chelladurai's leadership models Trait, social learning and interactionist theories of leadership

The Emergence of Modern Sport

Topic overview Popular recreation in pre-industrial Britain The Industrial Revolution and recreation Rational recreation, Arnold and athleticism Factory teams, the sporting press and the first governing bodies

Equality, Diversity and Migration in Sport

Topic overview Corporate and geographically based teams Disability sport and opportunities for women Migration of sporting labour

The Globalisation of Sport

Topic overview What globalisation means for sport Colonial diffusion of sport across the British Empire National and international governing bodies Bidding for and staging world events

The Commercialisation of Sport

Topic overview Commercialisation and sport as a commodity Broken time, spectatorism and the media The Olympic Games and the 1984 commercial blueprint Franchises, Americanisation and global stars

Ethics and Deviance in Sport

Topic overview Ethics, sportsmanship and gamesmanship Performance-enhancing drugs from early use to today Simulation, bribery, bungs and match fixing Responses to deviance and the role of WADA

Sport and the Media

Topic overview The two-way relationship between sport and the media Live and social media coverage Viewing technology, sports packages and pay-per-view

Talent Identification and Elite Development

Topic overview Talent identification programmes in the UK The pathway from novice to elite performer East German and Australian influences on UK sport

Participation and the Health of the Nation

Topic overview Barriers to participation and the benefits of mass participation Mass participation initiatives in the UK Participation trends in the 21st century

Fatigue and Recovery

4 subtopics
12 things to know
Component 1

What Fatigue and Recovery covers

Fatigue and Recovery is examined in Component 1, Scientific principles of physical education. It covers fatigue from energy depletion and dehydration, lactic acid, hydrogen ions and fatigue, oxygen deficit, EPOC and the fast component and the slow component and recovery windows.

Where it is assessed

Component 1

Scientific principles of physical education, a 2 hour 30 minute paper worth 40% of the qualification.

Check the Pearson Edexcel specification ↗

The 4 subtopics

Each one has its own page.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Your recallNot started

Key term

What happens when a marathon runner hits the wall, and when does glycogen depletion start to limit performance?

Key term

How do low blood glucose and dehydration cause fatigue late in a long event?

Key term

What is cardiovascular drift, and how does dehydration affect temperature control?

Key term

What happens to lactic acid almost as soon as it forms in muscle?

Key term

What is the oxygen deficit?

Key term

What does the slow component of recovery achieve?

Key term

How do hydrogen ions cause muscular fatigue?

Key term

Why does an oxygen deficit occur at the start of exercise?

Key term

How long can the slow component last?

Key term

Why is it misleading to call lactate simply a waste product?

Key term

What is EPOC?

Key term

What happens to most of the lactate during recovery?

Take Fatigue and Recovery further

The same content, four other ways.

Commonly confused

Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.

Fast component vs Slow component
Fast component: the first two to three minutes of recovery, restoring ATP and phosphocreatine. Slow component: the longer stage of recovery that removes lactate and restores temperature.
EIMD vs DOMS
EIMD: microscopic tearing of muscle fibres caused by strenuous, often eccentric, work. DOMS: pain and stiffness that peaks one to three days after hard exercise.
Two-hour window vs 48-hour window
Two-hour window: the period just after exercise for rehydration, cooling and rapid refuelling. 48-hour window: the period of up to a couple of days for rebuilding muscle protein and glycogen.

Questions from this topic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1
What is meant by fatigue in physical activity?
Model answer
Fatigue is a decline in the ability to produce force or maintain performance. Energy running low, fluid loss and the accumulation of by-products can all cause it.
2
How does phosphocreatine depletion cause fatigue in a sprint?
Model answer
Phosphocreatine stores are largely used up after about 10 seconds of maximal effort. ATP can then only be resynthesised more slowly, so speed falls.
3
What is meant by 'hitting the wall' in a marathon?
Model answer
Hitting the wall is sudden, severe fatigue when muscle and liver glycogen run out. The runner must rely on fat, which cannot supply energy fast enough to hold race pace.
4
When does glycogen depletion usually become a limiting factor?
Model answer
Glycogen depletion usually limits continuous moderate-to-high intensity exercise after about 90 minutes. Marathon running, road cycling and triathlon are affected.
5
Why does falling blood glucose affect a performer late in a long event?
Model answer
The brain relies on blood glucose for fuel. Low blood glucose causes central fatigue, poor decision-making and loss of coordination.
6
How does dehydration reduce endurance performance?
Model answer
Dehydration reduces blood plasma volume, so the blood becomes more viscous. Stroke volume falls and heart rate rises to maintain cardiac output.

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Levers, Newton's Laws and Stability

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The Cardiovascular System

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AThe training zone is 136 to 158 bpm.

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Fatigue and Recovery revision questions

What does Fatigue and Recovery cover in Edexcel A-Level Physical Education?: 4 subtopics: fatigue from energy depletion and dehydration, lactic acid, hydrogen ions and fatigue, oxygen deficit, epoc and the fast component and the slow component and recovery windows. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.
How is Fatigue and Recovery organised?: By the Edexcel 9PE0 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.

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