Mitochondria
...can join to form actinomyosin. Strands of actinomyosin shorten when ATP is put on them. So every time a muscle contracts, chemical energy is converted into kinetic energy. Your heart is the largest producer of mitochondria. Mitochondria are found in nearly all eukaryotic cells. In some cases, there is a single, large mitochondrion, but, more often, there are hundreds or thousands; the number is generally correlated with the metabolic activity of the cell. Athletically, exercising to ones full potential releases more than four times the energy of one exercising normally. What is occurring? When oxygen is not available in sufficient quantity to accept all of the hydrogen that was released during exercise, the entire process of aerobic metabolism will back up so that the rates of entry of pyruvic acid into Krebs cycle, a cycle in which four carbon molecules are being picked off then replaced, and of hydrogen ions into the electron transport chain are slowed. When this happens, the hydrogen ions combine with excess pyruvic acid to form lactic acid. Lactic acid (C3H6O3) is produced in carbohydrate matter usually by bacterial fermentation. Lactic acid forms in sour milk, yogurt, and other similar dairy products. Lactic acid is what the body uses to form the glycogen which transforms into energy as described previously. Coaches usually put emphasis on the lactic acid production and when it is either good or bad. Football players and other athletes have been seen wearing oxygen masks to increase their oxygen intake. They believe that this in turn will help break down the lactic acid, thus causing them not to be tired as quickly. Through the research and knowledge of mitochondria and its behavior, this theory is falsified. Yes, a high amount of lactic acid will cause one to become sore or lose energy, and yes oxygen does help to break down lactic acid, but more oxygen does nothing without mitochondria to turn it into energy. A time when high amounts of lactic acid would be desirable would be if one were trying to increase their muscle capacity, because when you become sore your muscle tissue tears. When the muscle tissue heals it triples its size, which in turn increases strength (very, very slightly). Lactic acid is also prescribed to patients for numerous reasons. It used anywhere from skin care to asthma. Lactic acid can be juxtaposed with aerobic metabolism. Unlike anaerobic metabolism, which can proceed in the cytoplasm of muscle cells, the only place where aerobic metabolism can occur is in the mitochondria of those cells. The mitochondria must have oxygen to perform their function, and that oxygen is transported to them by a protein substance called myoglobin that is in the cytoplasm of muscle cells. Oxygen diffuses through the cell membrane, where it is picked up by myoglobin and transported to the mitochondria. Athlete・s often question how to increase the amount of mitochondria they have and how to make the mitochondria denser, because as the density increases, performance capacity also rises, endurance. The mitochondria lie within your muscles and are the only places where fat, protein, and carbohydrates can be broken down in order to create energy for exercise. Most of our energy storage is in the form of fats which is more efficient than storing energy in carbohydrates. The study of mitochondria and its effects date back to the early nineteen fifties. Scientists noticed that the breast and wing muscles of a chicken had very little concentration of mitochondria. They also noticed that the pigeon and mallard had a high density of mitochondria present in the breast and wing muscles. They related this to the fact that chickens do not fly and the pigeon and mallard are known to be endurance flyers. Scientists immediately reasoned it to be due to the exercise differences. It is during this time, when biochemists found out that mitochondria have their own DNA and that all of the mitochondria in one・s body are inherited from its mother, because the sperm cell is so small, that if it carried mitochondria it would be too heavy to swim. The egg that the female carries contains numerous mitochondria molecules. A conjecture stated that all athletic abilities and tendencies are inherited from the mother, because of the mitochondria present in the egg. So if Mom is an active and athletic person, then you would most likely be an athletic person, while if Dad is very inactive, it would have no effect on you. Scientists now were focused on mitochondria densities and how to increase them. A hypothesis is that the reason mitochondria have DNA is so they can replicate quicker. Bacteria possess a double loop DNA which causes it to replicate a lot faster than human cells. Mitochondria have a single loop DNA, which would mean that they replicate even quicker. A theory states that mitochondria have DNA, because they are ancient bacteria that evolved into mitochondria. The mitochondria still have the ability to evolve and will no longer need oxygen for energy. The cells would provide one another with energy and in turn would replicate one million times faster. This would create a super human capable of leaping, running, swimming, and all other physical activities beyond present human abilities, the ：Super Athlete.； Tests with lab rats were then being conducted at the Washington University of Medicine by John Holloszy. He had one set of rats just loll in their cages, while the other set exercised one hundred and twenty minutes a day at mid to upper strength on a treadmill. The rats that ran everyday had increased their mitochondrial densities by fifty to sixty per cent and also doubled the concentrations of cytochrome c. Cytochrome C, the most abundant and stable of cytochromes, is the key electron transporter present within mitochondria, which is important in aerobic energy production. The tests then posed the question: which type of exercise is better? Should one train hard and fast, or light and slow, or a mixture? How long should one exercise to increase mitochondrial density? So Holloszy and co-workers decided to embark upon these inquiries. In this experiment he had one group of rats running at ten minutes a day, one group at thirty, one at sixty, and the last at one hundred and twenty. The rats exercised for thirteen weeks, five times a week. The results were what anyone would suspect: The two-hour per day runners had the best mitochondrial results. The problem with this experimentation was that John Holloszy and his colleagues failed to look at intensity of training as a factor for mitochondrial increase, since all of his rats were running the same speed on the treadmill. Coaches and experts soon got word of the research and quickly developed their own hypotheses, that the best way to increase mitochondrial numbers, was to train for a long duration (two hours or more) and thus boosting performance capabilities. Soon that hypothesis brought about the idea that long, slow exercises were the best route. Some philosophers believed that a very intense work out would actually begin destroying mitochondria. Dudley and his co-workers decided to prove the public wrong and continue where Holloszy left off. The rats were still trained five times a week, but this time only for eight weeks. He used different intensities and also different durations, anywhere from five minutes a day to ninety. Dudley found that moderate training had little to no effect on increasing cytochrome c after sixty minutes. This was accurate at all intensities studied by Dudley. Progressing further than sixty minutes per workout did not have much value when it came to the mitochondria. Intensity of training sparked very interesting and useful results. The Syracuse researcher was able to display that in fast-twitch muscle fibers, just ten minutes of high-paced running per day was enough to almost triple cytochrome c concentrations. This experiment obliterated the theory that intense exercises kill mitochondria. Dudley and his colleagues concluded that intense training results in the largest increase of mitochondrial density. A runner would increase his running capabilities more if he ran a two-mile race at full speed as opposed t...