- My favorite athletic accomplishment is probably going to sound like an odd one, as it is quite bittersweet. Starting in freshman year, I was on my high school’s lacrosse team. Lacrosse was not big in my town and our team was still in the developmental phases, as were many of the surrounding schools. During the third game of my sophomore year, we were playing our rival team. I went for a ground ball and was hip-checked by a girl who had originally played on her school’s men’s team (since there was no women’s team at that point). I felt my hip pop out when I hit the ground, but I was angry at this point, so I kept playing. I played the rest of the season, making sure to always ice my hip before and after playing. The trainer told me it was bursitis so he didn’t bench me. Flash forward to senior year of college, and I can no longer run without limping for the next two days. Turns out it wasn’t bursitis – I had torn my labrum and in the process of favoring my right leg, I destroyed my left hip. So while the story does not have a happy ending, the entire process taught me how much my body can endure if I refuse to quit, but also the consequences of ignoring my limitations.
- Biology has never been my strongest subject, but I am interested in seeing how the cellular processes work together during seemingly simple everyday activities such as going for a run. I have always taken the biological processes for granted while focusing on the bigger picture, but I believe understanding the inner workings of the body will give me a greater appreciation for these simple everyday activities. I got a glimpse of this in Animal Physiology last term, but I want to dive deeper into understanding the differences between slow twitch and fast twitch muscle fibers and how these differences contribute to the overall functionality of the muscles to produce cohesive movements. I now recognize that it is crucial to look at all aspects of the system individually to understand how we live our day to day lives.
- The previous upper-level courses that I’ve taken that would contribute the most would be Orthopedic Biomechanics, Mechanobiology, and Animal Physiology. Orthopedic Biomechanics would be helpful, as we learned about all the bones of the body and how they all experience loading in different ways from the various forces applied during both activity and when you are stationary. Mechanobiology (as much as we’ve done this term) seems to continue on this topic, focusing on how different types of bones respond to forces. Animal Physiology focused on how the various systems within the body respond to different conditions. By combining what I have learned in these various classes and what we will learn in this class, I hope to have a complete understanding of how the major systems within the human body work together to maintain homeostasis.
Bio 375: Exercise Physiology
Spring 2019
1. I think the way you chose to answer this question is really cool, it’s a route I wouldn’t have thought of and it was interesting to read about! It’s amazing that you were able to deal with that pain for so long and I like how you used the word “endure” because it makes me think back to the book we’re reading and think about those concepts and how they may apply to you pushing through your injury. I definitely relate to wanting to keep playing even while in pain, I think that’s a quality many athletes share and it goes to show our determination and will to compete. In terms of your misdiagnosis, it’s pretty crazy how often this happens and provides an example of how so many things in the medical field aren’t always clean cut.
2. I agree with what you’re saying about focusing on the big picture. It’s easy to lose sight of each tiny process that takes place when those processes occur without us even thinking about it. It is definitely important to understand how the systems work individually so then we can understand how they work together in order to complete all of the processes that allow us to do what we do on a daily basis. I like what you brought up about wanting to learn more about fast and slow twitch muscles, I’m interested to learn more too!
3. All three classes that you described sound really interesting! I feel like people don’t usually think about bones experiencing load the way muscles do so learning about that must’ve been cool! I think that will be useful in this class because exercise obviously can have both positive and negative impacts on our bones. Also, I took human anatomy and physiology and I think it would be interesting to compare and contrast what I learned about humans to what you learned in your animal physiology class.
Wow. I had no idea. I cannot fathom playing through that much pain. Your high level of endurance should help you better deal with Troy in lab. Thanks for sharing.