Weeks 9–10: Integrative Topics in Exercise Physiology

These final lectures integrate concepts from across the course — respiratory physiology, cardiovascular function, muscle mechanics, and locomotor biomechanics — into three applied topics that span multiple organ systems.

Lectures

• Lecture 19: Locomotor-Respiratory Integration (38 slides) Mechanical interactions between locomotion and breathing across vertebrates, functional integration vs. independence, locomotor-ventilatory coupling patterns, and the role of step-breath coordination in human running.

• Lecture 20: Sensorimotor Control of Locomotion (43 slides) Neural control of movement from spinal pattern generators to cortical modulation, sensory feedback in locomotion, and the biomechanics of stability and maneuverability.

• Lecture 21: Exercise as Medicine (33 slides) The physiological basis for exercise as a preventive and therapeutic intervention, dose-response relationships, and the health consequences of physical inactivity.

• Lecture 22: Exercise Physiology — Full Class Recap (35 slides) A course-wide review synthesizing the major themes — comparative and evolutionary context, the oxygen supply cascade, muscle structure and function across scales, the mechanics and energetics of locomotion, sensorimotor control, and exercise as medicine. No new material; pointers to the relevant earlier lectures for detail.