For more than one hundred years, a great number of scientists have believed that tiredness in athletes originates in the muscles(肌肉). Precise explanations have varied, but all have been based on the “Limitations Theory”. In other words, muscles tire because they hit a physical limit—they either run out of fuel or oxygen or they drown in harmful by-products(副产品).
In the past few years, however, Timothy Noakes from the University of Cape Town, South Africa, has examined this standard theory. Tiredness, he argues, is caused not by signals springing from overtaxed muscles, but is an emotional response which begins in the brain. The fundamental nature of his new theory is that the brain paces the muscles to keep them well back from the edge of tiredness. When the brain decides it’s time to quit, it creates unbearable muscle tiredness. This “Central Governor” theory remains controversial, but it does explain many puzzling aspects of athletic performance.
A recent discovery that Noakes calls the “lactic acid paradox” made him start researching this area seriously. Lactic acid is a by-product of exercise, and the increase of it is often mentioned as a cause of tiredness. But when research subjects exercise in certain conditions created artificially, they become tired even though lactic acid levels remain low. Nor has the oxygen content of their blood fallen too low for them to keep going. Obviously, something else was making them tire before they hit either of these physiological limits.
Noakes conducted an experiment with seven cyclists. It has long been known that during exercise, the body never uses 100% of the available muscle fibres(纤维). The amount used varies, but in some tasks such as this cycling test the body calls on about 30%. His team found that as tiredness set in, the electrical activity in cyclist’s legs declined—even when they were making a great effort to cycle as fast as they could.
To Noakes, this was strong evidence that the old theory was wrong. “The cyclists may have felt completely exhausted,” he says, “but their bodies actually had considerable reserves that they could theoretically tap by using a greater amount of the resting fibres.” This, he believes, is the proof that the brain is regulating the pace of the workout to hold the cyclists well back from the point of extreme tiredness.
【小题1】Why do athletes feel tired according to “Limitations Theory”?| A．Because the muscles run out all energy. |
| B．Because the brain protects the muscles. |
| C．Because the scientists performed researches. |
| D．Because Noakes examined standard theory. |
| A．Muscle fibres control athletes’ movements. |
| B．Lactic acid levels remain high in cycling tests. |
| C．Mental processes control the symptoms of tiredness |
| D．Different exercises use different amount of muscle fibres |
| A．The energy in human bodies can be balanced |
| B．Tiredness is a harmful by-product of exercise. |
| C．Lactic acid will not caused tiredness necessarily. |
| D．The oxygen content will rise after taking exercise. |
| A．Muscles or Brains?——Which brings athletes tiredness? |
| B．Lactic acid or Oxygen content——Which is vital for athletes? |
| C．Working out or Being relaxed——Which will better our health? |
| D．Common belief or New discovery——Which should we believe? |
