Bioenergetics of Human Movement

Abstract

Three-component hydraulic models have been proposed to represent the energy flows during human exercise. These models were accompanied by sketches indicative of the graphical solution but had not been solved mathematically. The purpose of the present report is to extend the original model analysis of the bioenergetics based upon the theory of optimal control. In this hydraulic model, the Lohmann reaction is represented by the myocybernetic performance criterion which minimizes the integral of the time derivative of the ATP concentration deflection to a constant equilibrium level. According to the optimal control hypothesis, the bioenergetic system is formulated by 8-degree-of freedom ordinary differential equations. Qualitative comparisons between the predictions of the model and the findings that other experimental investigators indicate the the model reproduces the major features of the energy flows (i. e., ATP concentration, phosphocreatine reservoir, lactic acid concentration, and oxygen consumption).