Exercise Endocrinology

This book examines the ways hormones and messengers of the autonomic nervous system affect human biology before, during and after exercise. It describes the way chemical messengers constantly regulate the body's internal environment, including responses to stress of acute exercise, and facilitate long-term functional and structural adjustments as exercise training programmes create mechanical strains and bioenergetic drain. Discussion topics are clearly organised by function rather than by a focus on individual messenger systems to explain their role. The first three chapters deal with general concepts regarding chemical mediators in exercise, their interaction with the autonomic nervous system, and the mechanisms of hormone action. The remaining chapters address specific functional involvements of chemical messengers that affect exercise or derive from it.