EXS 3321: Exercise Physiology
Introduction
Welcome to EXS 3321, Exercise Physiology. You will learn how the body responds to exercise, both
during a single bout and during repeated exercise training. These principles will help you understand
the physiologic rationale of exercise training programs for athletes as well as for providing exercise
prescriptions for those with health risks.
Textbook and Materials
See the course description for current textbook information.
Course Components
While this course is designed to be a self‐paced course, the course material, grading approach, and
performance expectations are equivalent to an on‐campus course. The advantage of this course is
that it permits you to study and master the material at your own pace, but it will still require just as
much (if not more) effort as a classroom‐based course.
This course is divided into four units, each of which includes four or five lessons. An exam follows
each unit. The main course components are listed below.
Video Lectures
Each lesson includes a recorded lecture that consists of the instructor giving a PowerPoint
presentation. These lectures have been designed to simulate the classroom experience and are an
excellent opportunity for taking notes. Each lecture has been uploaded to YouTube, so no additional
software is required to view them.
The PowerPoint presentations presented in each lecture are available for you to download and
review.
Reading Assignments
The lectures cover the main points of the lesson. However, you will need to study the corresponding
chapter in the textbook to do well in the course. If you purchase a new textbook, you also receive an
access code for the publisher’s website, where there is supplementary material to help you master
the course content. Although not required, I strongly recommend that you complete these online
exercises. These exercises will challenge you to think about the material and to apply it.
Questions to Consider
These questions are not required to be submitted to the instructor and do not count toward the
course grade. However, it is critical that you prepare responses to these questions as a way of
practicing what you’ve learned. These questions will help you move beyond simply memorizing the
material to a critical understanding.
Review Questions
You are required to complete the review questions that accompany each lesson to help you review
course material. The questions are not timed and you are encouraged to use your notes and your
book to help answer the questions. You may complete the questions twice; only the highest grade
will be used. I strongly recommend that you spend extra time understanding the principles in these
questions to help prepare for each unit exam. Review questions will count as 25 percent of your final
grade, so you should take them seriously and do your best.
Writing Assignments: Applying Exercise Physiology
For each chapter, you will complete a writing assignment that will require you to consider how you
will apply the chapter material to your future career. The chosen career does not matter, but it must
be one in which you would use exercise physiology. You may use a different career for each writing
assignment.
In each assignment, you will answer the following question: In 250–400 words, use specific examples
to explain how you might apply the information from this chapter in your future career. I will grade
your assignments based on three categories: effort, application, and clarity. These writing
assignments will count as 15 percent of your final grade.
Unit Exams
You will take a unit exam worth 100 points at the end of each unit. These are closed‐book, closed‐
note exams and consist of forty‐five multiple‐choice and true/false questions, which will be worth
two points each. Each exam will also include two short‐answer questions worth five points each. You
will be able to select the two short answer questions that you answer from a list of four or five
prompts; most questions should be answerable in 50–200 words. Each of the four unit exams will be
worth 10 percent of the final grade
To prepare for your exams, start by studying each chapter diligently and making a solid effort to
understand and retain the material. When you get to the end of each unit, it is important for you to
carefully review your notes and the textbook, once again going over the Review Questions, the
Questions to Consider, and the online resources from each lesson. You may even want to re‐watch
certain parts of the video lectures. If you are struggling with certain concepts and have made every
effort to understand them on your own, you should contact the instructor. Since this is a Self‐Paced
Course, you should take each exam when you feel adequately prepared. Good luck!
Final Exam
At the end of the course, you will take a comprehensive final exam. It consists of 100 multiple‐choice
questions and will count as 20 percent of your course grade. The final exam must be scheduled and
supervised. When you are ready to take the exam, schedule it through the Self‐Paced Courses office.
You must pass the final exam in order to receive credit for the course.
The final exam may or may not include questions from previous exams. Notwithstanding, the best
way to prepare for the exam is by reviewing all previous exams and the Review Questions for each
lesson. Reviewing these assignments will help you review many of the concepts and principles that
may appear on the final. Do not simply seek to memorize answers, but seek to understand them.
This will ensure that you know and understand the material even if the question is different. You
should also review and study each chapter completely. Remember: the questions may be different,
but the material is the same.
Grading
Your course grade will be calculated as shown below.
Assignment
Weight
Review Questions
25 percent
Applying Exercise
Physiology
15 percent
Exams
40 percent (10 percent x 4
exams)
Final Exam
20 percent
Grading will be on a 10‐point +/‐ scale.
A
93‐100
A‐
90‐92
B+
87‐89
B
83‐86
B‐
80‐82
C+
77‐79
C
73‐76
C‐
70‐72
D+
67‐69
D
63‐66
D‐
60‐62
F
<60
Academic Policies
By enrolling as a student in this course, you agree to abide by the University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill policies related to the acceptable use of online resources. Please consult the Acceptable
Use Policy on topics such as copyright, net‐etiquette, and privacy protection.
As part of this course, you may be asked to participate in online activities that may include personal
information about you or other students in the course. Please be respectful of the rights and
protection of other participants under the UNC‐Chapel Hill Information Security Policies when
participating in online classes.
When using online resources offered by organizations not affiliated with UNC‐Chapel Hill, such as
Google or YouTube, please note that the terms and conditions of these companies and not the
University’s Terms and Conditions apply. These third parties may offer different degrees of privacy
protection and access rights to online content. You should be well aware of this when posting
content to sites not managed by UNC‐Chapel Hill.
When you are directed to links outside of the unc.edu domain, please be mindful that clicking on
sites not affiliated with UNC‐Chapel Hill may pose a risk for your computer due to the possible
presence of malware on such sites.
Honor Code
As a Self‐paced Courses Online student, you are responsible for obeying and supporting an honor
system that prohibits lying, cheating, or stealing in relation to the academic practices of constituent
institutions of the University of North Carolina. The honor system also requires you to refrain from
conduct that significantly impairs the welfare or the educational opportunities of others in the
University community.
Tips for Success
Use the self‐paced course format to your advantage. You have the flexibility to learn at your
own pace, but make sure to set up a consistent schedule for yourself that allows enough time
for you to complete your reading, view the lectures, take notes, and complete your written
assignments and supplemental online content. Don’t try to take a unit exam until you feel
comfortable with the material.
Each lesson includes a recorded lecture, which features my voice in conjunction with a
PowerPoint presentation. I have found that it’s been of a great benefit for students to hear
me explain things. However, the lectures are not a replacement for studying the textbook;
they should aid in your understanding of the textbook. Your primary learning source should
still be the textbook.
Get in touch with me if you have questions. Emailing works the best, given my other
commitments. I’m usually very quick at responding, and my goal is to always respond to
students by 5 pm the next working day (not including holidays and weekends). In an
emergency, you can always call me, but I am not always in my office, so you probably get a
faster response if you send an email.
When asking a question, make sure to be very specific. If your question is about a specific
PowerPoint slide, refer to the specific lecture and slide number; if the question is about a
specific part of the textbook, refer to the chapter and page number. Make sure you are clear
when composing your question, as it allows me to address your question better.
Course Outline
The course schedule is up to you. You can complete the course in as few as twelve weeks or take as
long as nine months. The important thing is to get a good start, then maintain your momentum.
Since this course is not held in a classroom, I will probably never meet you in person. Still, I would
like to know something about you so that I can associate each email message from you with
something more than a screen name. Therefore, your first task is to send me a Personal Information
Sheet: Save this Word Document to your hard drive (or copy and paste from this web page into your
word processing program), fill it out, and attach it to an email to me. Please tell me why you are
taking this course, and any background you have in the sciences. This also gives us a chance to make
sure our communication lines are working, and that we can send and receive attachments.
Unit 1
Lesson 1
Introduction to Exercise and Sport Physiology
Lesson 2
Chapter 1: Structure and Function of Exercising Muscle
Lesson 3
Chapter 2: Fuel for Exercise: Bioenergetics and Muscle Metabolism
Lesson 4
Chapter 3: Neural Control of Exercising Muscle
Lesson 5
Chapter 4: Hormonal Control During Exercise
Unit 2
Lesson 6
Chapter 5: Energy Expenditure and Fatigue
Lesson 7
Chapter 6: The Cardiovascular System and Its Control
Lesson 8
Chapter 7: The Respiratory System and Its Regulation
Lesson 9
Chapter 8: Cardiorespiratory Reponses to Acute Exercise
Unit 3
Lesson 10
Chapter 9: Principles of Exercise Training
Lesson 11
Chapter 10: Adaptations to Resistance Training
Lesson 12
Chapter 11: Adaptations to Aerobic and Anaerobic Training
Lesson 13
Chapter 12: Exercise in Hot and Cold Environments
Unit 4
Lesson 14
Chapter 14: Training for Sport
Lesson 15
Chapter 15: Body Composition and Nutrition for Sport
Lesson 16
Chapter 16: Ergogenic Aids in Sport
Lesson 17
Chapter 20: Prescription of Exercise for Health and Fitness
Lesson 18
Chapter 22: Obesity, Diabetes, and Physical Activity
Final Exam
Schedule your final exam with Self‐paced Courses.
Please fill out a brief online course evaluation. We want to know if this course met your needs and
expectations.
© The University of North Carolina
Send comments and questions to fridaycenter@unc.edu.