KINES 101The Biophysical Foundations of Kinesiology

3 credits · Kinesiology · Penn State

Biomechanical, physiological, and neurobiological foundations of human movement and exercise, including applications to clinical conditions, rehabilitation, and fitness are presented. KINES 101 The Biophysical Foundations of Kinesiology (3) This course introduces and integrates the physiological, neural, anatomical and biomechanical foundations of kinesiology. Throughout the course, applications to human health, physical activity, and to health and fitness professions are provided. The Physiological Foundations of Human MovementThis section introduces students to basic physiological principles that are necessary to understand exercise metabolism, adaptations to training, and changes that occur throughout the lifespan. This section builds important groundwork in exercise physiology to enable the student to understand the fundamental principles of energy metabolism and adjustments to energy metabolism as a result of acute and chronic exercise. Adaptations to chronic exercise training to the aerobic, anaerobic and muscular strength systems are a cornerstone of this section, but emphasis is also expanded to include functional capacity. The final section emphasizes the effects of exercise on chronic diseases, and takes a lifespan approach. The Neural Foundations of Human MovementThis section introduces students to basic neural anatomy and physiology that serve as a basis for understanding neural control of movement. This includes the cellular, anatomical and functional organization of the central nervous system, and applications to clinical conditions. Students are introduced to sensorimotor processes, as a foundation for understanding human motor control and motor coordination, and associated dysfunction. Anatomical Foundations of Human MovementThis section provides a survey of basic terms for describing human anatomy, including anatomical planes, axes, and directions, as well as an introduction to the major components of the musculoskeletal system. The fundamental structure and function of muscles and bones will be discussed with reference to their contributions to human movement. Mechanical Foundations of Human MovementThis section introduces the physical principles that underlay the study of biomechanics. Students will learn how to properly describe human movement using terminology for linear and angular motion. Newton's three laws of motion will be introduced and used for as a basis for discussing the role of forces and torques in starting and stopping motion. This section will include discussions of the biomechanics of walking and the biomechanical causes and effects of movement disorders.