When you exercise, your muscles act something like electric - TopicsExpress

When you exercise, your muscles act something like electric motors. Your muscles take in a source of energy and they use it to generate force. An electric motor uses electricity to supply its energy. Your muscles are biochemical motors, and they use a chemical called adenosine triphosphate (ATP) for their energy source. During the process of burning ATP, your muscles need three things: *.They need oxygen, because chemical reactions require ATP and oxygen is consumed to produce ATP. *.They need to eliminate metabolic wastes (carbon dioxide, lactic acid) that the chemical reactions generate. *.They need to get rid of heat. Just like an electric motor, a working muscle generates heat that it needs to get rid of.