AQA GCSE Physical Education (8582) · Paper 1

🫀 Applied Anatomy & Physiology

Revision notes written to the specification, with examiner tips and the required practicals. Every point here has flashcards in the Stickwise app.

The skeletal system

The skeleton has several functions in sport and exercise. It provides support for the body, allows movement by giving muscles a fixed structure to pull against, known as leverage, and gives protection to organs such as the heart, lungs and brain. Two named examples of protection are the cranium, which surrounds the brain, and the ribs and sternum, which form a protective cage around the heart and lungs.

The skeleton also produces blood cells and stores minerals. Red and white blood cells, along with platelets, are made in the bone marrow found inside certain bones. The skeleton stores calcium and phosphorus, minerals that help keep bones strong.

Ball and socket jointA ball and socket joint, found at the hip and shoulder, allows movement in every direction, including flexion, extension, abduction, adduction, rotation and circumduction.

Hinge jointA hinge joint, found at the elbow and knee, allows movement in one plane only, permitting flexion and extension.

A ligament joins bone to bone and gives a joint stability. A tendon joins muscle to bone, and transfers the force of a muscle contraction so that the bone moves.

🎯 Examiner tip: When a question asks about a joint's movement, always name the joint type as well, for example a hinge joint at the elbow, and describe the movement using a named sporting action, such as the extension of the elbow in a javelin throw.

🎯 Examiner tip: Summer 2027 update: AQA now lets both boys and girls be assessed in the 300 m and the 300 m hurdles in athletics (previously girls only). This changes the practical assessment, not the theory papers.

The muscular system

Muscles that move a joint usually work in antagonistic pairs. While one muscle, the agonist, contracts to cause movement, the other, the antagonist, relaxes. At the elbow, the biceps contracts to cause flexion while the triceps relaxes, and the triceps contracts to cause extension while the biceps relaxes.

Quadriceps and hamstringsAt the knee, the quadriceps, at the front of the thigh, cause extension, and the hamstrings, at the back of the thigh, cause flexion.

Gastrocnemius and tibialis anteriorAt the ankle, the gastrocnemius, in the calf, causes plantarflexion, pointing the toes down, and the tibialis anterior, at the front of the shin, causes dorsiflexion, pulling the toes up.

Hip flexors and glutealsAt the hip, the hip flexors, at the top of the thigh, cause flexion, lifting the knee up, and the gluteals, in the buttock, cause extension, driving the leg back.

Some muscles are best known for a single, distinctive action. The deltoid, at the shoulder, causes abduction, raising the arm out to the side, as in a star jump or a volleyball serve. The abdominals, running down the front of the trunk, cause flexion of the spine, curling the body forward, as in a sit-up.

🎯 Examiner tip: For a 'name the muscle and describe the movement' question, always match the muscle to the correct joint action in a named sporting example, such as the gastrocnemius causing plantarflexion as a sprinter drives off the blocks. Marks are often lost by naming the right muscle but describing the wrong movement.

Cardiovascular & respiratory systems

The heart has four chambers. Two atria, left and right, sit at the top and receive blood; two ventricles, left and right, sit at the bottom and pump blood out. A wall of muscle called the septum separates the left and right sides, stopping oxygenated and deoxygenated blood from mixing, and valves prevent blood flowing backwards, keeping it moving in one direction.

Pulmonary circulation moves blood between the heart and the lungs to pick up oxygen. Systemic circulation moves blood between the heart and the rest of the body, delivering that oxygen to working muscles.

Cardiac output is the volume of blood the heart pumps in one minute. It depends on stroke volume, the volume of blood pumped with each beat, and heart rate, the number of times the heart beats per minute.

cardiac output (Q) = stroke volume × heart rate (Q = SV × HR)

Air travels from the mouth or nose, down the trachea, into the bronchi, then the smaller bronchioles, before finally reaching the alveoli. Gas exchange happens at the alveoli, where oxygen diffuses into the blood and carbon dioxide diffuses out, both moving down a concentration gradient. Alveoli are well adapted for this exchange because they have a large surface area, thin walls, and a good blood supply.

🎯 Examiner tip: Six-mark questions on gas exchange are marked for linking each adaptation of the alveoli to the reason it speeds up diffusion, for example a large surface area allowing more gas to diffuse at once, rather than just listing the adaptations on their own.

Aerobic & anaerobic exercise

Aerobic exercise uses oxygen to release energy. It is performed at low to moderate intensity and can be sustained for a long duration, such as long-distance running.

glucose + oxygen → carbon dioxide + water (+ energy)

Anaerobic exercise is performed without enough oxygen, at high intensity for a short duration, and produces lactic acid as a by-product. It is used for short, explosive actions such as a 100 m sprint or a maximal weightlifting lift.

glucose → lactic acid (+ energy)

EPOC, or excess post-exercise oxygen consumption, is the raised intake of oxygen that continues after exercise stops. This extra oxygen is used to repay the oxygen debt and break down the lactic acid that has built up. Lactic acid causes muscle fatigue during anaerobic exercise, and is removed once enough oxygen becomes available again.

🎯 Examiner tip: When asked to compare aerobic and anaerobic exercise, always link intensity, duration and by-product together for each type, for example noting that anaerobic exercise, such as a 100 m sprint, is high-intensity, brief, and produces lactic acid, rather than listing the three features separately.

Short- and long-term effects of exercise

During exercise, immediate effects include a higher heart rate, faster or deeper breathing and warmer muscles. AQA distinguishes these from short-term effects up to 36 hours after exercise, including tiredness, light-headedness, nausea, aching muscles or DOMS, and cramp.

Regular training also produces long-term adaptations. Muscular hypertrophy is a long-term increase in the size of muscle fibres, caused by regular resistance training, which increases strength. Cardiac hypertrophy is a long-term enlargement of the heart muscle from regular aerobic training, which increases stroke volume and allows the heart to pump more blood with each beat.

Because a fitter heart has a greater stroke volume, it can pump the same amount of blood with fewer beats, so resting heart rate decreases. This long-term drop is called bradycardia. Training also causes capillarisation, a long-term increase in the number of capillaries around the alveoli and muscles, which improves the delivery of oxygen and the removal of waste products such as carbon dioxide.

🎯 Examiner tip: Long-term adaptation questions are marked for cause and effect together: state the adaptation, then explain what it allows the body to do, for example cardiac hypertrophy increasing stroke volume, so more oxygenated blood reaches the muscles with each beat.

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