← Physical Education syllabus

EnglandPhysical Education

Exercise physiology (Component 01)

5 dot points across 5 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

How do diet and legal ergogenic aids support training and performance?

The macronutrients and micronutrients and their roles, dietary strategies such as glycogen loading and hydration, and the benefits and risks of legal ergogenic aids.
A focused answer to OCR A-Level PE on diet, nutrition and ergogenic aids: the roles of carbohydrate, fat and protein and the key micronutrients, glycogen loading and hydration strategies, and the benefits and risks of legal aids such as creatine, caffeine, bicarbonate and nitrates.
10 min answer →

How do altitude and heat affect performance, and how do athletes prepare for them?

The effects of altitude on oxygen availability and aerobic performance, the effects of heat and humidity on thermoregulation, and the acclimatisation and strategies used to cope with each.
A focused answer to OCR A-Level PE on environmental effects: how altitude lowers the partial pressure of oxygen and impairs aerobic performance, how heat and humidity stress thermoregulation and hydration, and the acclimatisation, altitude-training models and cooling strategies athletes use to cope.
9 min answer →

How are sports injuries prevented, treated and rehabilitated?

Acute and chronic injuries and their intrinsic and extrinsic risk factors, the methods used to prevent injury, the immediate management of acute injuries, and the rehabilitation methods that restore performance.
A focused answer to OCR A-Level PE on injury prevention and rehabilitation: acute and chronic injuries and their intrinsic and extrinsic risk factors, the warm-up, screening and conditioning used to prevent injury, the PRICE and SALTAPS approach to acute management, and the rehabilitation methods that restore strength, flexibility and proprioception.
10 min answer →

How does the body recover after exercise and repay its oxygen debt?

Excess post-exercise oxygen consumption and its fast and slow components, the replenishment of phosphocreatine and the removal of lactate, and recovery strategies that speed return to readiness.
A focused answer to OCR A-Level PE on recovery and EPOC: the alactacid (fast) and lactacid (slow) components of excess post-exercise oxygen consumption, the resynthesis of phosphocreatine, the fate and removal of lactate, oxygen myoglobin restoration, and the recovery strategies that return a performer to readiness.
10 min answer →

How do different training methods produce the physiological adaptations that improve performance?

The principles of training, the main training methods for aerobic, anaerobic, strength and flexibility goals, and the long-term cardiovascular, respiratory and muscular adaptations they cause.
A focused answer to OCR A-Level PE on training methods and adaptations: the principles of training (specificity, overload, progression, reversibility), the methods for aerobic, anaerobic, strength and flexibility goals including HIIT and PNF, and the long-term cardiovascular, respiratory and muscular adaptations and their performance benefits.
11 min answer →