Exercise Physiology: Theory and Application to Fitness and Performance 9th Edition by Scott Powers, Edward Howley

Exercise 4

When fatigue occurs, ATP is still present in the cell. What is the explanation for this?

Step 1 of 4

The feeling of fatigue does not indicate complete exhaustion of ATP (adenosine triphosphate). Apart from performing muscle contraction (in case of myocytes), cell requires ATP to perform certain basic functions like pumping of ions to maintain membrane potential. If cell is completely deprived of ATP, the cell loses the membrane potential and dies.