The phrase "as he exerted" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used to describe an action or effort made by someone, often in a context where the exertion is relevant to the situation being discussed.
Example: "As he exerted himself during the marathon, he felt a surge of adrenaline pushing him forward."
Alternatives: "as he applied effort" or "as he made an effort".
And he becomes this book's true author as he exerts the strength that finally means most here, the redeeming power of an artist's imagination.
When he pitches frequently, as he is now, Wendell runs longer, often up to eight miles, because he wants to exert the rest of his body as much as he exerts his arm.
Telling the story of the young, impassioned hero, Julien Sorel, as he exerts himself to rise above his humble station using a mixture of native gifts and hypocrisy, Stendhal wrote in a style inimical to both Classicists and Romantics alike; and so the book reads astonishingly freshly today.
As the officer who must carry out Mr. Obama's order to "responsibly withdraw from Iraq," General Odierno plays a role that is changing over time: from a commander who ran military operations across the country to one who now must give way to local security forces — even as he exerts influence behind the scenes.
Among the Yoruba a talking drum set consists of four hourglass drums and a kettledrum; the leather lacings of the former are gripped by its player, enabling him to change the pitch as he exerts more or less pressure on them; the chief drum of the set is capable of an octave range and, in addition to tones, produces also the glides typical of the Yoruba language by manipulation of the lacings.
He repeatedly told the officials of the Islamic Revolution Court that his children had lived in America all of their lives and as such he exerted no control over their strong, typically American independent behavior.
Later as city editor and editor he exerted a fine influence on the policies of the paper.
He never returned to the United States, but through such pupils as Washington Allston, Gilbert Stuart, Charles Willson Peale, and John Singleton Copley, he exerted considerable influence on the development of art in that country during the first decades of the 19th century.
Vitti has said Meyer's "fingerprints are on nearly every script" and he "exerts as much influence on the show as anyone can without being one of the creators," while recounting how "a show that you have the writer's credit for will run, and the next day people will come up to you and tell you how great it was.
It was a brazen show of the power and influence he exerts as a three-time world champion.
