P.E U4AOS2 Chronic Adaptations

I'm going to freaking crash out

What are Chronic Adaptations?

Long-term physiological changes that occur as a result of participating in a training program.

What are Acute Responses?

Immediate/Short term physiological changes that occur to fulfill the needs of the current activity.

What is the minimum period of time for chronic adaptations to occur as a result of Aerobic Training?

The absolute minimum is 6 weeks, but after 12 weeks the results will be more apparent/visible.

Through what Aerobic Training techniques are chronic adaptations made?

Continuous,

Fartlek (Speed-play),

Long-interval, and

HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training)

What chronic adaptations are made as a result of Aerobic Training?

An increased ability to produce ATP aerobically.

What is the minimum period of time for chronic adaptations to occur as a result of Anaerobic Training?

The minimum is 6 weeks.

Which two systems do chronic adaptations mainly appear as a result of Anaerobic Training?

The greatest adaptations occur within the muscular system, however, changes also appear within the cardiovascular system, just lesser.

What are the adaptations that come from Anaerobic Training and their purposes?

Increased muscle size (hypertrophy) to increase:

force production,

power output,

strength, and

speed

Further adaptations include a higher resistance to metabolic byproducts.

What periods of time are neural adaptations most noticeably impacted as a result of Resistance Training?

8 to 10 weeks.

What adaptation takes over after 10 weeks of Resistance Training?

Muscular hypertrophy.

Aerobic Training (Respiratory) - How does an Increased Pulmonary Ventilation during Maximal Exercise affect individual performance?

Ventilation will decrease in sub-maximal exercise and resting phases due to an improved oxygen extraction.

During maximal workloads, however, ventilation will increase due to a greater tidal volume as well as respiratory frequency.

_{(which is the same concept as having a higher cardiac output for the cardiovascular system)}

Aerobic Training (Respiratory) - How does an Increased Tidal Volume affect individual performance?

Increased strength and endurance for the respiratory muscles which allows for deeper inhalation and exhalation of air, resulting in a greater amount of inspired and expired air by the lungs for every breath.

Meaning that there will be a greater amount of oxygen available to be diffused into the alveolar capillaries to be transported through the cardio-respiratory systems.

Aerobic Training (Respiratory) - How does a Decreased Resting and Submaximal Respiratory Frequency (RF) affect individual performance?

Much like having a lower resting heart-rate for the cardiovascular system, an improved pulmonary efficiency and an increase in oxygen extraction from the alveoli, the amount of breaths both in and out become lower during rest and in sub-maximal exercise.

Aerobic Training (Respiratory) - How does an Increased Pulmonary Diffusion affect individual performance?

Increased surface area for the alveoli improves pulmonary diffusion _{(better exchange between oxygen and carbon dioxide from the alveoli and the capillaries).}

Aerobic Training (Cardiovascular) - How does an Increase in the Size and Volume of the Left Ventricle affect individual performance?

This results in a higher stroke volume and cardiac output during activities at maximal intensities, meaning that a greater volume of blood can be ejected from the heart, resulting in an increased oxygen supply to be used.

Aerobic Training (Cardiovascular) - How does an Increased Capillarisation of the Heart Muscle affect individual performance?

(Capillarisation = increased capillary density & blood flow to skeletal or cardiac muscle)

Results in an increased blood supply and oxygen, allowing for the heart to beat stronger and at an efficient rate during all phases of exercise (work and rest).

Aerobic Training (Cardiovascular) - How does an Increased Stroke Volume of the Heart affect individual performance?

More oxygen can be delivered to the working muscles, as a result, improving the athlete’s ability to utilise more oxygen, and as a result, improving their ability to resynthesise ATP aerobically.

This means that they can work at higher intensities for longer and with fewer fatiguing factors, equaling in an improved overall performance.

Aerobic Training (Cardiovascular) - How does a Decreased Resting Heart Rate affect individual performance?

^{[ Elite endurance athletes can have heartbeats as low as 35 BPM, which is half of a regular person’s 70 BPM ]}

As the oxygen requirement in the resting phase (~5 Litres of blood per minute) does not change, a greater stroke volume will lead to more blood being pumped for every beat, meaning that the heart can beat less frequently to meet the demand during rest.

Aerobic Training (Cardiovascular) - How does a Decreased Heart Rate during Sub-maximal Workloads affect individual performance?

Due to higher stroke volumes, the heart does not need to work as hard as an untrained individual’s in order to meet the oxygen demand for sub-maximal activity.

This efficiency results in a slower increase in heart-rate during exercise, as well as a faster attainment of steady state.

Aerobic Training (Cardiovascular) - How does a Faster Recovery Heart Rate affect individual performance?

After exercise, trained athletes will recover back to their resting heart-rates far faster than those who are untrained after either maximal or sub-maximal exercise.

This is due to greater efficiency within their cardiovascular systems.

Aerobic Training (Cardiovascular) - How does an Increased Cardiac Output during Maximal Exercise affect individual performance?

Unlike at rest and during sub-maximal exercise, cardiac output does increase for maximal intensity exercise due to an increase in stroke volume _{(as there is only minimal increase possible for maximum heart-rate).}

Aerobic Training (Cardiovascular) - How does Decreased Blood Pressure affect individual performance?

Both Systolic and Diastolic blood pressure levels during rest and exercise will lower as a result to reduce blood flow resistance and strain on the heart _{(thus, decreasing likelihood of cardiovascular conditions like heart attacks)}.

[ This is more of a general health benefit rather than a performance benefit ]

Aerobic Training (Cardiovascular) - How does Increased Capillarisation of the Skeletal Muscles affect individual performance?

Denser capillary structures equal increased blood flow, in turn allowing for a greater supply of oxygen and nutrients to the muscles, as well as a greater removal of byproducts.

[ An increase in the number of capillaries surrounding each individual muscle fibre is one of the most significant factors that leads to an increase in VO₂ Max. ]

Aerobic Training (Cardiovascular) - How does an Increased Blood Volume affect individual performance?

Through consistency and maintenance of an aerobic training program, individuals are likely to achieve a 25% increase in total blood volume, meaning that there is a higher count of red blood cells and haemoglobin within those red blood cells ^{(which allow them to carry more oxygen)}

Blood plasma is also likely to face significant increase, meaning there is a greater ratio of plasma to blood cells, resulting in decreased blood viscosity — this allows it to flow smoother through the blood vessels.

Aerobic Training (Muscular) - How does an increase in the Size and Number of Mitochondria affect individual performance?

Allows for greater fuel oxidation for aerobically-produced ATP.

[ More energy production sites available = More energy produced. ]

Aerobic Training (Muscular) - How does an Increase in Myoglobin Stores affect individual performance?

Results in an improved ability of the muscles to extract oxygen and deliver it to the mitochondria for energy production.

Aerobic Training (Muscular) - How does an Increased Arteriovenous Oxygen Difference ^{(a-VO₂ diff.)} affect individual performance?

More oxygen can be extracted from the bloodstream into the muscles during both sub-maximal and maximal exercise for trained individuals.

A Greater a-VO₂ difference allows for greater oxygen availability in the muscles for energy production.

Aerobic Training (Muscular) - How does an Increase in Muscular Fuel Stores and Oxidative Enzymes affect individual performance?

From an increased storage of glycogen and triglycerides _{(both fuels for energy resynthesis)} in the muscle, energy production becomes more readily available.

An increase in oxidative enzymes _{(Which are used to metabolise fuel stores for ATP)} can also be found, meaning that there is less reliance on the Anaerobic Glycolysis System until higher intensities are reached.

Aerobic Training (Muscular) - How does Increased Oxidation of Glucose and Triglycerides affect individual performance?

Trained athletes will, as a result, rely less on glycogen stores during exercise until later on — meaning that they will be able to maintain higher levels of intensity at a faster pace, overall improving aerobic performance.

Aerobic Training (Muscular) - How does the Adaptation of Muscle Fibre Types affect individual performance?

There will be an improvement in the recruitment of fast-twitch muscle fibres.

Fast-twitch muscle fibres can also take on characteristics of slow-twitch muscle fibres through endurance training, meaning that aerobic performance will also be improved.

Anaerobic Training (Muscular) - How does Muscular Hypertrophy affect individual performance?

Affecting mainly the type IIa and IIb fast-twitch muscle fibres, myofibril size and count per muscle fibre increases, leading to increased strength levels.

_{[ Testosterone is a big factor in muscular hypertrophy. ]}

Anaerobic Training (Muscular) - How does an Increase in both Fuel Stores and Enzymes ^{(ATP, ATPase, Create Kinase & CP)} affect individual performance?

As a result of muscular hypertrophy, muscular stores of ATP and Creatine Phosphate (CP) also increases, therefore increasing the capacity of the ATP-CP system for high-intensity activities.

ATPase ^{(which is required in the breaking-down and resynthesis fo ATP)} & Creatine Kinase ^{(Which helps initiate CP breakdown)} both also provide energy to resynthesise ATP at a fast rate.

Anaerobic Training (Muscular) - How does an Increased Glycotic Capacity affect individual performance?

More glucose in the body is converted into glycogen, increasing the glycogen storage within the muscles.

A greater muscular storage of glycogen, as well as increased glycolytic enzyme levels are also adaptations of anaerobic training, which increases the capacity of that system to produce energy.

Anaerobic Training (Muscular) - How does an Increased Ability to Recruit More Motor Units affect individual performance?

Nerve axons will be able to ‘innervate’ ^{(supply nerves to)} their corresponding muscle fibres more as a result of anaerobic training, meaning that more motor units are able to be recruited, thus allowing for more strength and power for that respective muscle to be produced.

Anaerobic Training (Muscular) - How does Cardiac Hypertrophy affect individual performance?

Unlike with aerobic training and its increase of the left ventricle, anaerobic training increases the thickness of the ventricular walls as a whole.

Little-to-no-change in stroke volume occurs here, but this does result in more forceful contractions of the heart, meaning blood is ejected harder from the heart.

Anaerobic Training (Muscular) - How does an Increased Lactate ^(Byproduct) Tolerance affect individual performance?

By working anaerobically, this means that work is being done above LIP, meaning that lactate is being produced faster than it can be removed.

Through consistency and maintenance of anaerobic training though, the body is able to tolerate more and more levels of lactic acid through an increase in ‘buffering capacity’ leading to an improvement in the body’s ability to remove the negative byproducts.

Resistance Training (Neuromuscular) - How does Muscular Hypertrophy & Changes in Muscle Structure affect individual performance?

Through an increase of the cross-sectional area of muscles, as well as increases in the number of muscle fibres as a whole, greater force production and strength is able to be achieved.

Resistance Training (Neuromuscular) - How do Muscle Fibre Type Adaptations affect individual performance?

Adaptations are achieved based on the specificity of the training program undertaken _{^{(strength, power, endurance, hypertrophy, etc.)}}

Type 2 fast-twitch muscle fibres will increase in size more than type 1 slow-twitch muscle fibres — thus explaining muscular hypertrophy as a result of resistance training.

Resistance Training (Neuromuscular) - How does an Increased Synchronisation of Motor Units affect individual performance?

Motor units are recruited from smallest to largest in size, meaning that they are not all recruited at the same time.

Through resistance training, a number of different motor units will be able to fire at the same time, allowing for an increased ability to recruit larger ones — stimulating the larger muscle fibres in order to create stronger muscular contractions with greater force application.

Resistance Training (Neuromuscular) - How does an Increase in the Firing Rate of Motor Units affect individual performance?

Increases the rate of force development ^{(How quickly a muscle can maximally contract)}, which is beneficial for when rapid movements at maximal force is required in very short periods of time.

Resistance Training (Neuromuscular) - How does a Reduction in Inhibitory Signals affect individual performance?

Designed to protect the body from excessive force generation within a muscle.

Through consistency and maintenance of a resistance training program, these protective reflexes will be overridden and allow for greater force production within muscle groups.