Subtopic 14.10 Review: Chronic Physiological Adaptations to Training

Vocabulary flashcards detailing chronic physiological adaptations across respiratory, cardiovascular, muscular, and neuromuscular systems resulting from aerobic, anaerobic, and resistance training.

Increased alveolar surface area

An aerobic adaptation where the surface area of the alveoli increases, leading to increased pulmonary diffusion and allowing more oxygen to be extracted and transported to working muscles.

Increased tidal volume

An aerobic adaptation that increases the amount of air inspired and expired per breath, allowing greater oxygen diffusion into surrounding alveoli capillaries for delivery to working muscles.

Decreased resting and submaximal respiratory frequency

An adaptation to aerobic training that improves pulmonary function and capacity, enhancing oxygen extraction from alveoli to capillaries while the diaphragm and intercostal muscles operate more effectively.

Increased ventilation during maximal exercise

An aerobic adaptation where ventilation increases at maximal workloads due to higher tidal volume and respiratory frequency, delivering more oxygen to working muscles at maximum exercise intensities.

Increased left ventricle size and volume

Cardiac hypertrophy resulting from aerobic training that expands the size and volume of the left ventricle, increasing stroke volume and cardiac output to supply more oxygen to muscles.

Increased capillarisation of the heart muscle

An adaptation where cardiac hypertrophy increases capillary density in heart tissue, providing more blood and oxygen so the heart can beat more strongly and efficiently during exercise and rest.

Faster heart rate recovery rates

An aerobic adaptation where the heart rate returns to resting levels in a shorter time frame due to enhanced cardiovascular efficiency in producing energy aerobically.

Increased blood volume and haemoglobin levels

An adaptation that increases red blood cell count, haemoglobin content, oxygen-carrying capacity, and plasma ratio, reducing blood viscosity for smoother flow through vessels.

Increased capillarisation of skeletal muscle

An aerobic adaptation increasing capillary supply in skeletal muscle, which enhances blood flow, surface area for gas diffusion, nutrient delivery, and removal of metabolic by-products.

Decreased heart rate at rest and during submaximal workloads

A cardiovascular adaptation where increased stroke volume allows the heart to beat less frequently for the same oxygen delivery, reaching a lower steady state more quickly during exercise.

Increased size and number of mitochondria

A muscular adaptation to aerobic training where larger and more numerous mitochondria enhance the muscle's ability to oxidise glycogen and triglycerides to resynthesise ATP aerobically.

Increased myoglobin stores

An adaptation where increased myoglobin stores enhance the extraction of oxygen from red blood cells and its transfer to mitochondria within muscle cells for ATP production.

Increased fuel storage and oxidative enzymes

An aerobic muscular adaptation that increases storage of glycogen and triglycerides in slow-twitch fibres along with oxidative enzymes, facilitating glycogen sparing and delaying anaerobic glycolysis reliance.

Increased $a\text{-VO}_2$ difference

An adaptation reflecting a greater difference in oxygen concentration between arterioles and venules, measuring an increased capacity of muscle cells to extract and use oxygen for ATP resynthesis.

Increased muscle fibre adaptation (Aerobic)

An adaptation where skeletal muscle type 2A fast-twitch fibres assume characteristics of slow-twitch fibres, improving the ability to generate ATP aerobically with reduced fatiguing factors.

Increased $\text{VO}_2\text{ max}$

An adaptation across cardiovascular, respiratory, and muscular systems that increases maximum oxygen uptake, improving overall athletic movement economy.

Lactate inflection point (LIP)

The highest exercise intensity where lactate production and removal from the blood remain balanced; raising LIP allows athletes to work at higher intensities before hydrogen ions accumulate.

Muscular hypertrophy (Anaerobic)

An increase in muscle fibre size caused by an increase in the size and number of myofibrils as well as actin and myosin protein filaments, boosting overall strength and power output.

Increased muscular stores of ATP and CP

An anaerobic adaptation that expands the capacity of the ATP-CP energy system, allowing faster ATP resynthesis during short-duration, high-intensity activities.

ATPase

An enzyme responsible for breaking down ATP to form ADP, releasing energy directly used for muscular contraction.

Creatine kinase

An enzyme that initiates the breakdown of creatine phosphate (CP), supplying the energy necessary to rapidly resynthesise ATP.

Increased glycolytic capacity

An anaerobic adaptation featuring increased muscle glycogen stores and higher glycolytic enzyme levels, enhancing energy production capacity via the anaerobic glycolysis system.

Increased motor unit recruitment (Anaerobic)

An adaptation where an increase in nerve axons and corresponding muscle fibres recruited leads to greater strength and power during muscle contractions.

Increased lactate tolerance

An adaptation improving muscle buffering capacity against accumulated acid from hydrogen ions, delaying fatigue onset and enabling higher-intensity anaerobic performance.

Muscle hypertrophy (Resistance training)

A neuromuscular adaptation involving increased actin and myosin filaments, myofibrils, and connective tissue, allowing the muscle to exert more force and power per contraction.

Increased synchronisation of motor units

A neuromuscular adaptation enhancing the simultaneous firing of motor units and the recruitment of larger motor units requiring higher activation stimuli, producing more powerful contractions.

Rate coding (Firing rate of motor units)

An increase in the frequency of motor unit stimulation that accelerates the rate of force development and maximum contraction speed during rapid ballistic movements.

Reduction in inhibitory signals

A neuromuscular adaptation where improved coordination between agonist, antagonist, and synergist muscles reduces neural inhibition, allowing higher net force production.