Physiology of Training

Learning Outcomes
1. Physiology of Endurance Training
2. Physiology of Strength training
3. Physiological adaptations
4. Compare b/w the adaptations to Anaerobic & Aerobic Training

Performs the regular exercise over a period of weeks, body adapts physiologically
Resistance training– muscles become stronger
Aerobic training– Heart & lungs become more efficient & endurance capacity increases
High intensity anaerobic training– neuromuscular, metabolic & cardiovascular systems
adapt– Allowing to generate more ATP/ unit of time__Increasing the muscular
endurance & speed of movement over short periods of time.
1. Muscular Strength– Ability of a muscle to exert force
2. Muscular Power– Rate of performing work, or the product of force & velocity
3. Muscular Endurance– Capacity to sustain a static contraction or to maintain for
aerobic resynthesis of ATP
4. Maximal Anaerobic Power/ Anaerobic Capacity– Maximal capacity of anaerobic
system to produce ATP

General Principles of training

1. Principle of Individuality– Each person responds uniquely to training & training
programs must be designed to allow for individual variation
2. Principle of Specificity– To maximize benefits, training must be specifically
matched to the type of sport the person engages in.
3. Principle of Reversibility– Training benefits are lost if training is either
discontinued or reduced abruptly (maintenance program)
4. Principle of progressive overload– body adapts to training at a given volume &
intensity, the stress placed on the body must be increased progressively for the
training stimulus to remain effective in producing further improvements
5. Principle of variation (or periodization)-- one or more aspects of the training
program should be altered over time to maximize effectiveness of training.
Resistance Training Programs
➤ A needs analysis should be completed before a resistance training program is designed
to tailor the program to the athlete’s specific needs

1. Major muscle groups need to be trained

2. Type of training should be used to achieve the desired outcome (improved
strength, power)
3. Energy system
4. Injury prevention

Resistance Training Program

1. Exercises
2. Order
3. Number of sets
4. Rest periods
5. Amount of resistance

Improving Strength, Hypertrophy, and Power

1. Repetitions with both concentric (CON, muscle shortening)
2. Eccentric (ECC, muscle lengthening) actions.
3. Secondary role– Isometric contractions (beneficial)
4. CON strength improvement is greatest when ECC exercises are included
5. Large muscle groups should be stressed before smaller groups
6. Multiple-joint exercises before single joint exercises
7. Higher-intensity efforts before those of lower intensity.

ACSM recommendations
1. Rest periods of 2 to 3 min or more be used between heavy loads for novice &
intermediate lifters
2. Advanced lifters– 1 or 2 min may suffice (2% to 10% increase in load should be
applied)
3. Novice and intermediate lifters– Machine-based exercises & free weights
4. Advanced lifters– free weights.
5. Low-repetition, high-resistance training– enhances strength development
6. High-repetition, low intensity training– optimizes muscular endurance.
7. Core stability– providing a foundation for greater force production & force
transfer to the extremities while stabilizing other parts of the body
Anaerobic and Aerobic Power Training Programs

Anaerobic & aerobic power training programs are designed to train the 3 metabolic
energy systems:
ATP-PCr system, anaerobic glycolytic system & oxidative system.
1. Interval training– Repeated bouts of high- to moderate-intensity exercise
interspersed with periods of rest or reduced intensity exercise.
For short intervals, the rate or pace of activity & the number of repetitions are
usually high & the recovery period is usually short. Just the opposite is the case for
long intervals.
2. Continuous training– No rest intervals & can vary from LSD training to
high-intensity training. Long, slow distance training is very popular for general
fitness training.
3. Fartlek training (speed play) –Recovering from several days or more of intense
training.
4. Interval-circuit training– Combines interval training & circuit training into one
workout.
Adaptations to Resistance Training– 3 to 6 months– 25% to 100% improvement

Mechanisms of Gains in Muscle Strength

1. Gains in muscle size– generally paralleled by gains in strength
2. losses in muscle size correlate highly with losses in strength.

Neural Control of Strength Gains

1. Neural adaptations– Motor unit recruitment, stimulation frequency

Synchronization and Recruitment of Additional Motor Units

1. Strength gains may result from changes in the connections between motor
neurons (spinal cord)
2. Allowing motor units to act more synchronously– Facilitating contraction
3. Increasing the muscle’s ability to generate force
4. More motor units are recruited to perform the given task
5. Increase in neural drive to the motor neurons during maximal contraction
6. Increase the frequency of discharge (rate coding) of the motor units.
7. Hypertrophy may or may not take place.

Neural mechanisms–Leading to strength gains–Increase in frequency of stimulation (rate

coding) – Recruitment of more motor units–More synchronous recruitment of motor
units–decreases in autogenic inhibition from the Golgi tendon organs.

Muscle Hypertrophy
1. Types– Transient & Chronic.
2. Transient muscle hypertrophy- Temporary enlargement of muscle
3. Resulting from edema immediately after an exercise bout
4. Fluid accumulation (edema) – interstitial & intracellular spaces of the muscle that
comes from the blood plasma
5. Lasts only for a short time
6. Fluid returns to the blood within hours after exercise
7. Chronic muscle hypertrophy– Occurs from repeated resistance training
 8. Reflects actual structural changes in the muscle
9. Increase in the size of existing individual muscle fibers (fiber hypertrophy), in the
number of muscle fibers (fiber hyperplasia), or both.

Fiber Hypertrophy
1. More myofibrils
2. More actin & myosin filaments
3. More sarcoplasm
4. More connective tissue, or any combination of these.
5. Resistance training– Provide more cross-bridges for force production during
maximal contraction

Fiber Hyperplasia
1. Changes in neural factors, but later long-term gains are largely the result of muscle
hypertrophy
2. Muscles atrophy (decrease in size & strength) – become inactive, as with injury,
immobilization, or cessation of training.
3. Atrophy begins very quickly if training is stopped; but training can be reduced
4. Transition of type IIx to type IIa fibers.
5. Evidence indicates that one fiber type can actually be converted to the other type
(e.g., type I to type II, or vice versa) as a result of cross innervation or chronic
stimulation & possibly with training

Structural Damage
1. Acute muscle soreness occurs late in an exercise bout & during the immediate
recovery period.
2. Delayed–onset muscle soreness usually peaks a day or two after the exercise bout.
Eccentric action seems to be the primary instigator of this type of soreness.
3. Proposed causes of DOMS include structural damage to muscle cells &
inflammatory reactions within the muscles. The proposed sequence of events
includes structural damage, impaired calcium homeostasis, inflammatory response
& increased macrophage activity.
4. Muscle strength is reduced in muscles injured by eccentric contractions and is
 likely the result of physical disruption of the muscle, failure of the
excitation–contraction process, and loss of contractile protein.
5. Muscle soreness can be minimized by using lower intensity and fewer eccentric
contractions early in training. However, muscle soreness may ultimately be an
important part of maximizing the resistance training response.
6. Exercise-associated muscle cramps are attributable to either fluid or electrolyte
imbalances or both.
7. Muscle fatigue-associated cramps are related to sustained a-motor neuron activity,
with increased muscle spindle activity and decreased Golgi tendon organ activity.
8. Heat-associated cramps, which typically occur in athletes who have been sweating
excessively, involve a shift in fluid from the interstitial space to the intravascular
space, resulting in a hyperexcitable neuromuscular junction.
9. Rest, passive stretching, holding the muscle in the stretched position, and fluid
and electrolyte restoration can be effective in treating EAMCs. Proper
conditioning, stretching, and nutrition are also possible prevention strategies.
10. Resistance training can benefit almost everyone, regardless of the person’s sex, age,
or athletic involvement.
11. Most athletes in most sports can benefit from resistance training if an appropriate
program is designed for them. But to ensure that the program is working,
performance should be assessed periodically and the training regime adjusted as
needed.
Adaptations to Aerobic and Anaerobic Training
Aerobic training (cardiorespiratory endurance training)--
1. Pulmonary adaptations
2. Improves cardiac function
3. Peripheral blood flow
4. Enhances the capacity of the muscle fibers to generate greater amounts of ATP
5. Promoting more efficient utilization of oxygen & fuel substrates.
6. Improving circulation to & within the muscles
7. distance runners, cyclists, cross-country skiers & swimmers

Anaerobic training
1. Improves anaerobic metabolism
2. Short-term, high-intensity exercise capacity
3. Tolerance for acid–base imbalances
4. Muscle strength.

Endurance: Muscular Versus Cardiorespiratory

Muscular endurance–
1. Ability of a single muscle or muscle group to maintain high intensity,
repetitive, or static contractions
2. Sprinters– endurance is the quality that allows them to sustain a high speed
over the full distance a 100 or 200 m race
3. Weightlifter doing multiple repetitions– can be rhythmic & repetitive in
nature,
4. boxer- jabbing
5. Wrestler– attempts to pin an opponent)
6. Either resulting fatigue is confined to a specific muscle group & activity’s
duration is usually no more than 1 or 2 min.
7. Highly related to muscular strength & to anaerobic power development
Cardiorespiratory endurance–
1. Ability to sustain prolonged, dynamic whole-body exercise using large muscle
groups.
2. Related to the development of the cardiovascular & respiratory systems
3. Ability to maintain oxygen delivery to working muscles during prolonged exercise
4. Muscles’ ability to utilize energy aerobically

Importance of including resistance training as a part of the total training program for
sports that do not demand high levels of strength, or high-intensity sprint training for
sports that do not require speed or high anaerobic capacities.
Ans: least maintain, basic strength levels, as well as some sprint training to facilitate their
ability to sustain speed when needed (e.g., sprinting to the finish line at the end of a
marathon).

Evaluating Cardiorespiratory Endurance Capacity

Maximal Endurance Capacity: VO2max (maximal aerobic capacity)
1. Exercise intensity increases–Oxygen consumption eventually either plateaus or
decreases slightly even with further increases in workload–Indicating that a true
maximal VO2 has been achieved.
2. Endurance training– More oxygen can be delivered to & utilized by, active muscles
than in an untrained state
3. Average increases in VO2max of 15% to 20% after a 20-week training program
(around 30%)

Cardiovascular Adaptations to Training

1. Heart size
2. Stroke volume
3. Heart rate
4. Cardiac output
5. Blood flow
6. Blood pressure
7. Blood volume
Oxygen Transport System
1. Ability of the cardiovascular & respiratory systems to deliver oxygen to active
tissues is defined by the Fick equation
V . O2 = stroke volume heart rate (a-v¯)O2 diff
2. depend on adaptations in maximal stroke volume & maximal (a-v¯)O2 difference.
3. Endurance training elicits numerous changes in these components of the oxygen
transport system that enable it to function more effectively

Heart Size
1. Cardiac muscle mass & ventricular volume increase with training
2. Skeletal muscle—Morphological adaptations (chronic training)
3. Cardiac hypertrophy (—“athlete’s heart,”)
4. Left ventricle– undergoes the greatest adaptation
5. Type of ventricular adaptation depends on the type of exercise training performed
6. Resistance training— left ventricle must contract against increased afterload from
the systemic circulation.
 7. blood pressure during resistance exercise can exceed 480/350 mmHg–presents a
considerable resistance that must be overcome by the left ventricle
8. To overcome this high afterload, heart muscle compensates by increasing left
ventricular wall thickness, thereby increasing its contractility.
9. Increase in its muscle mass is in direct response to repeated exposure to the
increased afterload
10. Endurance training– left ventricular chamber size increases (Volume loading
effect)
11. Allows for increased left ventricular filling & consequently an increase in stroke
volume
12. decrease in heart rate at rest caused by increased parasympathetic tone & during
exercise at the same rate of work, allows a longer diastolic filling period.
13. Increases in plasma volume & diastolic filling time increase left ventricular
chamber size at the end of diastole
14. Internal dimensions of the left ventricle increase, mostly in response to an increase
in ventricular filling secondary to an increase in plasma volume.
15. Left ventricular wall thickness & mass also increase, allowing for a greater force of
contraction

Stroke Volume
1. Increased left ventricular dimensions
2. Reduced systemic peripheral resistance
3. greater blood volume account for the increases in resting, submaximal & maximal
stroke volume
4. Plasma volume expands, left ventricle fills more completely during
diastole—allows for more blood to enter the ventricle during diastole, increasing
end-diastolic volume (EDV).
5. Heart rate of a trained heart is lower at rest & at the same absolute exercise
intensity than that of an untrained heart—allowing more time for the increased
diastolic filling. More blood entering the ventricle increases the stretch on the
ventricular walls; by the Frank-Starling mechanism, results in an increased force of
contraction
6. Thickness of the posterior & septal walls of the left ventricle increases
7. Increased ventricular muscle mass results in increased contractile force, in turn
causing a lower end-systolic volume
8. Increased contractility resulting from an increase in left ventricular thickness &
greater diastolic filling (Frank-Starling mechanism), coupled with the reduction in
systemic peripheral resistance, increases the ejection fraction [equal to (EDV –
ESV)/ EDV] in the trained heart.
9. Increased left ventricular dimensions, reduced systemic peripheral resistance & a
greater blood volume account for the increases in resting, submaximal & maximal
stroke volume after an endurance training program.
10. Peripheral adaptations—contribute to the increase in V. O2max

11. SV is increased at rest & during submaximal & maximal exercise.

12. Increase is an increased EDV caused by an increase in plasma volume & a greater
diastolic filling time secondary to a lower heart rate
13. Increased SV is an increased left ventricular force of contraction. caused by
hypertrophy of the cardiac muscle & increased ventricular stretch resulting from
an increase in diastolic filling (increased preload), leading to greater elastic recoil
(FrankStarling mechanism)
14. Reduced systemic vascular resistance (decreased afterload) also contributes to the
increased volume of blood pumped from the left ventricle with each beat
Heart Rate (bradycardia– fewer than 60 beats/min)
1. Resting heart rate decreases markedly (lower than 30- 40 beats/min)
2. Training appears to increase parasympathetic activity in the heart while decreasing
sympathetic activity
3. Exercise strengthens the heart muscle
4. Enabling it to pump a greater volume of blood with each heartbeat.
5. More oxygen gets delivered to the muscles
6. Heart needs to beat fewer times than it would in a less-fit person while at rest.
7. Submaximal heart rate is likewise lower during exercise at the same absolute
workload, generally by 10 to 20 beats/min or more.
8. Maximal heart rate– generally does not change or decrease slightly
9. Recovery period– decreases more rapidly after training (convenient way of
tracking the adaptations that occur with training)
10. Cardiac output at rest & at submaximal levels of exercise remains unchanged (or
may decrease slightly)
11. during maximal exercise increases considerably & is largely responsible for the
increase in V O2max.
12. Increased maximal cardiac output is the result of the substantial increase in
maximal stroke volume, made possible by training-induced changes in cardiac
structure and function
 Blood Flow
1. Increase in blood flow to muscle
2. Increased capillarization– To permit increased blood flow, new capillaries
develop in trained muscles.
3. Greater recruitment of existing capillaries– Allows the blood flowing into
skeletal muscle from arterioles to more fully perfuse the active fibers.
Increase in capillaries usually is expressed as an increase in the number of
capillaries per muscle fiber (capillary-to-fiber ratio)
4. More effective blood flow redistribution from inactive regions
5. Increased total blood volume

Blood Pressure
1. Reduction in blood pressure during submaximal exercise at the same exercise
intensity
2. Maximal exercise intensity the systolic blood pressure is increased & diastolic
blood pressure is decreased compared to pretraining values
Blood volume
1. Increases as a result of endurance training– Results primarily from an increase in
plasma volume, also an increase in the volume of red blood cells

Plasma Volume
1. Plasma volume is expanded through increased protein content (returned from
lymph & upregulated protein synthesis). This effect is maintained & supported by
fluid-conserving hormones
2. Results in increases in plasma proteins (albumin)
3. Red blood cell volume also increases, but the increase in plasma volume is typically
higher.
4. Increased plasma volume decreases blood viscosity, which can improve tissue
perfusion & oxygen availability

Respiratory Adaptations to Training

1. Although the largest part of the increase in VO2max results from the increases in
cardiac output & muscle blood flow, an increase in (a-v¯)O2 difference also plays a
key role.
2. This increase in (a-v¯)O2 difference is attributable to a more effective distribution
of arterial blood away from inactive tissue to the active tissue & an increased ability
of active muscle to extract oxygen.
3. Unlike what happens with the cardiovascular system, endurance training has little
effect on lung structure & function
4. To support increases in VO2max, there is an increase in pulmonary ventilation
during maximal effort following training as both tidal volume & respiratory rate
increase
5. Pulmonary diffusion at maximal intensity increases, especially to upper regions of
the lung that are not normally perfused
6. The (a-v¯)O2 difference widens with training, reflecting increased oxygen
extraction by the tissues and more effective blood distribution to the active tissues
7. Increases both the number of capillaries per muscle fiber & the number of
 capillaries for a given cross-sectional area of muscle.
8. These changes improve blood perfusion through the muscles, enhancing the
diffusion of oxygen, carbon dioxide, nutrients & by-products of metabolism
between the blood & muscle fibers
9. Skeletal muscle fiber mitochondria increase both in number & size with aerobic
training, providing the muscle with an increased capacity for oxidative metabolism
10. Selectively recruits type I muscle fibers & fewer type II fibers. Consequently, the
type I fibers increase their cross-sectional area with aerobic training
11. After training, there appears to be a small increase in the percentage of type I
fibers, as well as a transition of some type IIx to type IIa fibers
12. Capillary density—the number of capillaries supplying each muscle
fiber—increases with training
13. Increases muscle myoglobin content by as much as 75% to 80%. Myoglobin
transports oxygen from cell membranes to the mitochondria
14. Increases both the number & the size of muscle fiber mitochondria
15. Activities of many oxidative enzymes are increases
16. These changes occurring in the muscles, combined with adaptations in the oxygen
transport system, enhance the capacity of oxidative metabolism & improve
endurance performance
17. Increase in the lactate threshold is a major factor in the improved performance of
aerobically trained endurance athletes
18. Lactate threshold increases with endurance training, allowing performance of
higher exercise intensities without significantly increasing blood lactate
concentration
19. RER decreases at submaximal work rates, indicating greater utilization of free
fatty acids as an energy substrate (carbohydrate sparing)
20. Oxygen consumption generally remains unchanged at rest & remains unaltered or
decreases slightly during submaximal exercise following endurance training
21. Heredity is a major determinant of aerobic power, accounting for as much as 25%
to 50% of the variation in VO2max among individuals
22. Individual differences cause substantial variation in subjects’ responses to a given
training program. Genetics accounts for much of this variation in respons
23. All athletes can benefit from maximizing their cardiorespiratory endurance
24. Anaerobic training increases the ATP-PCr and glycolytic enzymes but has no
effect on the oxidative enzymes. Conversely, aerobic training increases the oxidative
enzymes but has little effect on the ATP-PCr or glycolytic enzymes. This fact
reinforces a recurring theme: Physiological alterations that result from training are
highly specific to the type of training
25. Anaerobic training bouts improve both anaerobic power and anaerobic capacity.
26. The performance improvement noted with sprinttype anaerobic training appears
to result more from strength gains than from improvements in the functioning of
the anaerobic energy systems.
27. Anaerobic training increases the ATP-PCr and glycolytic enzymes but has no
effect on the oxidative enzymes.
28. Close attention must be given to selecting an optimal training program. The
program must be carefully matched with the athlete’s individual needs to
maximize the physiological adaptations to training, thereby optimizing
performance
29. For athletes to maximize cardiorespiratory gains from training, the training should
be specific to the type of activity that an athlete usually performs.
30. Resistance training in combination with endurance training does not appear to
restrict improvement in aerobic power and may increase short-term endurance,
but it can limit improvement in strength and power when compared with gains
from resistance training alone