Adaptions to aerobic exercise

Question 1

How do the mitochondria adapt to aerobic exercise (3) and what does this allow?

Answer 1

Increase in
1. number
2. size
3. efficiency of your muscles’ mitochondria (specialised structures within the muscle fibres in which the aerobic production of ATP occurs)

This enhances your ability to produce ATP via oxidation.

Question 2

How do capillaries adapt to aerobic exercise (1) and what does this allow?

Answer 2

1. The number of capillaries surrounding each muscle fibre can increase by up to 15%.

allows greater exchange of gases, heat, waste products and nutrients between the blood and the working muscle fibres and so enhances aerobic performance.

Question 3

How does haemoglobin and myoglobin adapt to aerobic exercise (1) and what does this allow?

Answer 3

1. Haemoglobin and myoglobin levels increase

which allows improved oxygen transport during exercise.

Question 4

How does Vo2 max adapt to aerobic exercise (1)

Answer 4

1. Perhaps the most significant change in response to aerobic training is an increase in your VO2max. For example, if you were previously sedentary and then train three times per week at 75% VO2 for 30 minutes, over a period of six months you can expect a 15–20 % increase in your VO2max.

Question 5

What is Vo2 max and what does it measure?

Answer 5

the maximum or optimum rate at which the heart, lungs, and muscles can effectively use oxygen during exercise, used as a way of measuring a person’s individual aerobic capacity.

Question 6

How does lactate threshold adapt to aerobic exercise (1) and what does this allow?

Answer 6

1. lactate threshold occurs at a higher percentage of VO2max.

this means you are able to perform at a greater rate of work, such as an increased running speed, and at a higher absolute rate of oxygen consumption without incurring a rise in blood lactate levels.

Question 7

What is lactate threshold?

Answer 7

the point during exercise of increasing intensity at which your blood lactate begins to accumulate above resting levels

Question 8

How does lactic acid adapt to aerobic exercise in relation to the type of exercise (3) and what does this allow?

Answer 8

1. a training programme may also include some sprint type training, which although anaerobic in nature, can improve aerobic performance.
2. It can also improve your body’s ability to buffer lactic acid and so delay fatigue during high intensity exercise.
3. This form of more anaerobic training also improves your movement efficiency, which reduces your energy expenditure.

Question 9

Endurance trained muscles can store as much as ____ the amount of glycogen stored in untrained muscles. What does this provide?

Answer 9

double - This provides a greater source of fuel for you to better tolerate the demands of exercise.

Question 10

Endurance trained muscles also contain significantly more ___ or triglyceride than untrained muscles

Answer 10

fat

Question 11

Aerobic exercise also increases the rate at which the fatty acids used as fuel by the muscles are released from storage. This allows the muscles to do what?

Answer 11

burn more fat and less carbohydrate, which helps spare the body’s store of glycogen and so postpone fatigue.

Question 12

Endurance trained clients tend to use more fat and less carbohydrate for energy at any given rate of work than untrained people do. This is particularly beneficial for what kind of training and what are the benefits?

Answer 12

during endurance events lasting several hours, such as the marathon,

benefits = prevents the early depletion of muscle glycogen and so helps endurance performance.

Question 13

To achieve full range of optimal training adaptations what do we need to do when thinking about creating a training schedule?

Answer 13

use a variety of training methods within an endurance training programme, as each will produce slightly different adaptations.

Question 14

What are a couple of the most commonly used training methods? (2)

Answer 14

1. over distance training
2. interval training

Question 15

How do we perform over distance training? Think %HRR, RPE and time it takes.

Answer 15

over distance or long slow distance training involves a continuous effort at a low to moderate intensity of 60–70% heart rate reserve (HRR), or a rate of perceived exertion (RPE): 11–13, for an extended period, perhaps 30 minutes to 2 hours.

Question 16

What is the purpose of over distance training?

Answer 16

The purpose of this training is to develop the oxidative metabolism of slow twitch fibres and encourage the use of fat as a fuel. As such, it provides a strong foundation for all other aerobic training.

Question 17

How do we perform interval training? Think %HRR, RPE and time it takes.

Answer 17

Interval training consists of a repeated series of high intensity work bouts interspersed with recovery periods of light activity.

A variety of interval training protocols are employed in aerobic conditioning programmes. One of the most popular is long intervals. This involves high intensity work bouts at 80–90% HRR or an RPE: 13–17 for 3–8 minutes interspersed with 3–5 minute recovery periods.

Question 18

What is the purpose of over distance training/ benefits?

Answer 18

It is based on the concept that more work can be performed at higher exercise intensities with less fatigue than experienced with continuous training.

This form of training can be used to develop speed, and aerobic and anaerobic power, depending on the type of intervals used.

This form of interval training recruits the fast twitch type a fibres and places greater emphasis on energy production from the glycolytic lactate producing system and so enhances your ability to perform high intensity exercise.

Question 19

What is the source of energy for interval training?

Answer 19

the fuel source used for energy depends on the intensity of the training method, with fat being the predominant energy source for low intensity work and carbohydrate becoming increasingly dominant as the intensity increases.