Training Prescription for Aerobic Adaptation

Question 1

What are the main principles of training and how do they affect training capacity?

Answer 1

Overload - training at the optimal time period after the previous session will cause the greatest improvements in capacity, overtraining - training too soon after previous session won’t give an athlete enough time to recover and causes a decrease in capacity due to fatigue and a potential risk of injury, reversibility/detraining - not training soon enough after the previous session will cause an athlete to lose adaptations previously gained

Question 2

What are the characteristics of easy/steady training?

Answer 2

Prolonged bouts of moderate intensity, main modality providing largest amount of work, typically 1-4 hours at 60-70% VO2max (longer for ultra endurance), should not elicit accumulation of blood lactate

Question 3

What are the benefits of easy/steady training on blood volume?

Answer 3

Increase by 7-20%, initial increase in plasma volume (10 days) followed by an increase in red blood cell count (4 weeks), leads to increase in end-diastolic volume (EDV) meaning an increased stroke volume and reduced heart rate, cardiac output increased, VO2max increased

Question 4

What are the benefits of easy/steady training on haemoglobin concentration?

Answer 4

Increased red blood cell count, increased haemoglobin concentration, increased oxygen carrying capacity

Question 5

What are the benefits of easy/steady training on capilliarisation?

Answer 5

Increased capillary density in muscle, increased mean transit time, maintenance of a-VO2 diff even at high intensity

Question 6

What are the benefits of easy/steady training on mitochondrial size/density?

Answer 6

Increased size and density, most likely in slow twitch fibres, increase in aerobic enzymes = increased capacity for aerobic resynthesis of ATP, can exercise at higher % VO2max

Question 7

What are the benefits of easy/steady training on thermoregulation?

Answer 7

Increased heat tolerance and dissapation, increased plasma volume = increased blood flow to skin and improved sweat response which help to dissapate heat

Question 8

What are the benefits of easy/steady training on fat mobilisation?

Answer 8

Training in a glycogen depleted state common at lower intensities, increased mobilisation and use of fatty acids as fuel, spare glycogen leading to deferred accumulation of glycolysis waste products = deferred fatigue

Question 9

What are the characteristics of threshold training?

Answer 9

Training at/around lactate threshold resulting in improved performance, at the intensity where blood lactate rises dramatically, intensity controlled by HR, pace or workload, typically 30-60 minutes

Question 10

How does threshold training improve performance?

Answer 10

Reduced rate of lactate production, increased rate of lactate removal, combination of both

Question 11

How does threshold training reduce lactate production?

Answer 11

Less reliance on anaerobic glycolysis, increased ability to generate ATP aerobically, increased size/density of mitochondria, increase in key enzymes in krebs cycle and electron transport chain

Question 12

Discuss the physiology of interval training

Answer 12

Reduction in CHO oxidation and lactate accumulation at the same absolute intensity, peripheral adaptations such as buffering H+ ions which reduces acidosis and fatigue maintaining high intensity muscular activity and higher glycolytic ATP yield, enhanced heat tolerance