CHRONIC ADAPTATIONS

TO TRAINING
Aerobic

KEY KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS

Chronic adaptations of the cardiovascular, respiratory and muscular
systems to training

Explain how chronic adaptations to the cardiovascular, respiratory

and muscular systems lead to an improved performance

CHRONIC TRAINING ADAPTATIONS

Chronic adaptations are the bodies long term responses of the
cardiovascular, respiratory and muscular systems that develop over a
period of time where training is repeated regularly.
Generally this needs to be 3 times a week for at least 6-8 weeks.

FACTORS IN CA
Methods of training. Aerobic vs Anaerobic (very specific)
Principles of training, frequency, duration, intensity. The greater we
make these the better the results. What could be a problem with this?
Individual capacity and hereditary factors (genetic make up)

YOUR TURN
Name the training methods used that develop:
chronic aerobic adaptations
chronic anaerobic adaptations.

Thinking ahead for the following athletes name some chronic

adaptions which may occur as part of their training

WHERE DO CA TAKE PLACE

Cardiovascular
Respiratory
Muscular

CA AND AEROBIC TRAINING

Min 6 weeks, more evident in 12
Designed to bring more efficient delivery of oxygen to working
muscles

CARDIOVASCULAR
Increased heart size (cardiac hypertrophy).
Increased capillarisation of the heart muscle
Increased stroke volume of the heart
Decreased resting heart rate
Decreased heart rate during sub-maximal workloads
Increased heart rate recovery rates

Increased cardiac output during maximal exercise

Decreased blood pressure
Increased arteriovenous oxygen difference
Increased blood volume and haemoglobin level
Increased capillarisation of skeletal muscle
Decreased blood cholesterol, triglycerides

CARDIAC HYPERTROPHY
Increased heart size (cardiac hypertrophy). Left ventricle increases in
size and volume. How does this help?

INCREASED CAPILLARISATION
Increased capillarisation. Increased capillary density in the heart itself
The heart therefore will have a better supply of blood and oxygen.
How would this effect the hearts function?

INCREASED STROKE VOLUME

Increased Stroke volume.
How would this increase an athletes performance?

DECREASED RESTING HR
Decreased resting HR. Oxygen needed at rest does not change.
How can increased stroke volume make this happen?

DECREASED HR DURING SUB-MAXIMAL

EXERCISE
Trained aerobic athletes have lower heart rates at sub-maximal
workloads compared with those of untrained individuals.What is this
as a result of ?

Put quite simply, the heart works more efficiently.

INCREASED HEART RATE RECOVERY

RATES
Increased Heart Rate Recovery rates

INCREASED CARDIAC OUTPUT DURING

MAXIMAL EXERCISE
Increased cardiac output during maximal exercise.
Q does not change at rest or sub-max but has the ability to
provide more blood during maximal workloads
How does this help performance?

DECREASE BLOOD PRESSURE

Decrease blood pressure

What benefits does this have on the heart?

INCREASED A-VO2 DIFF

Increased a-VO2 diff
The athlete is able to absorb more oxygen from their bloodstream
into their muscles during exercise.
How is this possible?

How will this improve performance?

I N C R E A S E D B L O O D VO LU M E A N D
HAEMOGLOBIN LEVELS
Increased blood volume and haemoglobin levels.

How does this help performance? What athletes would have these
adaptations?

INCREASED CAPILLARISATION OF
SKELETAL MUSCLE
Capillarisation of skeletal muscle
What training allows this adaptation?

How does this help improve performance?

DECREASED BLOOD CHOLESTEROL,

TRIGLYCERIDES, AND LOW AND HIGHDENSITY LIPOPROTEIN LEVELS
How does this help our overall health?

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RESPIRATORY
Increased lung ventilation during maximal exercise
Increased maximum oxygen uptake
Increased lactate inflection point
Increased pulmonary diffusion

I N C R E A S E D L U N G V E N T I L AT I O N
DURING MAXIMAL EXERCISE
Ventilation is increased because of increased tidal volume (TV) and
respiratory frequency (RF).
is also enhanced as a result of training.
How does this increase performance?

INCREASED PULMONARY
DIFFUSION
Pulmonary diffusion is increased by aerobic training.
Increased surface area of the alveoli
This means more oxygen can diffuse from the alveoli into the blood
in the same period of time

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INCREASED VO2 MAX

Can increase by up to 5-30%
What adaptations allow VO2max to be increased?

INCREASED LACTATE INFLECTION

POINT (LIP)
What is the LIP?

How can this help us?

YOUR TURN
Identify three types of athletes most likely to develop chronic respiratory adaptations as a result of
participating in a long-term aerobic training program.

For each of the athletes identified in part (a), explain why they develop such adaptations.

Define the term lactate inflection point (LIP).

Explain why a higher LIP is achieved with aerobic training.

Explain how aerobic training can result in more efficient lung ventilation.

Also do Extend your understanding page 331

VO2 max can increase up to 30 per cent if an athlete participates in a long-term aerobic training program. Identify and discuss each of the
adaptations that can contribute to this improvement.

Discuss how an athlete can work for harder and longer if their LIP has been increased.

MUSCULAR
Increased oxygen utilisation
Increased muscular fuel stores
Increased oxidation of glucose and fats
Decreased use of the anaerobic glycolysis (lactic acid) system
Adaptation of muscle fibre type

INCREASED OXYGEN UTILISATION

Increased size and number of mitochondria. How does this help?

Increased myoglobin stores. How does this help?

INCREASED MUSCULAR FUEL STORES

Aerobic training also leads to increases in the muscular storage of
glycogen and triglycerides, along with the oxidative enzymes required
to metabolise these fuel stores and produce ATP aerobically.

INCREASED OXIDATION OF GLUCOSE

AND FATS
The muscles ability to oxidise and use glycogen and triglycerides is
improved

DECREASED USE OF THE ANAEROBIC

G LYC O LY S I S ( L A C T I C A C I D ) S Y S T E M
Enhanced capacity of the muscle to use glycogen and triglycerides
means that we dont need to break down glycogen anaerobically = less
fatiguing by-products.

ADAPTATION OF MUSCLE FIBRE TYPE

Skeletal muscle switches fibre types from fast twitch to slow twitch
as a result of endurance training.

Characteristic

Slow-twitch

Fast-twitch
oxidative

Fast-twitch
glycolytic

Also known as

Type 1

Type 2A

Type 2B

Colour

Red

Red

White

Used for

Aerobic

Anaerobic (longterm)

Anaerobic (shortterm)

Fibre size

Small

Medium

Large

Motor neuron size Small

Large

Very large

Resistance to
fatigue

High

Medium

Low

Force production

Low

High

Very high

Speed of
contraction
Hypertrophy

Slow

Fast

Very fast

Low

High

High

YOUR TURN
Name the types of training that develop chronic aerobic adaptations in muscle tissue.
Identify three types of athletes most likely to develop aerobic muscle tissue adaptations as a result of
participation in a long-term training program. E.g marathon runner

For each of the athletes identified in part (a), explain why they develop such adaptations.