Training Outcomes = Chronic Adaptations
The main purpose of training is to improve a person’s physiological capacity to meet the specific demands of an activity or
competition and to perform at improved or PB levels. Chronic adaptations are changes that occur within the body to the systems
and components and this study focuses on three key areas: cardiovascular; respiratory & muscular adaptations. By
understanding what each training method involves and how various training variables might be manipulated within each method,
students should be able to foresee the likely adaptations at each of these areas.
Adaptation = long term change
Aerobic
Training
Cardiovascular
Respiratory
How the change contributes to improved
performance
Heart
 ventricle size
 stroke volume (SV)
 cardiac output (Q)
 rest & sub-max heart rates
 steady state heart rate
 recovery heart rates
Heart
Blood Vessels
 capillary density to heart muscle
 blood flow (20%) away from organs
to working muscles
 capillary density at muscles, mainly
S/Twitch
HDL = (more high density
lipoproteins)
 LDL (less bad cholesterol)
Blood Vessels
Increased ventricle size contributes to increased cardiac
output which allows more blood, oxygen & fuels to be
pumped to working muscles and more efficient /
speedier removal of by-products.
Heart able to reach steady state quicker and hence limit
oxygen deficit and reliance on anaerobic energy
systems. Less “work” required up to maximal levels and
more oxygen available to working muscles. Quicker
return to resting levels and smaller/faster oxygen debt
More blood pumped to actual heart and working
muscles, lowering likelihood of anaerobic by-products
causing fatigue.
Increase HDL acts to remove plaque from arteries and
lower cholesterol levels. This decreases amount of
resistance in blood vessels.
Blood
 blood volume
 plasma levels
 red blood cell (RBC) count
 haemoglobin
 myoglobin
 OBLA
 blood pressure (rest & sub-max)
Blood
 lung / vital capacity
 aerobic capacity
 tidal volume
 alveolar – capillary surface area
 pulmonary diffusion
 ventilation (max intensity)
 oxygen cost to ventilatory muscles
(intercostals & diaphragm)
 ventilation (rest & sub-max)
Respiratory
Greater blood volumes increase amount of oxygen
transportation to and by-product removal from working
muscles. Increased plasma slows fatigue caused by
dehydration & elevated body temperature.
Increased myoglobin increases rate of oxygen transfer from cell
membranes to mitochondria where aerobic energy can be
produced.
Decreased blood pressure has a cardio protective effect.
Increased lung capacity allows for more O2 to be taken in to
the body to then be transported to muscles.
Increased aerobic capacity improves restoration of PC as well
as allowing body to use aerobic system for greater part of the
activity.
Greater SA of alveoli combined with capillary density makes for
a larger diffusion site allowing greater amounts of gases to be
exchanged at the lungs.
Decreased oxygen cost means more oxygen available to be
sent to working muscles.
Muscular
Slow Twitch
 a-VO2 difference
 capillary supply/density
 myoglobin stores
Slow Twitch Fibres
Improved a-VO2 diff means more oxygen can be extracted by
working muscles and increased surrounding capillaries will
further enhance this supply as well as facilitate removal of byproducts.
Anaerobic
Training
Cardiovascular
 mitochondria (size, number & SA)
 oxidative enzymes
 glycogen stores
 triglyceride stores
 fibre size
 glycogen sparing
 glycogen synthase
Fast Twitch Type IIA – as above but to
a much lesser extent
Increased mitochondria will allow for greater aerobic ATP
release and oxidative enzymes will contribute to this as well.
Heart
 ventricle thickness (small increase to
SV via more forceful systole/
contraction)
Heart
Blood Vessels
 vascularisation (not as much as per
O2 training)
Blood Vessels
Blood
 blood pressure (rest & sub-max)
Respiratory
Muscular
Greater glycogen & triglyceride stores will enable muscles to
work for longer. Muscles “trained” to first use available
triglycerides and then use glycogen later in the performance and
hence glycogen spare. This allows for higher intensities later in
the performance. Glycogen synthase assists storing of glycogen
from glucose.
The heart wall thickens and thus contracts more forcefully to
squeeze out more blood per systole, and hence create smaller
increases in SV than those brought about by increased ventricle
size.
Increased capillary density results from anaerobic training, but
given the fact that muscle size increases the ratio of capillaries
to muscle tissue actually decreases
Blood
N/A
negligible
Slow Twitch - negligible
Fast Twitch – mainly occurring to Type Fast Twitch Fibres
IIB
 fibre size & possibly number
Increased size / contractile proteins allows for greater
contraction forces to be applied. Greater size allows for greater
(hyperplasia)
storage of ATP & PC and extends use of the ATP-PC system
 ATP stores
contributing to lower reliance on LA system and less LA
produced.
 PC stores
 glycogen stores
Greater glycogen stores used by LA system ad accessed by
 glycolytic enzymes
glycolytic enzymes.
 contractile proteins
More myosin ATPase allows for rapid attachment to actin and
 myosin ATPase
contractions to take effect.
 muscle buffering capacity / byMuscles learn to work as by-products accumulate, rather than
product tolerance
“fatiguing” as soon as they are present.
 improved motor unit recruitment
Nervous system and muscular system work more “in-sync” with
 neural transmission
each other to allow for more efficient movements, great force
 speed of contraction
summations, etc.
 force of contraction
Increase connective tissue accompanies increased muscle size
 size of connective tissue / tendons
to provide greater attachment to muscles and hence assists in
 LA production (sub-max)
force production.
 recovery times
Recovery from anaerobic performance is improved as body
learns to resynthesise used fuels.
PUTTING IT TOGETHER
When considering chronic adaptations that occur at the three key sites – cardiovascular,
respiratory & muscular it is important to be able to relate these to associated changes
occurring in fitness components and energy systems.
E.g.

Increased glycogen stores and glycolytic enzymes will greatly increase the lactic
acid system’s performance capacity at maximal intensities.

Improved aerobic system performance result from enhanced fat breakdown via
increased fat-metabolising and fat-mobilising enzymes.

Improved muscular power resulting from fast twitch fibres increases in contractile
proteins, neural transmissions and motor unit recruitment ability.

Improved LME resulting from increased muscle buffering capacity occurring
mainly in fast twitch fibres.
It is important to note that adaptations are reversible. In fact, training gains are lost at a quicker rate than what it took for them
to develop. Aerobic gains may take up to two years to achieve noticeable adaptations. The 30-40% improvements in aerobic
capacity that take 2-3 years to develop can easily be lost with a 3 month “lay-off”.