Long-Term Effects of Exercise: Training Adaptations
Long-term adaptations are the permanent, measurable changes that build up over weeks and months of regular training, following the principle of overload, unlike short-term effects, which reverse once a single session ends.
Before you start
Make sure you're comfortable with these topics first:
Method
- Learn that long-term adaptations are the permanent, measurable changes that build up over weeks and months of regular training, following the principle of overload, unlike short-term effects, which reverse quickly once exercise stops.
- Learn the cardiovascular adaptations in detail: cardiac hypertrophy, increased stroke volume, a lower resting heart rate (bradycardia), increased maximal cardiac output, and increased capillarisation.
- Learn the respiratory adaptations: increased lung/vital capacity, stronger respiratory muscles and increased capillarisation around the alveoli.
- Learn the muscular and skeletal adaptations: muscle hypertrophy, an increased number and size of mitochondria, increased myoglobin and glycogen stores, greater tolerance to lactic acid, and increased bone density and stronger ligaments/tendons.
- Learn to explain WHY each adaptation benefits performance, not just name it, e.g. bradycardia means the same cardiac output can be achieved with a lower heart rate, leaving greater scope to raise heart rate further during intense exercise.
- Practise calculations linked to this topic, such as working out the percentage decrease in resting heart rate after a period of training.
- For extended questions, group adaptations by body system, and for each one state the adaptation, the mechanism, and its direct benefit to performance in a named activity.
Worked example
Before a six-month training programme, a cyclist's resting heart rate was 68 beats per minute. After the programme, it had fallen to 51 beats per minute. Calculate the percentage decrease in the cyclist's resting heart rate, and name the adaptation responsible for this change.
- Find the decrease in heart rate: 68 - 51 = 17 beats per minute.
- Divide the decrease by the original value: 17 / 68 = 0.25.
- Convert to a percentage: 0.25 x 100 = 25%.
- State the answer: the resting heart rate decreased by 25%.
- Name the adaptation: bradycardia, caused by cardiac hypertrophy increasing stroke volume, so fewer beats per minute are needed to maintain the same resting cardiac output.
Practice questions
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Q1Name the term used for the enlargement/thickening of the heart muscle as a result of training.Show answer
Answer: Cardiac hypertrophy.
Q2What term describes a lower-than-average resting heart rate caused by training?Show answer
Answer: Bradycardia.
Q3State one long-term adaptation of the respiratory system to endurance training.Show answer
Answer: Increased lung (vital) capacity, or stronger respiratory muscles, or increased capillarisation around the alveoli.
Q4Name the long-term adaptation in which muscle fibres increase in size as a result of resistance training.Show answer
Answer: Muscle hypertrophy.
Q5State one long-term adaptation that increases a muscle's ability to store and use oxygen.Show answer
Answer: Increased myoglobin stores, or an increased number and size of mitochondria, or increased capillarisation.
Q6A performer's resting stroke volume increases from 60 ml to 84 ml after a training programme. Calculate the percentage increase.Show answer
Answer: The increase is 84 - 60 = 24 ml. 24 / 60 = 0.4. 0.4 x 100 = a 40% increase.
Q7State one long-term adaptation of the skeletal system to weight-bearing exercise.Show answer
Answer: Increased bone density, or stronger ligaments and tendons.
Q8Give one reason increased capillarisation around the muscles benefits an endurance performer.Show answer
Answer: It allows more oxygenated blood to reach the working muscle fibres, increasing the rate of oxygen and nutrient delivery and waste removal, delaying fatigue.
Exam-style questions
Written in the style of a GCSE Physical Education exam paper, with a full mark scheme.
Explain THREE long-term cardiovascular adaptations that benefit an endurance runner.
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Analyse the long-term adaptations across the cardiovascular, respiratory and muscular systems that would result from six months of endurance training for a distance swimmer, and evaluate which adaptation is most important to their improved performance.
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