1.4.2

Long-Term Effects of Exercise

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Long-Term Effects of Exercise on Muscles

Exercise can result in the following improvements to muscular performance:

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Muscle size

  • By training anaerobically, the body will also increase in muscular size (hypertrophy).
  • This happens when a performer trains using heavy weights at a high intensity. They can do repetitions (lifts per set) and sets (cycles of repetitions) to build muscle mass and develop muscular strength.
  • This would include a low amount of repetitions and a high amount of sets (4x6).
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Joint flexibility

  • Over time, the tendons (attach muscle to bone) and ligaments (attach bone to bone) surrounding a joint become stronger.
  • This makes the joint more stable during movement, which reduces the chance of becoming injured.
  • By repeating movements at joints, a performer can increase the flexibility at the joint.
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Muscular endurance

  • Training can be manipulated (changed in a certain way) to develop muscular endurance.
  • By training anaerobically, a performer can develop muscle definition (shape) over time.
  • Training anaerobically includes doing a high amount of repetitions and a low amount of sets (15x3).

Long-Term Effects of Exercise - Cardiovascular Gains

If a performer trains at a lower and more repetitive intensity over a period of time, then they will improve their cardiovascular endurance (the ability of the heart, lungs and blood vessels to deliver oxygen to your body tissues).

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Hypertrophy of the heart

  • The heart is a muscle. This means that when made to work at a higher intensity than usual over a period of time, it will develop and grow in size.
  • This is called hypertrophy of the heart. A stronger heart will need to beat less often as it can eject (pump out) more blood with each beat (increase in stroke volume).
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Cardiovascular endurance

  • Running, cycling and swimming are all examples of activities that require cardiovascular endurance.
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Bradycardia

  • If the heart has a better stroke volume, the heart will need to beat less often at rest (heart rate) to produce the same cardiac output (volume of blood pumped out).
  • We call this bradycardia, where resting heart rate is lower because of long-term exercise.

Body Image and Performance

Exercise can also make an athlete feel and perform better.

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Weight loss

  • Regular exercise will cause weight loss. This is because the body breaks down fat stores to use the glucose for energy.
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Increased performance

  • If a performer trains using fast anaerobic movements (e.g. sprinting), they can increase their speed.
  • Exercises that help achieve this include short sprints, bounding and box jumps.

Jump to other topics

1Applied Anatomy & Physiology

2Movement Analysis

3Physical Training

4The Principles of Training

5Using Data

6Sports Psychology

7Socio-cultural Influences

8Health & Fitness

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