12.

Cardiorespiratory Adaptations to Training

CARDIORESPIRATORY ADAPTATIONS TO TRAINING

A. Endurance

• Muscular endurance
The ability of a muscle or muscle group to exert force repeatedly to sustain a
contractive state over a period of time.

 For sprinters, muscular endurance is the ability to sustain a high speed over
the full distance of a 100m 0r 200m race.

 In weight lifting, boxing and wrestling, muscular endurance is the ability of a

single muscle or muscle group to sustain high-intensity, repetitive, or static
exercise.

 Muscular endurance is highly related to muscular strength and anaerobic

development.

Cardiorespiratory endurance
The ability of the body to deliver oxygen effectively to the working muscle to
sustain prolonged, rhythmical exercise.

 Cardiorespirarory endurance is the ability of the body to sustain prolonged,

rhythmical exercise. (e.g., : cycling, distance running & long distance
swimming)

 Cardiorespiratory endurance is highly related to the development of the CV

& respiratory system, thus the aerobic development.

B. Evaluating Endurance Capacity

• VO2 max: maximal O2 uptake

The highest rate of O2 consumption obtainable during maximal or exhaustive
exercise.

 VO2 max representing aerobic power, as the best laboratory measure

of CR endurance capacity & is the best indicator of CR endurance.

 VO2 max is measured in ml · k-1 · min-1.

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• O2 Transport System
Refer to all components of the CV & respiratory systems that are related to the
transportation & delivery of O2.

 The functioning of O2 transport system is defined by the interaction of the

cardiac output & the arterial-venous oxygen difference (a-vO2 diff).

 Arterial-venous oxygen difference (a-vO2 diff), which is the

difference between the O2 content of the arterial blood & the O2
content of the venous blood.

 Q (SV x HR) tells how much O2-carrying blood leaves the heart in 1 min.
 a-vO2 diff tells how much O2 is extracted from the blood by the tissues.

 The product tells us the rate of O2 consumption:

VO2 = SV x HR x a-vO2 diff

 The active tissues’ O2 demand increases during exercise. Body endurance

depends on the O2 transport system’s ability to deliver sufficient O2 to
these active tissues to meet the high demands.

C. Cardiovascular Adaptations to Training

1. Heart size

• ‘Cardiac hypertrophy’ – the left ventricle undergoes the most change in response to
endurance training.
• The internal dimensions of the left ventricle increase, mostly in response to an
increase in ventricular filling.
• Left ventricle wall thickness also increase, increasing the strength potential of the
chamber’s contraction. (increases contractility)

2. Stroke Volume

• Following endurance training, SV increases during rest, submaximal levels of

exercise, and maximal exercise.
• A major factor leading to the SV increase is an increased end-diastolic volume
(EDV), probably caused by an increased in blood plasma.
• Another major factor is increased left ventricle contractility. This is caused by
hypertrophy of the cardiac muscle and increased elastic recoil, which results from
increased stretching of the chamber with more diastolic filling.

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3. Heart Rate (HR)

• Resting heart rate (RHR)- the HR at rest, averaging 60-80 bpm.

RHR decreased as a result of endurance training. In a sedentary person the
decrease is typically about 1 bpm per week during initial training. Highly trained
endurance athletes often have resting rates of 40 bpm or less.
• Submaximal HR also decreases, often by about 20 to 40 bpm following 6 months of
moderate training.
• Maximum heart rate (HR max) – the highest HR value attainable during an all out
effort to the point of exhaustion.
HR max either remains unchanged or decreases slightly with training. When
decrease occurs, it is probably to allow optimum SV to maximize cardiac output.
• ‘HR recovery period’ – the time it take for HR to return to the resting rate after
exercise.
‘HR recovery period’ decreases with increased endurance, making this value well
suited to tracking an individual’s progress in training. However, this is not useful for
comparing fitness of different people because of the potential influence of other
factor like exercise in hot environment or high altitudes can prolong HR elevation.
• Resistance training can also lead to reduced HR; however, these decreases are not
reliable or as large as those seen with endurance training.
(Resistance training is designed to increase strength, power, & muscular
endurance)

4. Cardiac Output (Q)

• Q at rest or during submaximal levels of exercise remains unchanged or decreases

slightly after training.
• Q at maximal levels of exercise increases considerably. This is largely the result
of the substantial increases in SV.

5. Blood Flow

• Endurance training increases blood flow to muscle because:

i. Increased capillarization
ii. Greater opening of existing capillaries
iii. More effective blood redistribution.

6. Blood Pressure

• Resting BP is decreases with endurance training in those with borderline or

moderate hypertension.
• Endurance training has little or no effect on BP during submaximal or maximal
exercise.
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7. Blood Volume

• Endurance training causes increased in blood volume, due to increased in plasma

volume which is one of the most significant effects of training.
• Increased in RBC count, but the gain in plasma is much higher, resulting in a
relatively greater fluid portion of the blood. (Increased in plasma volume is >,
therefore > fluid, hence decreased in blood viscosity, therefore increased in blood
circulation)
• Plasma volume increases because increased in SV and VO2max.

D. Respiratory Adaptations to Training

1. Lung Volumes

Effects of endurance training

• In general, lung volumes change little with training.
 Vital capacity (VC) increases slightly.
 Residual volume (RV) slightly decreases.
• Overall, total lung capacity remains unchanged.
 Tidal volume is unchanged at rest & during submaximal exercise, but
increases during maximal exercise.

 Vital capacity (VC) = the maximum volume/amount of air expelled from the lungs
after maximum inspiration/inhalation.
 Residual volume (RV) = the amount of air that cannot be exhaled from the lungs or
remains in the lungs.
 Tidal volume = the amount of air breathed in and out (inspired or expired) during
normal respiration.

2. Respiratory Rate

• After training, respiratory rate remains steady at rest, decrease slightly with
submaximal exercise, but increases with maximal exercises.

3. Pulmonary Ventilation

• After training, pulmonary ventilation is unchanged or slightly decreases at rest &

at submaximal exercise, but increases at maximal exercise due to increased in
tidal volume and respiration rate.

 Pulmonary ventilation = the movement of gases into & out of the lungs.

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4. Pulmonary Diffusion

• After training, pulmonary diffusion is unaltered/ unchanged at rest and during

submaximal exercise, however increases at maximal exercise because of increased
in ventilation and increased in lung perfusion. (More blood is brought into lungs for
gas exchange, & at the same time ventilation is increased, so more air is brought
into the lungs)

 Pulmonary diffusion = the exchange of gases between the lungs & the blood.

5. Arterial-Venous Oxygen Difference (a-vO2 diff)

• Training increases a-vO2 diff, especially at maximal exercise because the

increased in O2 extraction by tissues and increased in blood distribution.

* Respiratory system is quite adept at bringing adequate amounts of O2 into the body,
thus it usually does not limit endurance performance.

E. Metabolic Adaptations

1. Lactate Threshold (LT)

• Endurance training increases LT, therefore can perform at a higher rates of work
and at a higher rate of O2 consumption without increasing the blood lactate above
resting levels.
• The increase in LT is because a greater ability to clear lactate produced in the
muscle, and an increase in skeletal enzymes coupled with a shift in metabolic
substrate.
• Maximal blood lactate concentration is increased slightly.

 Lactate threshold (LT) = the point during exercise of increasing intensity at

which blood lactate begins to accumulate above resting levels.

2. Respiratory Exchange Ratio (RER)

• RER reflects the types of substrates being used as an energy source.

• After training, RER is decrease at submaximal work rate, indicating a greater
utilization of FFA instead of CHO.
• At maximal work, RER increases due to the ability to perform at max levels for
longer periods of time.

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 Respiratory exchange ratio (RER) = the ratio of CO 2 expired to the O2

consumed at the level of the lungs.

3. Resting & Submaximal O2 Consumption

• O2 consumption can be increase slightly at rest & decreased slightly or unaltered

during submaximal exercise.

4. Maximal O2 Consumption

• VO2max increases with training, but the amount of increase is limited in each
individual. The major limiting factor is O2 delivery to the active muscles.

F. Long–term Improvement in Endurance

• VO2max has an upper limit. The highest attainable VO2max is usually reached within
18 months of intense endurance conditioning.
• Endurance performance can continue to improve for years with continued training.

G. Factors Affecting the Response to Aerobic Training

1. Heredity

• VO2max depends on genetic limits which predetermines the range for VO2max.
(25%-50% of the variance in VO2max values)
• Heredity also explains for individual variations in response to identical training
program.

2. Age

• Age-related decreases in aerobic capacity is partly due to the decreased in activity.

3. Gender

• VO2max of highly conditioned female endurance athletes is only about 10% lower
than highly conditioned male endurance athletes.

4. Responders and Non-responders

• Response to a training program is also genetically determined.

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5. Specificity of training

• The more specific the training program to the sports involved, the more
improvement there will be.
• To maximize CR gains from training, the training should be specific to the type of
activity that an athlete usually performs.

6. Cross–training

• Resistance training combines with endurance training does not appear to improve
the aerobic capacity, but may increase short term endurance.

H. Cardiorespiratory Endurance and Performance

• Cardiorespiratory endurance is regarded as the most important component of

physical fitness & is an athlete’s major defense against fatigue.
• Even minor fatigue can have a detrimental effect on the athlete’s total
performance:
 Muscular strength is decreased.
 Reaction & movement times are prolonged.
 Agility & neuromuscular coordination are reduced.
 Whole –body movement speed is slowed.
 Concentration & alertness are reduced.

• Therefore, CV conditioning must be the foundation of general conditioning program.

• All athletes can benefit from maximizing their endurance.