Adaptations to Training

What Adaptations to Training covers

Adaptations to Training is examined in Component 1, Scientific principles of physical education. It covers heart and lung adaptations to training, muscle and bone adaptations to training and nervous system and muscle fibre adaptations.

The 3 subtopics

Each one has its own page.

• Heart and lung adaptations to trainingCardiac hypertrophy after endurance and strength training, stroke volume and resting heart rate, maximal cardiac output, capillary density, blood volume, blood pressure, respiratory muscles, lung volumes, VO₂ max and the a-vO₂ difference.Open →
• Muscle and bone adaptations to trainingMuscle hypertrophy and hyperplasia, mitochondria and myoglobin, fuel stores and enzymes, buffering capacity, tendons and ligaments, bone and osteoblasts, Wolff's law, articular cartilage, flexibility training, and the tennis player's arm.Open →
• Nervous system and muscle fibre adaptationsEarly neural strength gains, motor unit recruitment, impulse frequency and synchronisation, autogenic inhibition, agonist and antagonist coordination, plyometric adaptations, fibre type changes, type IIa fibres, balance training and children's strength.Open →

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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Commonly confused

Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.

• Hypertrophy vs Hyperplasia

  Hypertrophy: an increase in the size of existing muscle cells. Hyperplasia: an increase in the number of muscle cells.

• Cardiac hypertrophy vs Bradycardia

  Cardiac hypertrophy: enlargement and thickening of the heart muscle. Bradycardia: a heart rate at rest of under 60 bpm.

• Wolff's law vs Starling's law

  Wolff's law: bone remodelling to match the loads placed on it. Starling's law: a stronger ventricular contraction when filling stretches the heart more.

Questions from this topic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   Define cardiac hypertrophy.

   Model answer

   Cardiac hypertrophy is the enlargement and thickening of the heart muscle in response to training. The left ventricle shows the greatest change.

2. 2

   Explain how endurance training changes stroke volume.

   Model answer

   Endurance training raises stroke volume at rest and in exercise. A larger, stronger left ventricle fills with more blood and contracts more forcefully.

3. 3

   Compare the effects of endurance training and strength training on the heart.

   Model answer

   Endurance training mainly enlarges the chamber of the left ventricle. Strength training mainly thickens the wall of the left ventricle.

4. 4

   How does endurance training change resting heart rate?

   Model answer

   The heart rate at rest falls, often below 60 bpm in well-trained endurance athletes. The bigger stroke volume meets resting demand with fewer beats.

5. 5

   How does heart rate at a set submaximal workload change after a training programme?

   Model answer

   Heart rate at the same submaximal workload is lower after training. The heart also returns to its resting rate more quickly afterwards.

6. 6

   What happens to maximum heart rate and maximum cardiac output with endurance training?

   Model answer

   Maximum heart rate stays the same, because it depends on age. Maximum cardiac output rises, because stroke volume at maximal effort is larger.

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Adaptations to Training revision questions

What does Adaptations to Training cover in Edexcel A-Level Physical Education?

3 subtopics: heart and lung adaptations to training, muscle and bone adaptations to training and nervous system and muscle fibre adaptations. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.

How is Adaptations to Training organised?

By the Edexcel 9PE0 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.