How does regular exercise affect articular cartilage?

Articular cartilage becomes thicker with regular exercise. Thicker cartilage cushions the ends of bones better and reduces wear at the joint.

How do ligaments adapt to training, and how is this linked to mobility training?

Ligaments become stronger and slightly more elastic. Mobility training increases the range of movement at a joint while the stronger ligaments keep it stable.

How do tendons adapt to regular training?

Tendons thicken and become stronger. Thicker tendons withstand the greater forces produced by stronger muscles.

What is muscular hypertrophy?

Muscular hypertrophy is an increase in the cross-sectional area of a muscle. Heavy resistance training produces the greatest hypertrophy, mainly in fast twitch fibres.

Eduqas A-Level Physical Education A550QS

Health, Fitness and an Active Lifestyle

Topic overview Health, fitness and the UK activity guidelines Physical, psychological and social benefits of exercise Sedentary lifestyles and the risks to health

Short-Term Responses to Exercise

Topic overview The heart as a dual-action pump and the cardiac cycle Stroke volume, heart rate and cardiac output during exercise Nervous and hormonal control of heart rate Blood vessels, blood pressure and the vascular shunt Ventilation, gas exchange and neuromuscular responses

Long-Term Adaptations to Exercise

Topic overview Bone, connective tissue and muscle adaptations Bradycardia, cardiac hypertrophy and ejection fraction Lung volumes, pulmonary diffusion and aerobic capacity

Fitness Testing and Components of Fitness

Topic overview Health-related and skill-related fitness components Field test protocols for each component Laboratory tests and maximal versus sub-maximal testing Validity, reliability and interpreting results

Training Methods, Principles and Periodisation

Topic overview Specificity, progressive overload, reversibility, variance and FITT Continuous, fartlek, interval and high intensity training Weight, plyometric, circuit and flexibility training Altitude training and training in hot and cold climates Training zones, heart rate monitoring and periodisation

Energy Systems

Topic overview ATP, the ATP-PC system and the lactic acid system Aerobic energy production, fuels and maximal oxygen uptake The energy continuum, thresholds and training design

Fatigue and Recovery

Topic overview Fuel depletion, dehydration and fatigue Lactate accumulation, OBLA and DOMS Oxygen deficit and the stages of EPOC Lactate removal and recovery aids

Diet, Nutrition and Supplements

Topic overview Macronutrients and a balanced diet Energy balance, glycaemic index and fuel use Diets for different sports and carbohydrate loading Hydration strategies and sports drinks Protein, creatine and caffeine supplements

Injury Prevention and Rehabilitation

Topic overview Warm-up and cool-down physiology Risk assessment and the PAR-Q Causes and predictors of injury PRICE and rehabilitation methods

Joints and the Musculo-Skeletal System

Topic overview Joint classification and synovial joint types The skeleton, bone types and connective tissue Major skeletal muscles in sporting actions Muscle fibre types, muscle roles and contractions

Planes, Axes and Movement Patterns

Topic overview The sagittal, frontal and transverse planes Axes of rotation in sporting movements Joint movement terms in sporting actions

Biomechanical Principles and Levers

Topic overview Newton's laws of motion in sport Momentum, impulse and force–time graphs Stability, centre of mass and equilibrium Lever systems and mechanical advantage

Linear and Angular Motion

Topic overview Distance, displacement, speed and velocity Acceleration and graphs of motion Angular displacement, velocity and acceleration Moment of inertia and conservation of angular momentum

Projectile Motion and Fluid Mechanics

Topic overview Factors affecting the flight of a projectile Lift forces and the Bernoulli principle Spin and the Magnus effect Drag, streamlining and laminar flow

Performance Analysis

Topic overview The coaching process and approaches to analysis Video analysis Notational analysis, time-motion analysis and GPS

Technology in Sport

Topic overview Technology for the performer Technology for officials Technology for spectators Technological doping and the level playing field

Personality

Topic overview Trait, social learning and interactionist theories Extroverts, introverts and Type A and Type B personalities Personality profiling and the profile of mood states

Attitudes

Topic overview Attitudes, prejudice and stereotyping The triadic model of attitudes Changing attitudes through cognitive dissonance and persuasion

Goal Setting

Topic overview Why performers set goals Outcome, performance and process goals SMART goals and short, medium and long-term targets

Stress, Arousal and Anxiety

Topic overview Stress, arousal and anxiety defined Drive, inverted-U and catastrophe theories The zone of optimal functioning and peak flow Measuring stress, arousal and anxiety Controlling stress, arousal and anxiety

Motivation

Topic overview Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation Achievement motivation: need to achieve and need to avoid failure Competitiveness and developing achievement motivation in young performers

Aggression

Topic overview Aggression, assertion and types of aggression Theories of aggression Causes and control of aggression

Social Facilitation

Topic overview Audiences, co-actors and performance Theories of social facilitation Home field advantage and reducing social inhibition

Group Dynamics and Leadership

Topic overview The 6 Is and the formation of groups Task and social cohesion Group productivity, social loafing and the Ringelmann effect Leadership theories and styles Chelladurai's multi-dimensional model and the Leadership Scale for Sports

Attribution Theory

Topic overview Weiner's model of attribution Errors in attribution Learned helplessness and attribution retraining

Self-Efficacy and Confidence

Topic overview Self-efficacy, self-confidence and self-esteem Bandura's four sources of self-efficacy Developing self-efficacy

Skill, Ability and Skill Classification

Topic overview Skill, ability, learning and performance Gross motor and psychomotor abilities Classifying skills on continua

Learning Curves, Theories and Stages

Topic overview Learning curves and plateaus Observational learning Reinforcement and drive reduction theory Fitts and Posner's stages of learning

Transfer, Practice and Guidance

Topic overview Types of transfer Methods of practice Methods of guidance

Information Processing, Memory and Feedback

Topic overview Information processing models and feedback Memory stores and selective attention Strategies for improving memory Reaction time, response time and Hick's law The psychological refractory period, anticipation and motor programmes

Sport, Culture and Society

Topic overview Culture, society and social institutions Sport as social control and socialisation Sport, national identity and government

The Emergence of Modern Sport

Topic overview Public schools and the three stages of athleticism Universities, codification and the spread of games From amateurism to professionalism and commercialisation Olympism, shamateurism and sport as a political tool

Ethics, Deviance and Doping

Topic overview Fair play, sportsmanship and gamesmanship Deviance, Coakley's sports ethic and violence Reasons for doping and its ethics WADA, drug testing and biological passports

Social Differentiation in Sport

Topic overview Social stratification and class in sport Prejudice, stereotyping and discrimination Barriers to participation for disadvantaged groups Strategies to widen participation

Sport and the Mass Media

Topic overview Functions and forms of the media in sport The symbiotic relationship and the golden triangle Media stereotypes and the dramatisation of sport

Commercialisation and Globalisation

Topic overview Sport as a commodity and consumerism Sponsorship, marketing and the sporting goods market Americanisation and globalisation theory Globalisation, financial gain and global migration

Mass Participation and Excellence

Topic overview Mass participation versus excellence Participation, lifestyle and movement between levels Talent identification and the elite pathway Sport organisations and recreational pathways

Long-Term Adaptations to Exercise

3 subtopics
9 things to know
Components 1 and 2

What Long-Term Adaptations to Exercise covers

Long-Term Adaptations to Exercise is examined in both papers, since Component 1 and Component 2 can each examine any of the content. It covers bone, connective tissue and muscle adaptations, bradycardia, cardiac hypertrophy and ejection fraction and lung volumes, pulmonary diffusion and aerobic capacity.

Where it is assessed

Components 1 and 2

Either 2 hour written paper, each worth 35% of the A level, can examine this.

Check the Eduqas specification ↗

The 3 subtopics

Each one has its own page.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Your recallNot started

Key term

How do fast twitch fibres respond to endurance training and to sprint and power training?

Key term

Why is an athlete's enlarged heart healthy, and how does capillarisation of the heart muscle help?

Key term

How does training widen the a-vO₂ difference and raise VO₂ max?

Key term

How does regular weight-bearing training increase bone density?

Key term

What is cardiac hypertrophy?

Key term

How do the respiratory muscles adapt to training?

Key term

Why does a gymnast gain more bone density from training than a swimmer?

Evaluation

How does endurance training change the heart differently from strength training?

Key term

Define vital capacity and state how training affects it.

Take Long-Term Adaptations to Exercise further

The same content, four other ways.

Commonly confused

Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.

Myoglobin vs Haemoglobin
Myoglobin: the oxygen store inside muscle fibres. Haemoglobin: the oxygen carrier inside red blood cells.
Vital capacity vs Residual volume
Vital capacity: the most air that can be forced out after the deepest breath in. Residual volume: the air that stays in the lungs after the hardest breath out.
Bradycardia vs Cardiac hypertrophy
Bradycardia: a resting heart rate below 60 beats per minute. Cardiac hypertrophy: enlargement and thickening of the heart muscle.

Questions from this topic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1
How does regular weight-bearing training increase bone density?
Model answer
The stress of weight-bearing training stimulates osteoblasts to lay down more calcium. Bone density rises, so bones become stronger and more resistant to fracture.
2
Why does a gymnast gain more bone density from training than a swimmer?
Model answer
Gymnastics involves repeated impacts and weight-bearing landings that stress bone. Water supports a swimmer's body weight, so the bones receive little loading.
3
How does regular exercise affect articular cartilage?
Model answer
Articular cartilage becomes thicker with regular exercise. Thicker cartilage cushions the ends of bones better and reduces wear at the joint.
4
How do ligaments adapt to training, and how is this linked to mobility training?
Model answer
Ligaments become stronger and slightly more elastic. Mobility training increases the range of movement at a joint while the stronger ligaments keep it stable.
5
How do tendons adapt to regular training?
Model answer
Tendons thicken and become stronger. Thicker tendons withstand the greater forces produced by stronger muscles.
6
What is muscular hypertrophy?
Model answer
Muscular hypertrophy is an increase in the cross-sectional area of a muscle. Heavy resistance training produces the greatest hypertrophy, mainly in fast twitch fibres.

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Health, Fitness and an Active Lifestyle

Short-Term Responses to Exercise

Long-Term Adaptations to Exercise

Fitness Testing and Components of Fitness

Cram a whole paper in one sitting

Sort every topic into what you know and what you do not, then drill only the weak ones.

Leadership is seen as .

innatelearnedtaught

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AA larger base of support makes a performer more stable.

BA gymnast widens the feet on landing to avoid stepping.

CA lower centre of mass makes a performer more stable.

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Assemble a full-mark answer from its marking points, in the order an examiner wants them.

Flexion means a decrease in the angle at a joint.

TrueFalse

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Brain Breaks between sessions

Short focus games to reset attention, so the next set lands better than the last.

Long-Term Adaptations to Exercise revision questions

What does Long-Term Adaptations to Exercise cover in Eduqas A-Level Physical Education?: 3 subtopics: bone, connective tissue and muscle adaptations, bradycardia, cardiac hypertrophy and ejection fraction and lung volumes, pulmonary diffusion and aerobic capacity. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.
How is Long-Term Adaptations to Exercise organised?: By the Eduqas A550QS specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.

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