Aerobic Training

What Aerobic Training covers

Aerobic Training is examined in Component 01, Physiological factors affecting performance. It covers VO₂max and the factors that affect it, testing aerobic capacity, continuous training, HIIT and target heart rates and adaptations to aerobic training.

The 4 subtopics

Each one has its own page.

• VO₂max and the factors that affect itAerobic capacity and VO₂max in ml/kg/min, elite and untrained values, physiological make-up and muscle fibre type, genetics, training, age and sex, and why a football midfielder needs aerobic capacity too.Open →
• Testing aerobic capacityDirect gas analysis and its advantages and disadvantages, the multi-stage fitness test, the Queen's College step test and the Cooper 12-minute run, predictive tests, and submaximal against maximal testing.Open →
• Continuous training, HIIT and target heart ratesContinuous training and its intensity and duration, high intensity interval training and its variables, specificity for a rugby player, maximum heart rate, target heart rates, the Karvonen method and worked training zones.Open →
• Adaptations to aerobic trainingCardiac hypertrophy, stroke volume and resting heart rate, blood volume and capillarisation, blood pressure, respiratory adaptations, mitochondria and myoglobin, fibre changes, greater fat use, delayed OBLA and insulin sensitivity.Open →

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Take Aerobic Training further

The same content, four other ways.

Commonly confused

Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.

• Continuous training vs HIIT

  Continuous training: steady exercise at moderate effort with no rest for at least twenty minutes. HIIT: short bursts of near-maximal work separated by recovery periods.

• Direct gas analysis vs Multi-stage fitness test

  Direct gas analysis: laboratory measurement of oxygen consumed during exercise to exhaustion. Multi-stage fitness test: a progressive shuttle run to recorded bleeps that predicts oxygen uptake.

• Maximal test vs Submaximal test

  Maximal test: an assessment taken all the way to the point of exhaustion. Submaximal test: an assessment stopped below exhaustion and used to predict the peak value.

Questions from this topic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   Define aerobic capacity.

   Model answer

   Aerobic capacity is the ability to take in, transport and use oxygen. A high aerobic capacity lets a performer sustain long periods of submaximal exercise.

2. 2

   Define VO₂max.

   Model answer

   VO₂max is the maximum volume of oxygen the body can take in and use per minute. VO₂max is measured during exercise to exhaustion.

3. 3

   In what units is VO₂max usually expressed, and why?

   Model answer

   VO₂max is usually given in ml kg⁻¹ min⁻¹. Dividing by body mass allows fair comparison between performers of different sizes.

4. 4

   Roughly how does the VO₂max of an elite endurance athlete compare with an untrained young adult's?

   Model answer

   An untrained young adult typically scores around 30 to 45 ml kg⁻¹ min⁻¹. Elite endurance athletes often exceed 70 ml kg⁻¹ min⁻¹.

5. 5

   Which features of a performer's physiological make-up give a high VO₂max?

   Model answer

   A high VO₂max comes from a large heart and stroke volume, and plenty of red blood cells and haemoglobin. A high proportion of slow oxidative fibres also helps.

6. 6

   How does muscle fibre type affect VO₂max?

   Model answer

   Slow oxidative fibres contain many mitochondria and much myoglobin, so they use oxygen well. A performer with more slow oxidative fibres tends to have a higher VO₂max.

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Six ways to work the same material.

Aerobic Training revision questions

What does Aerobic Training cover in OCR A-Level Physical Education?

4 subtopics: vo₂max and the factors that affect it, testing aerobic capacity, continuous training, hiit and target heart rates and adaptations to aerobic training. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.

How is Aerobic Training organised?

By the OCR H555 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.