Principles of Exercise Training

Question 1

Overview of Programming

Answer 1

Successful exercise programs follow a comprehensive, systematic, and integrated approach to achieve optimal results

Consider the effect of an exercise on the entire kinetic chain

Rethink training program in terms of movement rather than exercise

Common goal of achieving, maintaining, or promoting desired levels of stability and mobility needed in the body
> stability
> mobility

Question 2

The relationship between stability and mobility serves as a foundation to all programs

Answer 2

Stability: Ability to control the position or movement of a joint

Mobility: Degree of unrestricted or functional movement needed at a joint

Question 3

Many programs fail to address functionality through:

Answer 3

integration

multijoint movements

multiplanar training

proprioceptively enriched environments

Question 4

Integration:

Answer 4

Training all parameters of physical fitness to improve functional strength and neuromuscular efficiency

Question 5

Multijoint movements:

Answer 5

Incorporate the entire kinetic chain vs. isolating single joints

Question 6

Multiplanar training:

Answer 6

Creates movements in all three planes to reflect the movements of our ADLs

Question 7

Proprioceptively enriched environments:

Answer 7

Unstable yet controllable environments in which exercises are performed in a manner that requires the body to use balance and stabilization mechanisms

Question 8

General Training Principles

Answer 8

volume
intensity
overload
specificity
progression

Question 9

Volume =

Answer 9

Cardiorespiratory: Frequency and duration of exercise bout

Resistance: Sets x reps
> Time under tension: Amount of time spent completing a full repetition

Question 10

Intensity =

Answer 10

Cardiorespiratory: Level of work performed reflected through speed, grade, or Watts

Resistance: Amount of weight lifted

Question 11

Overload =

Answer 11

To enhance physiological improvements and stimulate adaptations to training there must be a continual increase in demand placed on the system being trained

Can be applied to volume and intensity

Question 12

Specificity =

Answer 12

Specific training adaptation or outcome is determined by the method of training

Also known as specific adaptations to imposed demands (SAID)

Question 13

Progression =

Answer 13

Systematic application of overload to promote long-term benefits or prepare an athlete for a specific event

Implies the manipulation of training variables to elicit greater intensities or volumes of training

Increased demands on physiological systems must be applied gradually and systematically over time to allow for appropriate recovery and adaptation and to avoid overtraining and potential injury

Question 14

Response to strength training

Answer 14

Muscle hypertrophy
Neural adaptations

Question 15

Muscle hypertrophy =

Answer 15

Increased protein synthesis in muscle fiber—increased in physiologic CSA of the entire muscle

Primarily due to increase in fiber size, limited evidence implying increase in number of muscle fibers (hyperplasia)

Occurs in all muscle fibers but primarily in fast twitch

Question 16

Neural adaptations =

Answer 16

Evident within the early phases of training:
> Increased area activated in cortex during motor task via fMRI
> Increased supraspinal motor drive
> Increased motor neuron excitability and discharge frequency of motor units
> Decreased neural inhibition

Imagery training shows documented strength gains

Increased strength seen in non-exercised muscle

Question 17

Diminishing Returns =

Answer 17

Rate of fitness improvement diminishes over time as an individual approaches genetic potential

Not to be confused with a plateau effect

Question 18

Reversibility =

Answer 18

Detraining: Partial or complete loss of any training-induced adaptation that occurs due to a decrease in training stimulus

May result in muscle atrophy evident by decreased muscle fiber CSA

Various aspects of fitness will demonstrate losses at different rates

Can occur quickly!
> 3-6% loss in first week
> After 10 days of immobilization, healthy individuals can experience up to 40% decrease in 1RM

Shift to maintenance training once goals are attained to prevent unwanted loss

Question 19

Disuse =

Answer 19

Reduced protein synthesis in all muscle fiber types within a chronically immobilized limb
> Most notably with slow twitch

Slow twitch fibers are frequently used with ADLs and are subjected to greater relative disuse with immobilization vs. fast twitch fibers

Question 20

Effects of immobilization:

Answer 20

Loss of strength is greatest when muscle is maintained in shortened position

Antigravity single-joint muscles show more rapid atrophy than other muscles
> Soleus, VMO, multifidus

Question 21

Stress:

Answer 21

Nonspecific body response to any stimulus that overcomes, or threatens to overcome, the body’s ability to maintain homeostasis

Question 22

General Adaptation Syndrome

Answer 22

Includes exercise-induced stress

Stress stimulates release of key hormones by ANS -> hypothalamus releases CRH -> stimulates pituitary gland to release ACTH -> release of cortisol from adrenal glands

Stress response is critical to survival but can have unhealthy consequences if sustained for prolonged periods

Question 23

Theory of general adaptation—Hans Selye

Answer 23

Body responds to an external source of stress with a predictable biological pattern to maintain and restore internal homeostasis

Seyle theorized that this pattern of change occurs in reaction to any kind of stress leading to eventual disease conditions (e.g. ulcers, arthritis, HTN, arteriosclerosis, diabetes)

This pattern was termed general adaptation syndrome

Model explains the physiological manner that a body responds to stress by moving through specific stages

Question 24

Theory of general adaptation—Hans Selye
stages:

Answer 24

Alarm or Shock Stage

Resistance or Adaptation Stage

Exhaustion Stage

Question 25

Alarm or Shock Stage =

Answer 25

Initial fight-or-flight response

Decrease in effectiveness of the immune system making them more susceptible to injury or illness

Feeling fatigued, weak, sore during early phase of exercise program

May last a few days to several weeks

Question 26

Resistance or Adaptation Stage =

Answer 26

Mobilization of internal resources in effort to return to homeostasis

Begins to restore balance through period of adaptation by altering its physiological structures
> Increased muscle CSA, improved motor unit synchronization

Characterized by the return of muscle’s normal function after losses experienced during alarm phase

May cause problems when body is not given adequate levels of recovery

Question 27

Exhaustion Stage =

Answer 27

Prolonged exposure to stress without recovery depletes the body’s resources and tolerance of stressors

Immune system gradually declines and body’s ability to resist illness or injury is compromised

Adversely effects physiological systems contributing to disease as the body fails to maintain normal function

Commonly associated with excessive training and burnout, also known as overtraining

Question 28

Overtraining

Answer 28

Attributed to inadequate recovery that compromises the body’s immune function and its ability to continue adapting

Characterized by the following signs and symptoms:
> Decreased performance over 1-2 weeks
> Increased RHR and/or BP
> Decreased body weight
> Nausea
> Disturbed sleep patterns and inability to attain restful sleep
> Muscle soreness and fatigue
> General irritability and altered moods

Question 29

Periodization
Manageable training periods or planned cycles:

Answer 29

Microcycle: Days to weeks

Mesocycle: Weeks to months

Macrocycle: Months to years

Involves modifying program variables over time to effectively transition a program from a generalized approach toward one meeting specific needs and demands of activity

Question 30

Additional programming considerations:

Answer 30

Order of sequence exercises are performed can impact both performance and injury

Power and heavy-strength exercises should be performed at the beginning of a workout

Perform primary or linear exercises before assistance or rotary exercises

Question 31

Fatigue

Answer 31

Describes a decrease in performance experienced during sustained effort

Represents a system’s inability to maintain the desired or required work intensity

Sensation of being “tired”

Multifactorial and attributed to many causes:
> Peripheral factors (within muscles)
> Central factors (within the nervous system)
> Other factors (cardiopulmonary system, thermoregulatory system, tolerance for discomfort, mental toughness)

Question 32

Energy systems - Fatigue:

Answer 32

Energy depletion: Inability to sustain energy supply that meets current exercising demands

As PCr is depleted, the system’s ability to regenerate ATP diminishes which reduces the body’s ability to sustain short duration, high-intensity exercise

Question 33

Glycogen depletion depends on primarily the type of exercise, and muscle fiber type and exercise duration to a lesser degree

Answer 33

Glycogen levels can deplete more rapidly during higher intensity, sustained bouts of exercise than when they are utilized aerobically through Krebs cycle

Depletion from either type I or type II fibers depend on exercise intensity

During low intensity, endurance exercise, type I fibers will deplete glycogen faster than type II fibers which may not be recruited

As intensity of endurance activity increases, glycogen utilization from type IIa and ultimately type IIx fibers will increase

Certain muscles may fatigue faster than others

Question 34

Metabolic byproducts

Answer 34

Accumulation of hydrogen ions in muscle results in tissue acidosis (decreased tissue pH)

Question 35

Lower tissue pH impacts various events within the metabolic pathways that ultimately trigger fatigue due to the muscle’s inability to produce energy:

Answer 35

Decreased glycolytic-enzyme activity

Reduction in myosin-ATPase activity

Increased pain receptor sensitivity in muscle tissue

Decreased ability to release and reabsorb calcium from sarcoplasmic reticulum

Interference with calcium’s ability to bind to troponin

Question 36

Neural fatigue

Answer 36

Acetylcholine (Ach): Neurotransmitter involved in voluntary muscle action

Question 37

Acetylcholine (Ach):

Answer 37

Ach released from motor nerve -> binds to receptors on motor endplate -> opens ion channels allowing sodium to enter muscle fiber -> depolarization conducted down transverse tubule

After its release from the presynaptic membrane, it is quickly broken down to acetic acid and choline by acetylcholinesterase

Enzyme becomes hyperactive preventing Ach from binding to the postsynaptic membrane and inhibiting muscle activation

Or enzyme may become hypoactive allowing Ach to accumulate on the postsynaptic receptors and inhibiting muscle relaxation

Question 38

Thermoregulatory stress:

Answer 38

Exercise in heat or any form of exercise that elevates core temperature requires the expenditure of additional energy to cool the body

Increases in core temperature shift the oxygen-dissociation curve downward to release more oxygen to fuel the additional work

Also increases utilization of carbohydrates that may accelerate glycogen depletion and fatigue

Question 39

Cardiopulmonary fatigue

Answer 39

Passive respiration

Active respiration

When sweat loss becomes significant a decrease in blood volume affects blood flow and nutrient/oxygen delivery to various tissue

HR may increase to offset reductions in SV to maintain circulation which also requires additional oxygen

Inability to sustain cardiopulmonary efficiency decreases nutrients/oxygen delivery to and metabolic byproducts removal from tissue

Question 40

Passive respiration—

Answer 40

muscles of respiration consume ~2% of total oxygen uptake

Question 41

Active respiration—

Answer 41

may increase to 11% when additional muscles become involved during exercise and compromise the amount of available oxygen for exercising muscles

Question 42

Mental toughness and tolerance for discomfort

Answer 42

Use of intrinsic and extrinsic motivators provides adequate distraction to enable an individual to last longer

Although not fully understood, motivators may negate an individual’s conscious or subconscious sensations of fatigue or desire to stop and allow them to tolerate greater levels of discomfort

Question 43

Muscle Soreness

Answer 43

Overload and muscle damage (especially from eccentric training) provide a strong stimulus for growth but also lead to muscle soreness

Acute muscle soreness experienced during intense exercise, latter stages of exercise, and immediate recovery period

Generally the result of an accumulation of waste products (e.g. hydrogen ions) or temporary fluid shift exerting pressure on pain receptors

Question 44

Delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS):

Answer 44

Microtrauma or microtears within myofibrils causing disarrangement of sarcomeres from mechanical stress placed on the muscle during training

Normally experienced between 12-72 hours after exercise

Believed to trigger an immune response releasing histamines and prostaglandins into local area causing edema or fluid accumulation inside the muscle compartment

Question 45

Some of the muscle’s physiological and functional capabilities are compromised during this phase (DOMS)
until adequate repair has occurred:

Answer 45

Reduction in muscle’s force-generating capacity

Impaired muscle glycogen synthesis starting 6-12 hrs after exercise which compromises the muscle’s potential to store energy reserves

Structural damage evident by the presences of specific enzymes and myoglobin in the blood following training

Impaired calcium homeostasis that interferes with troponin binding

Question 46

DOMS is inevitable when starting or progressing an exercise program
Minimize magnitude by:

Answer 46

Reduce initial volume of time in eccentric training

Start at lower intensities and increase gradually

Control exercise volume