Finally, the combination of endurance and strength exercise and recent advances in our understanding of concurrent training will also be briefly discussed in the latter part of this article.Įndurance training leads to adaptations in both the cardiovascular and musculoskeletal system that supports an overall increase in exercise capacity and performance (Brooks 2011). This article focuses on recent concepts and new literature in the field of endurance and strength training and how this new information has changed the dogma of how exercise enhances physical performance and overall adaptation. Indeed, both endurance and strength-training adaptations not only contribute toward potential sporting excellence but, in most instances, contribute toward the delayed onset of age-related diseases ( McGregor et al.

These positive alterations in physical capacity allow an individual to be stronger, more powerful, and maintain a better quality of life throughout the life span ( Visser et al. In contrast, strength training results in increases in muscle size (cross-sectional area ), neural adaptations (motor output), and improved strength (maximal force production) ( Narici et al. The overall improvement in both central and peripheral tissues allows for enhanced exercise economy and a greater ability for an individual to run for longer distances and times (Brooks 2011). Classic endurance training is known to result in enhanced cardiac output, maximal oxygen consumption, and mitochondrial biogenesis ( Holloszy 1967 Coyle et al. Furthermore, recent work showing that short high-intensity exercise can lead to endurance adaptations and low-load exercise that approaches failure can lead to strength adaptations has challenged our understanding of which type of exercise results in which phenotypic shift in muscle. Most activities combine endurance and strength and this type of training has been termed concurrent exercise. However, pure endurance and pure strength exercise is rare. Endurance exercise is classically performed against a relatively low load over a long duration, whereas strength exercise is performed against a relatively high load for a short duration.

As is the norm, this article will focus on the things that we already understand, but will highlight important questions that remain as far as how we adapt to training.Įxercise is generally separated into aerobic/endurance and power/strength activities.

Therefore, even though exercise is often referred to as a single stimulus and we have looked for generalized responses, how any individual responds to exercise training will vary based on things we understand and (likely) many more that we do not. The shift in phenotype is the result of the frequency, intensity, and duration of the exercise in combination with the age, genetics, gender, fueling, and training history of the individual ( Joyner and Coyle 2008 Brooks 2011). In response to exercise, humans alter the phenotype of their skeletal muscle changing the store of nutrients, amount and type of metabolic enzymes, amount of contractile protein, and stiffness of the connective tissue, to name but a few of the adaptations.

Define endurance capacity