The muscular system of humans has many different functions and adaptations. Anaerobic exercise can have a couple of different adaptations when it comes to muscular adaptations. There are a couple of different variables that come into play here. This type of training is great for athletic performance, as well as for regular daily activities and tasks. Below
will cover the adaptations to the muscular system when training in an anaerobic pathway.
Muscles will adapt to the type of force that is given to it. An easy way to think about this is the old saying “if you don’t use it, you lose it.” If there is no force input to a muscle the muscle will have no need to be used. Therefore, the muscle will shrink and can eventually adapt into another tissue type. The reason this happens is because the human species is most comfortable in homeostasis. Our body’s will find the path of least resistance and roll with it. So when it comes to muscle adaptations it all depends on what types of force are being demanded by those muscles.
The first adaptation to go over when it comes to anaerobic training is strength gains. “In contrast to endurance training, resistant exercise is associated with high intensity, low repetition, high load exercise increases muscular strength, power and anaerobic capacity, with little change in aerobic power. The workloads placed on skeletal muscle during resistance training are at or
near maximal capacity, and as such produce significant perturbations in skeletal muscle fibers and the associated extracellular matrix”(Shalaby et al., 2012). Anaerobic training is the best way to increase strength and power. Due to the high force demands placed on the muscular system, the muscles are forced to break down and recover stronger. Thus leading to higher maximal force outputs. Be careful though, if you don’t get enough recovery you can end up in an overtraining state. This can cause central nervous system fatigue which will then yield to regression in performance, and possibly injury.
The second adaptation cover is changes in muscular size. “With anaerobic training, especially heavy resistance training, all muscle fibers increase in size because all fibers are recruited to produce the high force needed. Type II fibers do, however, have greater increases in size than type I fibers”(Pike 2018). Muscular hypertrophy occurs with both volume and load.
As resistance and strength increases, muscle size will also increase. Due to high demands of force on the muscular system maximal motor recruitment of all muscle fibers is induced to complete the task at hand. If training continues to progress with the correct amount of recovery, muscular size will also continue to increase.
The muscular system of humans has many different functions and adaptations. When it comes to anaerobic training there are a couple of different adaptations. These adaptations will increase in both size and strength. This happens with heavy resistance training and proper recovery. Proper recovery is key to continue progressing. The correct amount of recovery will also help prevent injuries and keep the nervous system running smoothly.
References
Pike, J. (2018). Anaerobic Training Adaptations
https://www.livestrong.com/article/442214-anaerobic-training-adaptations/
Shalaby, M.N., Saad, M., Akar, S., Reda, M.A.A., & Shalgham A. (2012). The Role of Aerobic
and Anaerobic Training Programs on CD34+ Stem Cells and Chosen Physiological Variables.
Journal of Human Kinetics 35, 69-79.
doi: 10.2478/v10078-012-0080-y
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3588690