Adaptations to Resistance

Training
 Overview

• Resistance training: gains in muscular

fitness
• Mechanisms of muscle strength gain
• Interaction between resistance training and
diet
• Resistance training for special populations
 Resistance Training:
Introduction

• Resistance training yields substantial

strength gains via neuromuscular changes
• Important for overall fitness and health
• Critical for athletic training programs
 Resistance Training:
Gains in Muscular Fitness

• After 3 to 6 months of resistance training

– 25 to 100% strength gain
– Learn to more effectively produce force
– Learn to produce true maximal movement

• Strength gains similar as a percent of initial

strength
– Young men experience greatest absolute gains
versus young women, older men, children
– Due to incredible muscle plasticity (ability to change)
Mechanisms of Muscle Strength Gain

• Hypertrophy versus atrophy

–  Muscle size   muscle strength
–  Muscle size   muscle strength
– But association more complex than that

• Strength gains result from

–  Muscle size
– Altered neural control
 World Records

Figure 10.1a Figure 10.1b

Mechanisms of Muscle Strength Gain:
Neural Control

• Strength gain cannot occur without neural

adaptations via plasticity
– Strength gain can occur without hypertrophy
– Property of motor system, not just muscle

• Motor unit recruitment, stimulation

frequency, other neural factors essential
Mechanisms of Muscle Strength Gain:
Motor Unit Recruitment
• Normally motor units recruited
asynchronously (not in order/same time)
• Synchronous recruitment  strength gains
– Facilitates contraction
– May produce more forceful contraction
– Improves rate of force development
–  Capability to exert steady forces
• Resistance training  synchronous
recruitment
Mechanisms of Muscle Strength Gain:
Motor Unit Recruitment

• Strength gains may also result from greater

motor unit recruitment
–  Neural drive during maximal contraction
–  Frequency of neural discharge (rate coding)
–  Inhibitory impulses (GTO’s, spindles)
• Likely that some combination of improved
motor unit synchronization and motor unit
recruitment  strength gains
Mechanisms of Muscle Strength Gain:
Motor Unit Rate Coding

• Limited evidence suggests rate coding

increases with resistance training,
especially rapid movement, ballistic-type
training
Mechanisms of Muscle Strength Gain:
Autogenic Inhibition

• Normal intrinsic inhibitory mechanisms

– Golgi tendon organs
• Inhibit muscle contraction if tendon tension too high
• Prevent damage to bones and tendons

• Training can  inhibitory impulses

– Muscle can generate more force
– May also explain superhuman feats of strength
Mechanisms of Muscle Strength Gain:
Other Neural Factors

• Coactivation of agonists, antagonists

– Normally antagonists oppose agonist force
– Reduced coactivation may  strength gain

• Morphology of neuromuscular junction

– Faster impulses
– Increase in size of junction
– Increase in release of ACh and receptors
Mechanisms of Muscle Strength Gain:
Muscle Hypertrophy

• Hypertrophy: increase in muscle size

• Transient hypertrophy (after exercise bout)
– Due to edema formation from plasma fluid
– Disappears within hours

• Chronic hypertrophy (long term)

– Reflects actual structural change in muscle
– Fiber hypertrophy, fiber hyperplasia, or both
Microscopic View Before and After
Training

Figure 10.2
Mechanisms of Muscle Strength Gain:
Chronic Muscle Hypertrophy

• Maximized by
– High-velocity eccentric training
– Disrupts sarcomere Z-lines (protein remodeling)

• Concentric training may limit muscle

hypertrophy, strength gains
Mechanisms of Muscle Strength Gain:
Fiber Hypertrophy

• More myofibrils  more force, stronger

• More actin, myosin filaments
• More sarcoplasm
• More connective tissue
Mechanisms of Muscle Strength Gain:
Fiber Hypertrophy

• Resistance training   protein synthesis

– Muscle protein content always changing
– During exercise: synthesis , degradation 
– After exercise: synthesis , degradation 

• Testosterone facilitates fiber hypertrophy

– Natural anabolic steroid hormone
– Synthetic anabolic steroids  large increases in
muscle mass
Mechanisms of Muscle Strength Gain:
Fiber Hyperplasia

• Cats
– Intense strength training  fiber splitting
– Each half grows to size of parent fiber

• Chickens, mice, rats

– Intense strength training  only fiber hypertrophy
– But difference may be due to training regimen
Resistance Training in Cats

Figure 10.3
Mechanisms of Muscle Strength Gain:
Fiber Hyperplasia

• Humans
– Most hypertrophy due to fiber hypertrophy
– Fiber hyperplasia also contributes
– Fiber hypertrophy versus fiber hyperplasia may
depend on resistance training intensity/load
– Higher intensity  (type II) fiber hypertrophy

• Fiber hyperplasia may only occur in certain

individuals under certain conditions
Mechanisms of Muscle Strength Gain:
Fiber Hyperplasia

• Can occur through fiber splitting

• Also occurs through satellite cells
– Myogenic stem cells
– Involved in skeletal muscle regeneration
– Activated by stretch, injury
– After activation, cells proliferate, migrate, fuse
Satellite Cell Response to Muscle
Injury

Figure 10.4
Mechanisms of Muscle Strength Gain:
Neural Activation and Hypertrophy

• Short-term  in muscle strength

– Substantial  in 1RM
– Due to  voluntary neural activation
– Neural factors critical in first 8 to 10 weeks

• Long-term  in muscle strength

– Associated with significant fiber hypertrophy
– Net  protein synthesis takes time to occur
– Hypertrophy major factor after first 10 weeks
Mechanisms of Muscle Strength Gain:
Atrophy and Inactivity

• Reduction or cessation of activity  major

change in muscle structure and function
• Limb immobilization studies
• Detraining studies
Mechanisms of Muscle Strength Gain:
Immobilization
• Major changes after 6 h
– Lack of muscle use  reduced rate of protein
synthesis
– Initiates process of muscle atrophy

• First week: strength loss of 3 to 4% per day

–  Size/atrophy
–  Neuromuscular activity
• (Reversible) effects on types I and II fibers
– Cross-sectional area  cell contents degenerate
– Type I affected more than type II
Mechanisms of Muscle Strength Gain:
Detraining

• Leads to  in 1RM
– Strength losses can be regained (~6 weeks)
– New 1RM matches or exceeds old 1RM

• Once training goal met, maintenance

resistance program prevents detraining
– Maintain strength and 1RM
– Reduce training frequency
Changes in Muscle Strength With
Resistance Training

Figure 10.5a
Changes in Muscle Strength With
Resistance Training

Figure 10.5b
Changes in Muscle Strength With
Resistance Training

Figure 10.6
Mechanisms of Muscle Strength Gain:
Fiber Type Alterations
• Training regimen may not outright change
fiber type, but
– Type II fibers become more oxidative with aerobic
training
– Type I fibers become more anaerobic with
anaerobic training

• Fiber type conversion possible under

certain conditions
– Cross-innervation
– Chronic low-frequency stimulation
– High-intensity treadmill or resistance training
Mechanisms of Muscle Strength Gain:
Fiber Type Alterations

• Type IIx  type IIa transition is common

• 20 weeks of heavy resistance training
program showed
– Static strength, cross-sectional area 
– Percent type IIx , percent type IIa 

• Other studies show type I  type IIa with

high-intensity resistance work + short-
interval speed work
 Interaction Between Resistance
Training and Diet

• Resistance training increases protein synthesis

• 20-25 grams of protein after resistance exercise for
muscle growth
• 1.6-1.7 grams protein / kg body weight / day for
increasing muscle mass
• Small doses (20 g) every 2-3 hours are recommended
for protein synthesis
Skeletal Muscle Protein Synthesis

Figure 10.7
Role of Protein in Resistance Training
 Resistance Training for Special
Populations: Age

• Children and adolescents

– Myth: resistance training unsafe due to growth plate,
hormonal changes
– Truth: safe with proper safeguards
– Children can gain both strength and muscle mass

• Elderly
– Helps restore age-related loss of muscle mass
(sarcopenia)
– Improves quality of life and health
– Helps prevent falls
 Resistance Exercise Progression in
Children
Age Considerations
≤7 Basic exercises using little or no weight; develop the concept of a
training session; teach technique; progress from body weight,
partner exercises, and lightly resisted exercises; keep volume low
8 – 10 Gradually increase the no. of exercises; practice exercise
technique; start gradually progressing the exercises; keep it simple;
gradually increase volume; carefully monitor tolerance of the stress
11 – 13 Teach all basic exercise techniques; continue progressive loading;
emphasize technique; introduce more advanced exercises without
load. Progress to more advanced youth programs in resistance
training; add sport specific components; add volume.
14 – 15 Progress to more advanced youth programs in resistance training;
add sport specific components; add volume; emphasize technique.
≥ 16 Introduce to entry level adult programs after all background
knowledge has been mastered and a basic level of experience has
been gained.
 Strength Training in Older Adults

• Increases in strength dependent primarily

on neural adaptations
• Same response as in younger but blunted
– Decreased mTOR signaling response
– Smaller increases in myofibrillar protein and muscle
size
– 25-50 grams protein necessary to stimulate muscle
protein synthesis
 Resistance Training for Sport

• Training beyond basic strength, power, and

endurance needs of the sport not worth it
• Training costs valuable time
• Training results should be tested with sport-
specific performance metric