How Does Aerobic Training Increase Aerobic Capacity?
Aerobic training increases the athlete’s aerobic capacity through adaptations to the athlete’s oxygen transport and utilization systems, including: • Increasing the quantity of oxygen in the working muscles’ cells, which increases the capacity of the mitochondria in the working muscles to uptake and process oxygen to produce ATP; and • Increasing the mitochondria in working muscles (McArdle et. al., 1991). Because of this there is an increase in oxygen rich blood to the muscles; therefore the working muscles have an increased ability to mobilize and oxidize fat, and thus have an increased ability to oxidize carbohydrate. As anaerobic training increases the size of the fast twitch muscle fibres, aerobic training increases the size of the slow twitch muscle fibres (McArdle et. a., 1991). The aerobic system needs to be trained at least three times per week for a period of 30-60 minutes (or more) (McArdle et. al., 1991). Click To Enlarge. The Aerobic System Needs To Be Trained At Least Thr
