Physiological Adaptation for Aerobic Training

by

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER # 1: INTRODUCTION1

Background of the Study1

Problem Statement2

Purpose of the Study3

Research hypothesis3

Significance of the Study5

CHAPTER # 2: LITERATURE REVIEW6

Exercise Benefits6

Exercise, the Immune System, and Lung Function7

Taper8

Cycling9

Resistance Exercise and Heart Rate Variability10

Aerobic Exercise and Heart Rate Variability11

Aerobic Exercise versus Resistance Exercise and Heart Rate Variability14

CHAPTER # 3: METHODOLOGY16

Introduction16

Research Philosophy16

Qualitative method17

Development of interview questions17

Sample size and sampling method18

Data collection method18

Interviews18

Data analysis method18

Reliability and validity19

Ethics and legal considerations19

REFERENCES20

CHAPTER # 1: INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

Obesity has currently become a worldwide public health issue in many developed and developing countries among people of all age groups. Increased caloric intake coupled with decreased physical exercise results in obesity. Obesity greatly increases the possibility of developing metabolic complications such as hypertension, atherosclerosis, dyslipidemia, and insulin resistance (IR) that later lead to type II diabetes (DM2). An estimated 24 million children and adult Americans have DM2; another 60 million people have the pre-diabetic condition of high blood sugar, increasing their risk for developing the disease. The American Diabetes Association estimates the cost of DM2 to be at least $174 billion a year as of 2007 (Adamczyk et al, 2006 14).

Aerobic exercise helps maintain healthy levels of body fat, decreases IR, improves DM2, and lowers the risk of developing cardiovascular complications. Aerobic exercise has been at the forefront of life-style efforts to manage pre-diabetes and diabetes. The mechanism by which aerobic exercise brings about favourable changes in blood insulin and glucose levels is not yet known, but studies have noted the “anti-inflammatory nature” of exercise. Metabolic effects of aerobic exercise include reduction in body weight and body fat, improved insulin sensitivity, improved cardiovascular health by improving plasma lipoprotein profile, reducing blood pressure, and decreasing incidences or preventing the development of DM2 (Friedmann 2008 11). The reported metabolic effects of ADPN are: reduction of IR; increase FFA oxidation; decrease hepatic glucose production by inhibiting enzymes of gluconeogenesis; produce nitric oxide (NO) and improve endothelium-dependent vasodilation; and reduce in thrombus formation and platelet aggregation. Because some of the metabolic effects of exercise training are similar to the effects of ADPN, aerobic exercise training has been proposed to increase ADPN. Since the discovery of ADPN, studies have been conducted in human and rodent models to understand the connection between aerobic exercise training and ADPN levels. Several human studies report that aerobic exercise increases or does not increase ADPN levels.

Problem Statement

The physiological determinants of endurance performance have been well studied, and several investigations have been conducted to elucidate the physiological processes underpinning taper-induced (Taper is a well-known strategy characterized by a systematic reduction of training load prior to championship competition as a means to improve performance) improved race performance. The primary areas of interest include mechanical efficiency, cardiovascular capacity, and metabolic function (including lactate handling). In the context of tapered training, cardiovascular and metabolic profiles are relatively well defined and it appears that improved performance cannot be attributed to either, as they have been reported to remain unchanged or improve on a very small scale (Beidleman ...