A fitness base of endurance training is a modern requirement for almost all sports. Aerobic fitness affects temperament, mental capacities, and work capabilities. An athlete can perform longer and better both mentally and physically when the aerobic system is trained. Aerobic training only needs to be specific when it is an important capacity for performance (e.g., running, swimming, rowing, triathlon, and intermittent team and court games). It does not need to be specific for activities such as yachting, shooting, and baseball, where mental persistence and acuity are large determinants of sporting success.
Aerobic capacity (usually measured through maximum oxygen uptake--VO2max) can be increased by as much as 20 percent depending upon the initial level of fitness and the use of graded-stepped overloads as training stimuli. On the other hand, the better the initial level of aerobic fitness, the less it will contribute to performance improvements.
Some of the major adaptations that occur through aerobic training are: (a) increased tone of peripheral veins; (b) greater contractility in the heart (it can pump more forcefully); (c) increased stroke volume (more blood is pumped per beat); (d) more effective blood flow distribution between active and inactive muscles, (e) increased mass in the heart muscle (it has better endurance capabilities by having more muscle to pump longer); and (f) the number and size of mitochondria are increased within each working muscle which facilitates a greater use of oxygen to produce ATP.
Endurance adaptations do not only occur in the muscles that are involved with generating force in a specific activity. In the early stages of training, adaptation primarily occurs in the muscles that support breathing and cardiovascular system function. Consequently, early gains in endurance occur mainly because of training effects in central oxygen transport system features. That adaptation makes it possible to then adapt peripheral structures.
خلاصه هاي بيشتر در باره اينcardiorespiratery power