How Resistance Training Impacts the Nervous System and Athletic Performance

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How Resistance Training Impacts the Nervous System and Athletic Performance

Weight training brings a range of benefits whether it is improving physical strength, helping people stay on top of mental health, or alleviating muscular pains and aches. However, according to a Weight training brings a range of benefits whether it is improving physical strength, helping people stay on top of mental health and alleviating muscular pains and aches. However, according to recent research, there are other benefits that are rarely considered. The study conducted by Professor Sturary Baker and Dr. Isabel Glover from the Movement Laboratory located in Newcastle University found that before noticing any physical improvements from training, the nervous system had already started getting stronger. Dr Glover explains that once a person begins to lift weights, there is an increase in neutral inputs and it takes a couple more weeks before muscles begin getting bigger.

While a person may be able to take on more weight after spending a few weeks in the gym, they may not see any visible muscle growth. First and foremost, the body simply strengthens connections running from the brain to the neurons in the muscles. The better the ability of the brain to trigger motorneurons, the better muscles contract and the more gains in strength you will notice. Once pathways become strong enough, one starts to see that muscle which so many weightlifters desire.

As regards the impact on athletic performance, through influencing the anaerobic abilities and neuromuscular function, resistance training elevates athletes’ movement efficiency, lactate threshold, and the ability to take part in high-intensity activities. Resistance anaerobic training has a strong effect on both aerobic capacity and power but rarely exerts significant impact on the individual’s neuromuscular abilities. Equally, resistance training has a strong influence on the individual’s neuromuscular function. It also has a moderate impact on anaerobic capacity and power while also providing minimal influence on aerobic capacity and power.

The capacity of resistance training in boosting endurance is linked with numerous factors, including the mechanical and physiological adaptations which are triggered by the resistance training routine. Incorporating resistance training in the general training plan seems critical in the development of specific adaptations that enhance performance. Traditionally, coaches and athletes were of the opinion that resistance training either negatively affects or has no effect on endurance performance (Tesch, Fernandez-Gonzalo, & Lundberg, 2017). However, this notion can be partially explained with a design flaw in various training programs that include both endurance and resistance training. The issue is that resistance training gets simply incorporated into the endurance training plan. Athletes that go with this approach encounter excessively increased fatigue levels which have a negative effect on general performance. Suppose athletes cut down on their training load to cater to the addition of resistance training. In that case, resistance training tends to have a positive effect on the endurance performance of the individual. The athlete that performs both endurance and resistance in a well-planned and integrated fashion performs at higher levels than athletes that can only function in classic endurance training.

References

Tesch, P. A., Fernandez-Gonzalo, R., & Lundberg, T. R. (2017). Clinical applications of iso-inertial, eccentric-overload (YoYo™) resistance exercise. Frontiers in physiology, 8, 241.