Athletes' bodies undergo a variety of changes and developments as a result of their training and physical exertion. These changes can be both temporary and long-term, and they vary depending on factors including which sport, the individual’s lifestyle, and physiological aspects such as body type.
Muscle Development
Muscle development is most commonly associated with general training, exercise, and conditioning. Regular exercise and general use of your body’s muscles, as well as physical exertion outside of your comfort zone can lead to the toning and definition of muscles.
Different sports require the use of different combinations of certain muscles. This may lead to specific adaptations according to your sport. For example, sprinting and track events have a heavier emphasis on lower body muscles, including the quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes and calves. On the other hand, swimming often leads to further muscle development in one’s shoulders and upper body.
Cardiovascular Fitness
Also known as aerobic capacity, cardiovascular fitness is a crucial aspect of athletic performance. It is generally associated with endurance and intensity of physical exertion. Endurance athletes, such as long-distance runners, cyclists, swimmers, and cross-country skiers, engage in aerobic exercise to improve their cardiovascular fitness. Their training is usually prolonged, and consists of both aerobic and threshold training to challenge their respiratory and cardiovascular systems.
Often, this method of training leads to a higher percentage of cellular anaerobic respiration, and therefore the accumulation of lactic acid due to the decreased amount of oxygen accessible by your lungs. This adds to the challenge of this area of fitness; however, it does allow for a greater lung capacity, physical stamina, and lactate threshold, which is useful for athletes, particularly swimmers, runners, or cyclists.
Improved Flexibility
Flexibility is popularly connected to gymnastics, but in reality, many sports require athletes to have good flexibility to perform at their best. Athletes are able to work towards this by stretching regularly and performing mobility exercises, in order to increase the range of motion in their joints over time.
Arguably, this is a useful ability in all sports, but it is notably more significant when it comes to technique-based sports, such as tennis, figure skating, diving, and fencing. Regular training in these sports also in turn causes improved flexibility in joints.
Metabolism
Regular exercise affects athletes' metabolic processes. Training can increase the efficiency of your energy production and utilisation, leading to better endurance. Biologically, athletes’ bodies usually develop over time to have higher levels of enzymes involved in aerobic energy production, such as mitochondria, which contribute to enhanced metabolic capacity.
This can generally apply to most sports that require regular training, and occurs due to consistency and the maintenance of intensity in your exercise. Athletes develop this unconsciously over time and naturally improve in their chosen sports or areas.
Neural Adaptations
Certain types of athletic training involves developing specific movement patterns and motor skills. Over time performing certain sports, athletes experience neural adaptations that improve coordination, reaction time, and motor control. Common sports where this is experienced most often are precision sports, which require a high level of accuracy. Examples include archery, shooting, darts, pool, curling, golf, and fencing.
These adaptations enhance your ability to perform some complex movements with precision and efficiency. This is often associated with the psychological concept of neuroplasticity and “muscle memory”.
Immune System
Regular exercise in general has been proven to have positive effects on your immune system. Even moderate exercise has been shown to enhance immune function and reduce the risk of common illnesses, because athlete’s bodies are more accustomed to challenging environments and are more likely to have adapted in terms of circulation, lymphatic system function, and immune cell activity.
However, pushing your body to the limit too much and doing more activity than your body is capable of has the opposite effect, and is more likely to make you more susceptible to infections. This is because exercise that is too intense or prolonged can temporarily suppress some immune function.
Therefore, it is important for athletes to balance exercise with appropriate rest and recovery, as well as nutritional intake in order to excel at their chosen sports, and maintain optimal bodily function.
Works Cited
Corso, M. (2018). Developmental changes in the youth athlete: implications for movement, skills acquisition, performance and injuries. The Journal of the Canadian Chiropractic Association, [online] 62(3), pp.150–160. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6319435/ [Accessed 5 May 2024].
Lee, K.-L., Oh, T.-W., Gil, Y.-C. and Kim, H.-J. (2021). Correlation between muscle architecture and anaerobic power in athletes involved in different sports. Scientific reports, [online] 11(1). doi:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-92831-7.
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