Like when you’re running, eventually you get better and able to run longer, but is it in a similar fashion to how in weightlifting your muscles get microtears and build back stronger?
In: Biology
Conditioning is all about training your body to do something more efficiently. Running. Swimming. Stairs. Muscular fitness is one element. Conditioning is more about energy systems though.
You condition your body to be more efficient when sprinting for example. So, a sprinter will train with lots of speed-based drills in their exercise protocol. A distance runner may train higher volume to condition. Both training methods use different energy systems. The more your body uses energy, the more efficient it gets at delivering energy to the proper place.
Someone who is conditioned can likely outperform someone who isn’t. That’s because their body is using energy more efficiently.
There are lots of adaptations that happen when you start running. Here are a few of them.
There are changes in the lungs and heart so they can provide more oxygen to the muscles. There are changes in the mitochondria in the muscle cells to be able to create more energy by burning fat or glucose. There are improvements in the muscle cell’s ability to remove excess lactate from the cells and the ability of other cells to pull that lactate out of the bloodstream.
There are also mechanical changes in the muscles, ligaments, and tendons that make them able to take the impact of running.
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