I’m a fairly serious cyclist. When I train and improve, what is happening in my body? It’s obviously not as simple as “less fat, more muscle mass.” More muscle mass doesn’t help me go 100 miles when I previously couldn’t go 50.
More specific, related, questions: What changes in the human body = cardiovascular fitness? Does something about your heart and your blood vessels actually physically change? Does your body somehow become more efficient at carrying oxygen? What about endurance? How does your body “learn” to endure exercise for a long time? Besides loss of fat and gain of muscle, what are the physical changes that happen in endurance training?
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Your cells, tissues, and bodily systems adapt to the stress of exercise, specific to the demands imposed. This hormetic process, often described as general adaptation, can be applied to just about anything in our bodies. Pretty awesome how we are a reflection of the demands we place on our bodies every second of every day.
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