LEARNING AIM A: KNOW ABOUT THE SHORT-TERM AND LONG-TERM ADAPTATIONS OF THE BODY'S SYSTEMS TO EXERCISE.
Short term:
We tear muscle fibres, these are only microtears. Then the tears are repaired into stronger and more dense fibres. This is more common in weightlifting as you are constanty putting stress on your muscles, this causes our microfibres to tear and be rebuilt into stronger muscle fibres increasing the density and strength of our muscles. This can also be called muscle hypertrophy, and it directly correlates with physical exercise.
Long term:
Another long term effect of exercise is bone density, this happens over a long period say 6 weeks. This is very common in all sports but mainly in rugby. In rugby you need a strong scapula to collide with the opponents, this formed by constant collision and a new calcium layer is formed above our current bone layer. This improves the density of our bones, making them stronger, so long term our bone density has ben improved.
Musculoskeletal System
1A.1, 2A.P1, 2A.M1, 2A.D1: Outline, describe and explain at least two short term effects of exercise on the musculoskeletal system. Use at least three relevant sports, compare and contrast within work. 1A.3, 2A.P3, 2A.M3: Summarise and explain using relevant examples, the long term adaptations of exercise to the musculoskeletal system.
Contrast:
This image of an weight lifter shows that after a long period of time his muscle mass has increased rapidly this indicates to us that his body has experienced muscle hypertrophy.
The rugby player has not got large broad muscles like the body builder below, but the rugby player has a smaller muscle mass but more dense body this helps the player collide with other rugby players as their chest is more broad and covers a large surface area.
So overall the larger muscles support the body builder and the broader body structure supports the rugby player.