C5 - Nervous System

• The main adaptations that occur to the nervous system are from resistance types of exercise
• When a person starts a weight training programme they will see a noticeable increase in the ability to lift heavier weights before there is significant hypertrophy of the muscles fibres which is partly to do with the adaptations of the nervous system
• Motor Units:

  • Resistance training helps the nervous system adapt by increasing the recruitment of additional motor units in response to neural stimulation - these increased numbers of motor units that are stimulated means that more force can be produced as more muscle fibres are activated to contract and produce more force
• Neural Pathway Transmission Efficiency:

  • The neural pathways linking to motor units become more efficient at transmitting the stimulus which results in the target muscles being able to contract more quickly in the response to the stimulation
• Nervous Inhibition:

  • The antagonist muscle in the antagonistic pair are inhibited from contracting to a greater degree after resistance training due to adaptations of the nervous system
  • This allows the agonist and any synergist muscles to continue to contract more forcibly