Endurance Training Speeds Brain-Muscle Response

Communication between the brain and the quadriceps is different in people who train by running long distances. That’s right; it’s quicker. We know this because a University of Kansas news release reports that researchers at the school measured muscle responses of five people who regularly run long distances, five who regularly lift weights and five sedentary who regularly do neither. The endurance trainers had taken part in a running program for at least three years, ran an average of 61 miles a week, and did not do any resistance training. The resistance trainers had consistently taken part in a weight-training program for at least four years. They took part in resistance training four to eight hours per week and reported doing at least one repetition of a back squat of twice their body mass. One reported doing a squat of 1.5 times his or her body weight, but none did aerobic activity such as swimming, jogging or cycling. The sedentary participants did not do any structured physical exercise for three years prior to the study. The researchers measured submaximal contraction and total force by having participants extend their leg, then exert more force, attempting to achieve from 40 to 70 percent of total force, which they could see represented in real time on a computer screen. Ready? The envelope please…The researchers found that the quadriceps muscle fibers of the endurance trainers were able to fire more rapidly than the strength trainers or the sedentary group. Why? More research is needed.