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Energy Systems Adaptations Worksheet

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Energy Systems Adaptations Worksheet

Use the athlete profiles and training data to explain how training changes the body’s energy systems. Energy systems overlap: one may dominate, but the others still contribute. Give specific evidence and explain your reasoning.

Part A: Identify the adaptation

Apply your knowledge to the situations below.

1.A sprinter completes repeated 5-second maximal accelerations with full recovery between efforts. Which energy system is being specifically challenged most, and name one muscular adaptation that can improve its capacity.

2.Choose the best explanation: after several weeks of aerobic training, an athlete’s muscles have greater mitochondrial density.

More mitochondria help muscles use oxygen to produce ATP, supporting sustained exercise.
More mitochondria store extra phosphocreatine for the first few seconds of exercise.
More mitochondria prevent all lactate from being produced during intense exercise.

3.Match each adaptation to its main performance benefit.

A. Increased capillary density
B. Increased creatine kinase activity
C. Increased muscle buffering capacity
D. Increased mitochondrial density

3. Greater ability to limit the effects of acidity during intense exercise
1. Faster ATP resynthesis from phosphocreatine
2. Improved oxygen delivery and exchange in muscle
4. Greater capacity for aerobic ATP production

4.True or false? The aerobic system contributes only after the anaerobic systems have stopped working. Correct the statement if it is false.

TrueFalse

Part B: Read the training evidence

A coach tracks two athletes after an eight-week training block. Use the data in the grid to answer Questions 5–7. These results are fictional but realistic examples.

Measure

Endurance athlete

Repeated-sprint athlete

Main training focus

Continuous running

Repeated high-intensity intervals

Resting heart rate

64 to 58 beats per minute

66 to 65 beats per minute

Estimated VO₂max

48 to 54 mL·kg⁻¹·min⁻¹

47 to 49 mL·kg⁻¹·min⁻¹

5.Which athlete showed the larger improvement in estimated VO₂max? Calculate the change for each athlete before deciding.

6.The endurance athlete’s resting heart rate fell by 6 beats per minute. Explain one likely cardiovascular adaptation that could help account for this change.

7.The repeated-sprint athlete asks why their VO₂max also increased, even though training included hard intervals. Give a reason that recognises both energy-system overlap and training adaptation.

Part C: Design and explain

Use the principles of specificity, overload and recovery in your responses.

8.Design a short training set aimed mainly at ATP-PC development for a field-sport athlete. State the effort duration, number of repetitions, and recovery between efforts. Then explain why the recovery should be long.

9.A 400 m runner wants to improve the ability to sustain a high speed when fatigue builds. Name one suitable adaptation to target and suggest a training approach likely to encourage it.

10.A coach claims, “More lactate always means the muscles have run out of oxygen.” Is this claim accurate? Explain what lactate can indicate during high-intensity exercise.