The Merits of Endurance Exercises

Article by Benedict Smythe

For a long time now, body builders around the world are examining the merits of acute endurance workouts. These exercises, which aim at altering the glucose usage of the human body, are employed if the person wishes for short-term effects to kick in.

Skeletal muscles are targeted, and with luck, the extra endurance training will allow for basic but beneficial alterations to take place in the muscle structures themselves. Though this may be the case, the exercise routine is not for everyone, because not everyone has the same body types, nor the same kinds of endurance.

Effects

What do bodybuilders dream of, ultimately? That their muscles grow, proportionally with their strength and their bodies adapt well to the lifestyle, which is often long term. This desire can often lead to success- but the basic organism, the body, is not changed, not really.

Endurance training allows for the individual to alter the basic structure of the body. By introducing repeated stresses to the muscles and skeletal, muscular frame, the body actually adapts to be able to keep up with the changing forces of the environment. The result is that the muscles actually increase for instance, the number of mitochondria in the tissues themselves.

Mitochondria are the power houses of the human body- these small organelles inside muscle cells allow for glucose to be stored and used. More mitochondria means more energy-retention and that translates to more power and more endurance. More endurance means an increased capacity to build the desired muscle mass in a shorter period of time.

AMPK or Adensine Monophosphate-activated Protein Kinase is an enzyme related to ATP that are found in human mitochondria, seems to be responsible in this vital adaptation in the human body. Whether accidentally or as a catalyst, both enzymes play crucial roles in determining the progression of a human body from a state of normal activity to a state of hyper muscular growth.

AMPK is actually a form of protein, and like all complex proteins, this one has to be activated to be able to be made use of. How does one activate AMPK in the human body?

Chemistry points that the creation of AMPK will only result from increased periods of sustained physical activity. AMPK rests heavily on the action of ATP or adenosine triphosphate and other organic compounds in the body. Without ATP, there can be no AMP or AMPK.

Sustained endurance exercises are precisely what we need to produce AMPK. But to do this, we must supersede our usual endurance levels, which is never easy to accomplish. Strength is one thing- but endurance is never easy to achieve, especially if you do not have the patience to endure the muscle soreness and the extra effort you have to put in.

Essentially, endurance exercises are a form of stress. Stress is what makes AMPK surface in the human body. More stress means more AMPK. Remember that AMP is the activating factor here: more AMP also means more AMPK. And more AMPK translates to more mitochondria. In the end, the linear progression is quite easy to spot: more activity means more muscle.

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