undeniable. It is so important that many university
and professional teams now hire a specialized coach
who only attends to the development of strength in
athletes. It is interesting to note that no such specialist
is hired to attend to the other components of physical
fitness. We have yet to see a cardiovascular coach, a
coach who attends to developing fitness of the
heart and blood vessels, hired by universities or
professional teams. This situation raises the question
of the relative importance of each of these two
components, strength training and cardiovascular
training, to the other. Does the strength coach develop
the cardiovascular system by prescribing a program
to increase muscle fiber?
It is theoretically possible to design a weight-
lifting program in which the resistance is so low and
the repetitions so numerous that it provides the
cardiovascular benefits of a running program.
Therefore, if you view weights as a way to overload
muscles, you can imagine a continuum of programs
that emphasize cardiovascular benefits on the one
extreme and strength on the other. The practical
truth of the matter is that most coaches are primarily
concerned with pure strength. Therefore, the athlete
has to work on the end of the weight-overload
continuum that promotes little, if any, cardiovascular
benefit. In fact, one study has found that a high-
intensity strength program reduced mitochondrial
density (density of the cellular structures that produce
energy in the muscle fiber) per unit of muscle. The
athletes increased muscle mass, so they did not
eliminate mitochondria presumably, but the fact
remains that the oxidative capacity, the ability to use
oxygen in the synthesis of energy, was not promoted.
Oxidative capacity would usually improve in programs
that stress cardiovascular conditioning. Neither
increased blood flow nor increased mitochondrial
density (both indicators of oxygen extraction) occur
with strength training.
Obviously, there is nothing wrong with training
athletes to gain strength, but in most strength programs
cardiovascular improvements are not made.
Therefore, for athletes, who require both strength and
cardiovascular conditioning, both
components must be trained independently.
88. Which of the following policies would
the author be most likely to support?
まA.Sports teams should increase
their strength-training
programs.
まB.All athletes should be able to
choose the kinds of training
they prefer.
まC.Sports teams should provide
improved cardiovascular
training.
まD.All athletes should avoid
strength training in order to
avoid injury.
答案是C
可是我找不到文章的定點耶
最後一段是說兩種功能要被分開訓練
所以我勉強選了B
請各位大大指教
