I’m going to talk about running (something a solid percentage
of the population hates) and ALS (of
“Ice Bucket Challenge” fame, which
many of you are probably really tired of hearing and seeing). Wish me luck!
It’s well known that training in certain sports can improve
a person's endurance. If you're a
runner, for example, you know that as you continue to run every day or
according to whatever training schedule you follow, you gradually develop the
ability to run further, faster, and for longer periods of time. But did you know modern science doesn’t have a
complete understanding of why or how this actually happens? Experts still have a lot of unanswered
questions about the exact mechanisms at work when an endurance sport triggers
these kinds of performance improvements.
When it comes to muscle strength, there’s certainly an
element of adaptation at work—it’s clear that the phrase "use it and
strengthen it" is every bit as true as “use it or lose it". But muscle strength isn’t the whole story. Many long-distance runners would probably tell
you that their coordination and ability to deal with rough surfaces and
obstacles also seem to increase with practice. To them, it seems as if their muscle-brain
communication has improved along with their muscle strength.
New research on this topic suggests that endurance sports
not only change the condition and fitness of your muscles, they also improve
the neuronal connections to individual muscle fibers, based on a type of
muscle-induced feedback, all accomplished through increased levels of a blood
protein called PGC1α.
PGC1α seems to play a major role in muscle adaptation
because it regulates the genes that cause muscle cells to change to keep up
with the greater demands being placed on them. When your muscles are inactive (or diseased),
they contain a low concentration of PGC1α. When the muscles are more challenged, however
– for example when running for long distances – PGC1α levels increase. An increase in PGC1α not only increases muscle
size and strength, but also improves upstream synaptic nerve connections to and
from the muscles.
The presence of more PGC1α improves the health of the
synapses that link the muscles to the brain, allowing the muscles to change and
develop new activation patterns, based on changing requirements placed upon
them by the exercise. In effect, the
more you train, the more PGC1α is in your muscles, and the more quickly they
are able to "learn" how to become stronger and more adaptable to
challenges.
However, the most surprising new study, published in the
journal Nature Communication, is that
researchers were able to induce this same improvement in synaptic communication
by introducing higher concentrations of PGC1α into the muscles artificially. As the researchers increased PGC1α levels, the
muscles became stronger and the neuronal connections became stronger, just as
if the subjects had been performing endurance training.
These findings are seen as possibly having therapeutic
applications in the treatment of diseases such as muscle wasting and
amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig's Disease). In patients whose muscles due to their illness
are too weak to move on their own, an increase in PGC1α levels could strengthen
muscles and nerves until the patients can move enough to finally do some
physical therapy and to further improve their mobility. Then after some improvement to their muscles
as the result of pharmacological treatment, the patients could continue to
improve their muscle strength through practicing endurance sports. So there you have it—there really is valuable
research that can be helped from donations related to the Ice Bucket Challenge!
For healthy people, there’s a much simpler message—certain
types of sports normally associated with endurance-building also build muscle
coordination and adaptability. Not only
is this type of exercise good for cardiovascular and musculoskeletal health, it
also seems to pay big “fitness dividends” for your body’s nervous system. The nervous system is the part of your body
that controls all other functions, so don’t forget about it when you’re
exercising your muscles and joints. The
nervous system is what’s controlling those movements! By enhancing how well your nerves communicate
with your brain and with your muscles and joints, you’re improving the
efficiency of your body’s movements and health.
If you’ve ever been adjusted, you can see how that can also improve
the function of the nervous system by stimulating muscle and joint sensation.
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