Disuse atrophy of the muscles is caused by prolonged inactivity, which often occurs after sustaining an injury. Hypertrophy of the muscles is achieved through regular diet and exercise. 1(p127) Two types of training, strength and endurance, greatly increase muscle condition. Strength training increases muscle condition through the use of resistance. While conditioning through resistance will increase the number of myofilaments in muscle fiber and increases muscle size, it will not increase the number of muscle fibers.1(p128) Resistance training has been shown to positively affect heart rate, stroke volume, and cardiac output, though not to the same extent as has been found through the extended practice and implementation of endurance training. 2 Long-term resistance training has also been found to reduce the resting heart rate, increase stroke volume at rest and exercise, maintain cardiac output at rest, decrease resting systolic and diastolic blood pressure while at rest, improve resting lipid levels,...
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