Effect of exercise on the motor unit

The motoneuron part of this review deals with the changes in recruitment and firing rates of the motor unit types upon changes from a physically inactive life to endurance or strength training. The muscle fibers react to prolonged exercise by adaptation to a higher level of performance. A matter of discussion is the prerequisites for a transformation between the basic muscle fiber types, slow twitch and fast twitch, during voluntary (transsynaptic) activity, which is demonstrated after artificial nerve stimulation. The review includes current knowledge of muscle fiber transformation as an adaptive response to increased usage either by electrical stimulation or by transsynaptic neuronal activity. The metabolic adaptation related to increased endurance is reviewed with special reference to effects on muscle fibers. The increase in strength as a result of high resistance training is mainly the result of increased muscle cross-section. Whether this is solely the result of an increase in size of individual fibers or an increased fiber number is a controversial matter.