Originally Posted by
ThermionicScott
I'm curious -- are you coming at this from a weightlifting background? There's a lot of data and discussion in that field about how untrained people can gain LBM and raise their 1RMs and 5RMs quickly once they embark on a decent training program, and usually max out within a couple years without chemical help. Those metrics are at least somewhat easy to measure.
That's an interesting comparison. Quick initial gains in strength training are from muscle fiber recruitment. Once you have full recruitment, it really slows down and the hard work begins. The younger powerlifters I've been watching at our gym haven't maxed out quickly. I've been watching them for years and they're still getting stronger but it's a slow process. I think that mirrors what we see in cycling. Quick gains at the neuromuscular level, but once you learn to pedal and breathe and get your blood volume up, it slows down. Heart muscle seems to grow the slowest and to lose mass the quickest, a very conservative muscle, that is if stroke volume is dependent on muscle volume. Seems that way to me from watching HR over the years.
Endurance seems to build the slowest. We see a lot of olders in ultra endurance sports, the last refuge of the aging athlete.