ABSTRACT
Previous research has shown that chronic exercise training results in an adaptation of the heart that is specific to the nature of the training stimulus (Morganroth et al., 1975). Resistance training has been reported to induce a concentric hypertrophy of the left ventricle attributable to increased wall thicknesses (Menapace et al., 1982) whilst endurance training has produced an eccentric hypertrophy of the left ventricle attributable to increased chamber dimensions (Ehsani et al., 1978). Grossman et al. (1975) suggested that training-specific haemodynamics, volume overload during endurance training and pressure overload during resistance exercise, accounted for different structural changes.
