Workouts from a sociological perspective

To build on post #1 in which i defined physical activity and began to look at workouts from a sociological perspective, i want to begin this post with another question.
So what exactly happens when my body performs a bench press workout? My interest is piqued by this question. I am a science nerd, and thinking about how my body performs and acts at a cellular level really interests me. The following article helped answer part of that question, as it discusses ways in which the human body recovers following a bench press workout. The article was a research paper, in which 12 athletes were tested, 6 male and 6 female. Subjects completed a three week training program in which various levels of strenthg were tested. According to the article, 48 hour recovery times at minimum were reccommended for male athletes in order to optimize strength development.
Burke, JR. The effect of recovery time on strength performance following a high-intensity bench press workout in males and females. N.p., 05 JUN 2010. Web. 11 Mar 2012.




Loy, Stephen. "Is the Ab Do-er a Don't?." . 09AUG2000, n.d. Web. 11 Mar 2012.

I often workout my abdominal muscles, and these muscles are extremely important in the overall physique of most athletes. What are some exercise do's and don'ts for Ab workouts? According to the article, "Is the AB Do-er a Don't", 25 men and women were enlisted in a study to test the overall performance of various Ab exercises. The study concluded that Abdominal exercises alone will not greatly increase one's overall fitness, as it deemed Ab workouts to be relatively low intensity compared to workouts such as running and cycling. The study found that Ab workouts are great, but would require the exerciser to spend considerably more time performing these exercises in order to add up to the amount of calories burned by running and other higher intensity exercises.