Improving Strength, Power, Muscle Aerobic Capacity, and Glucose Tolerance through Short-term Progressive Strength Training Among Elderly People

Eva A. Andersson; Per Frank; Marjan Pontén; Björn Ekblom; Maria Ekblom; Marcus Moberg; Kent Sahlin

doi:10.3791/55518

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Method Article

Improving Strength, Power, Muscle Aerobic Capacity, and Glucose Tolerance through Short-term Progressive Strength Training Among Elderly People

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DOI:

10.3791/55518

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July 5th, 2017

Eva A. Andersson¹^,² , Per Frank¹^,³ , Marjan Pontén¹ , Björn Ekblom¹ , Maria Ekblom¹^,² , Marcus Moberg¹ , Kent Sahlin¹

¹Åstrand Laboratory of Work Physiology, The Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences, GIH, ²Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, ³Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Karolinska Institutet

Summary

The effect of short-term resistance training on elderly people was investigated through the simultaneous use of several methods. Compared to a control group, many improvements were seen, including on muscle aerobic capacity, glucose tolerance, strength, power, and muscle quality (i.e., protein involved in cell signaling and muscle fiber type composition).

Abstract

This protocol describes the simultaneous use of a broad span of methods to examine muscle aerobic capacity, glucose tolerance, strength, and power in elderly people performing short-term resistance training (RET). Supervised progressive resistance training for 1 h three times a week over 8 weeks was performed by RET participants (71±1 years, range 65-80). Compared to a control group without training, the RET showed improvements on the measures used to indicate strength, power, glucose tolerance, and several parameters of muscle aerobic capacity. Strength training was performed in a gym with only robust fitness equipment. An isokinetic dynamometer for knee extensor strength permitted the measurement of concentric, eccentric, and static strength, which increased for the RET group (8-12% post- versus pre-test). The power (rate of force development, RFD) at the initial 0-30 ms also showed an increase for the RET group (52%). A glucose tolerance test with frequent blood glucose measurements showed improvements only for the RET group in terms of blood glucose values after 2 h (14%) and the area under the curve (21%). The blood lipid profile also improved (8%). From muscle biopsy samples prepared using histochemistry, the amount of fiber type IIa increased, and a trend towards a decrease in IIx in the RET group reflected a change to a more oxidative profile in terms of fiber composition. Western blot (to determine the protein content related to the signaling for muscle protein synthesis) showed a rise of 69% in both Akt and mTOR in the RET group; this also showed an increase in mitochondrial proteins for OXPHOS complex II and citrate synthase (both ~30%) and for complex IV (90%), in only the RET group. We demonstrate that this type of progressive resistance training offers various improvements (e.g., strength, power, aerobic capacity, glucose tolerance, and plasma lipid profile).

Introduction

Aging is associated with a loss of muscle mass (sarcopenia), strength, and power. Reduced strength, and probably even more importantly, power, results in immobility, an increased risk of injury, and a reduced quality of life. Resistance training is a well-known strategy to counteract sarcopenia and deteriorating muscle function. A rough estimate of muscle strength can be obtained from the load or number of achieved repetitions. However, this study obtained more detailed and accurate information on muscle function using an isokinetic dynamometer to gather information on the torque during isometric, concentric and eccentric contraction, as well as on the kinetics of for....