New evidence describes beneficial effects of endurance training
Last reviewed: 14.06.2024
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Treadmill training, a form of endurance exercise, has been found to be highly effective "with significant improvements in skeletal muscle citrate synthase activity in just [one to two] weeks and improvements in maximal running speed and maximal oxygen uptake after [four to eight] weeks." The full effect of endurance training had not previously been explained until this study.
Researchers sought to develop and implement a standardized endurance training protocol involving more than 340 rats doing progressive treadmill training five days a week for one, two, four or eight weeks.
Researchers collected and measured 18 tissue, blood and plasma samples to determine the effectiveness of endurance training. Improving skeletal muscle citrate synthase activity, a marker of mitochondrial density, in exercised rats is important because it provides more energy to working muscles, allowing them to work longer and faster.
The article "Physiological adaptations to progressive endurance training in adult and aging rats: insights from the Molecular Transducers of Physical Performance Consortium (MoTrPAC)" was published in Function magazine. p>
“This work in mature treadmill-trained rats provides the most comprehensive and unprecedented resource for studying time-, sex-, and age-related responses to endurance exercise in a preclinical rat model,” the researchers wrote.