ABSTRACT
The purpose of the present study was to determine whether resistance training alters the cardiovascular responses to submaximal lower body negative pressure (LBNP) in the elderly. Twenty-one subjects were randomized into a control (C: n=10; 70 +/- 3 years, mean +/- SD) or a resistance training (TR: n=11; 67 +/- 7 years) group. Subjects in the TR underwent 12 weeks of training consisting of three sets of 8-12 contractions at approximately 60-80% of their initial maximal one repetition, three times per week, on 10 different machines. Before (Pre) and after (Post) training, all subjects underwent exposures of LBNP of -10, -20 and -40 Torr and muscle biopsy sampling at the vastus lateralis. TR increased (P< or =0.05) knee extension (Pre=379 +/- 140 N, Post=534 +/- 182 N) and chest press (Pre=349 +/- 137 N, Post=480 +/- 192 N) strength. Neither body weight nor percentage body fat were altered (P >0.05) by training. Resistance training increased (P< or =0.05) cross-sectional area in both Type I (4203 +/- 1196 to 5248 +/- 1728 microm2) and Type II (3375 +/- 1027 to 4286 +/- 1892 microm2) muscle fibres. Forearm blood flow, forearm vascular conductance, mean arterial pressure, and heart-rate responses to LBNP were not altered by the training. These data suggest that the cardiovascular responses of elderly to LBNP are unaffected by 12 weeks of whole-body resistance training despite increases in muscle strength and size.