Does Aerobic Exercise Increase Skeletal Muscle Mass in Female and Male Adults?

INTRODUCTION: It is uncertain whether aerobic exercise in the form of walking contributes to the preservation or increase in total or regional skeletal muscle mass (SMM). PURPOSE: This study aimed to determine the effects of aerobic exercise on total and regional (upper body verses leg SMM) in male ( n = 105) and female ( n = 133) adults with overweight and obesity. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of data from four randomized controlled trials. Participants included those who completed the given trial (control, n = 63; intervention, n = 175) and with complete magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measured adipose tissue and SMM pre- and postintervention. Macronutrient intake was assessed for a subsample of participants. Supervised exercise was performed by walking on a treadmill for durations ranging from 12 to 24 wk at intensities between 50% and 75% of V̇O 2peak . RESULTS: All MRI-measured adipose tissue depots were reduced, and cardiorespiratory fitness was increased by aerobic exercise compared with controls ( P < 0.001). Independent of baseline SMM, aerobic exercise was associated with a small reduction (estimated mean difference ± standard error) in whole-body SMM (-0.310 ± 0.150 kg, P = 0.039) and upper body SMM (-0.273 ± 0.121 kg, P = 0.025) compared with control. No between-group difference was observed for change in leg SMM ( P > 0.10). A negative association was observed between the relative change in body weight and change in total ( R2 = 0.37, P < 0.001), upper body ( R2 = 0.21, P < 0.001), and leg SMM ( R2 = 0.09, P = 0.701). The SMM-to-adipose tissue ratio increased in response to aerobic exercise and was positively associated with weight loss ( P < 0.001). Change in SMM was not associated with dietary protein intake ( P > 0.10). CONCLUSIONS: Aerobic exercise performed while walking preserves, but does not increase, SMM in exercising muscle of adults. SMM not directly targeted by aerobic exercise may not be maintained.

Individual Variability in Waist Circumference and Body Weight in Response to Exercise.

PURPOSE: This study aimed to determine the magnitude of exercise-induced individual variability for waist circumference (WC) and body weight change after accounting for biological variability and measurement error. Determinants of response variability were also considered. METHODS: Participants (53 ± 7.5 yr) were 181 adults (61% women) with abdominal obesity randomized to the following: control; low-amount, low-intensity exercise (LALI); high-amount, low-intensity exercise (HALI); or high-amount, high-intensity exercise (HAHI) for 24 wk. Unstructured physical activity was measured by accelerometer. The variability in response to exercise for WC and body weight (SDR) was isolated by subtracting the SD values for the change scores in the exercise group from that of the control group. RESULTS: The variability of response due to exercise (SDR) for change in WC was 3.1, -0.3, and 3.1 cm for LALI, HALI, and HAHI groups, respectively. Corresponding values for body weight were 3.8, 2.0, and 3.5 kg for LALI, HALI, and HAHI, respectively. The high-amount exercise groups yielded the highest proportion of individuals with a clinically meaningful response. No variables predicted the response to exercise (P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Substantial variability in response to standardized exercise was observed for change in both WC and body weight after accounting for the variability not attributed to exercise. Potential determinants of the interindividual variability in response to exercise remain unclear.

Separate Effects of Exercise Amount and Intensity on Adipose Tissue and Skeletal Muscle Mass in Adults with Abdominal Obesity.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effects of exercise amount (kilocalories per session) and intensity (percent of maximal oxygen consumption [% VO2 peak]) on adipose tissue (AT) and skeletal muscle (SM) in adults with abdominal obesity. METHODS: Participants (n = 103; 52.7 ± 7.6 years) were randomized to the following groups: control; low-amount, low-intensity exercise (180 kcal/session [women] and 300 kcal/session [men] at 50% VO2 peak); high-amount, low-intensity exercise (HALI; 360 kcal/session [women] and 600 kcal/session [men] at 50% VO2 peak); or high-amount, high-intensity exercise (HAHI; 360 kcal/session [women] and 600 kcal/session [men] at 75% VO2 peak) for 24 weeks. Activities of daily living were measured by accelerometry. Magnetic resonance imaging was used to measure tissue mass. RESULTS: Reduction in all AT depots was greater in the exercise groups compared with control (P < 0.002); however, there were no differences between exercise groups (P > 0.05). Visceral and abdominal subcutaneous AT reduction was uniform across the abdomen. Total SM mass did not change with exercise compared with control (P = 0.32). However, while lower-body SM mass was maintained (P = 0.32), upper-body SM mass in the high-amount, high-intensity and the high-amount, low-intensity groups was reduced compared with controls (P < 0.008). CONCLUSIONS: In adults with abdominal obesity, substantial reductions in total, abdominal subcutaneous, and visceral AT with a preservation of total SM mass were observed independent of exercise amount or intensity.

Effects of intensity and amount of exercise on measures of insulin and glucose: Analysis of inter-individual variability.

AIM: To determine the separate effects of exercise amount and intensity on the rate of response for glucose and insulin variables, where rate of response was defined as the number of individuals with improvement in glucose and insulin values that was beyond the day-to-day variability of measurement. METHODS: Participants were 171 sedentary, middle-aged abdominally obese adults who completed a 24-week intervention. Participants were randomly assigned to (1) no-exercise control (n = 51), (2) low-amount, low-intensity exercise (LALI, n = 38), (3) high-amount, low-intensity exercise (HALI, n = 52), or (4) high-amount, high-intensity exercise (HAHI, n = 30). Two-hour glucose, insulin area under the curve (AUC), and fasting insulin were measured during a 2-hour, 75g oral glucose challenge. The day-to-day variability for these measures was calculated to be ±2.2 mmol/L, ±940.2 pmol/L, and ±38.9 pmol/L, respectively. RESULTS: At 24 weeks, the number of nonresponders for 2-hr glucose was 98.0%, 86.8%, 94.2%, 86.7% in the control, LALI, HALI, and HAHI groups, respectively. The number of nonresponders for insulin AUC was 88.0%, 75.7%, 75.0%, 80.0% in the control, LALI, HALI, and HAHI groups, respectively. The number of nonresponders for fasting insulin was 88.2%, 84.2%, 84.6%, 93.3% in the control, LALI, HALI, and HAHI groups, respectively. The rate of response was not different between control and any of the exercise groups for any measure (p>0.05). CONCLUSION: The improvement in glucose and insulin measures did not exceed the day-to-day variability of measurement for approximately 80% of the participants independent of exercise amount or intensity.

Separate Effects of Intensity and Amount of Exercise on Interindividual Cardiorespiratory Fitness Response.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the separate effects of exercise intensity and amount on interindividual cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) response. PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS: Participants were 121 (75 females, 62%) sedentary, middle-aged (mean [SD] age, 53.2 [7.5] years), abdominally obese adults who completed at least 90% of 5 weekly exercise sessions prescribed over a 24-week intervention. Participants were randomly assigned to (1) low-amount, low-intensity exercise (LALI) (180 and 300 kcal per session for women and men, respectively, at 50% of CRF [VO 2peak]; n=39), (2) high-amount, low-intensity exercise (HALI) (360 and 600 kcal per session for women and men, respectively, at 50% of CRF; n=51), or high-amount, high-intensity exercise (HAHI) (360 and 600 kcal per session for women and men, respectively, at 75% of CRF; n=31). Cardiorespiratory fitness was measured using a treadmill test at 4, 8, 16, and 24 weeks. The study duration was September 1, 2009, through May 31, 2013. RESULTS: Cardiorespiratory fitness increased within all 3 groups at 24 weeks (P<.001). At 24 weeks, 38.5% (15 of 39), 17.6% (9 of 51), and 0% (0 of 31) of the participants within the LALI, HALI, and HAHI groups, respectively, were CRF nonresponders. At a fixed exercise intensity, increasing exercise amount reduced the rate of nonresponse by 50% (P=.02). At a fixed amount of exercise, increasing the exercise intensity eliminated nonresponse (P=.001). Exposure to exercise decreased the number of CRF nonresponders between 4 and 8 weeks for LALI and by 16 weeks for HALI but plateaued thereafter. For HAHI, the number of CRF nonresponders decreased continually over the 24 weeks. CONCLUSION: For a fixed amount of exercise, increasing exercise intensity consistent with consensus recommendations eliminated CRF nonresponse. Low-intensity exercise may not be sufficient to improve CRF for a substantial proportion of sedentary obese adults.

Effects of exercise amount and intensity on abdominal obesity and glucose tolerance in obese adults: a randomized trial.

BACKGROUND: Exercise reduces obesity and related glucose tolerance, but whether increasing exercise intensity offers additional benefit at fixed exercise amounts is unknown. OBJECTIVE: To determine the separate effects of exercise amount and intensity on abdominal obesity and glucose tolerance. DESIGN: 24-week, single-center, parallel-group trial from 2009 to 2013. (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT00955071). SETTING: Kingston, Ontario, Canada. PARTICIPANTS: 300 abdominally obese adults. INTERVENTION: Control (no exercise) (n = 75) or 5 weekly sessions of low-amount, low-intensity exercise (LALI) (180 and 300 kcal/session for women and men, respectively, at 50% of maximum oxygen consumption [V̇o2peak]) (n = 73); high-amount, low-intensity exercise (HALI) (360 and 600 kcal/session, respectively, at 50% of V̇o2peak) (n = 76); or high-amount, high-intensity exercise (HAHI) (360 and 600 kcal/session, respectively, at 75% of V̇o2peak) (n = 76). Daily unsupervised physical activity and sedentary time were measured by accelerometer. MEASUREMENTS: Waist circumference and 2-hour glucose level (primary outcomes) and cardiorespiratory fitness and measures of insulin action (secondary measurements). RESULTS: 217 participants (72.3%) completed the intervention. Mean exercise time in minutes per session was 31 (SD, 4.4) for LALI, 58 (SD, 7.6) for HALI, and 40 (SD, 6.2) for HAHI. Daily unsupervised physical activity and sedentary time did not change in any exercise group versus control (P > 0.33). After adjustment for age and sex in a linear mixed model, reductions in waist circumference were greater in the LALI (-3.9 cm [95% CI, -5.6 to -2.3 cm]; P < 0.001), HALI (-4.6 cm [CI, -6.2 to -3.0 cm]; P < 0.001), and HAHI (-4.6 cm [CI, -6.3 to -2.9 cm]; P < 0.001) groups than the control group but did not differ among the exercise groups (P > 0.43). After adjustment for covariates, reductions in 2-hour glucose level were greater in the HAHI group (-0.7 mmol/L [-12.5 mg/dL] [CI, -1.3 to -0.1 mmol/L {-23.5 to -1.5 mg/dL}]; P = 0.027) than the control group but did not differ for the LALI or HALI group versus the control group (P > 0.159). Weight loss was greater in all exercise groups than the control group (P < 0.001); however, reduction in body weight did not differ among the exercise groups (P > 0.182). LIMITATION: The clinical importance of reducing 2-hour glucose level in nondiabetic adults remains undetermined. CONCLUSION: Fixed amounts of exercise independent of exercise intensity resulted in similar reductions in abdominal obesity. Reduction in 2-hour glucose level was restricted to high-intensity exercise.

Age differences in energy absorption in the upper extremity during a descent movement: implications for arresting a fall.

BACKGROUND: Falls are the number one cause of unintentional injury in older adults. The protective response of "breaking the fall" with the outstretched hand is often essential for avoiding injury to the hip and head. In this study, we compared the ability of young and older women to absorb the impact energy of a fall in the outstretched arms. METHODS: Twenty young (mean age = 21 years) and 20 older (M = 78 years) women were instructed to slowly lower their body weight, similar to the descent phase of a push-up, from body lean angles ranging from 15 degrees to 90 degrees . Measures were acquired of peak upper extremity energy absorption, arm deflection, and hand contact force. RESULTS: On average, older women were able to absorb 45% less energy in the dominant arm than young women (1.7 +/- 0.5% vs 3.1 +/- 0.4% of their body weight x body height; p < .001). These results suggest that, even when both arms participate equally, the average energy content of a forward fall exceeds by 5-fold the average energy that our older participants could absorb and exceeds by 2.7-fold the average energy that young participants could absorb. CONCLUSIONS: During a descent movement that simulates fall arrest, the energy-absorbing capacity of the upper extremities in older women is nearly half that of young women. Absorbing the full energy of a fall in the upper extremities is a challenging task even for healthy young women. Strengthening of upper extremity muscles should enhance this ability and presumably reduce the risk for injury to the hip and head during a fall.