We examined whether post-exercise macronutrient supplementation during a 5-month home-based interval walking training (IWT) accelerated exercise-induced increases in skeletal muscle mass and strength in healthy middle-aged and older women. Thirty-five women (41-78 years) were randomly divided into two groups: IWT alone (CNT, n = 18) or IWT plus post-exercise macronutrient (7.6 g protein, 32.5 g carbohydrate, and 4.4 g fat) supplementation (NUT, n = 17). For IWT, all subjects were instructed to repeat five or more sets of 3-min low-intensity walking at 40% peak aerobic capacity (Vo2 peak ), followed by a 3-min high-intensity walking above 70% Vo2 peak per day for 4 or more days per week. We determined Vo2 peak , thigh muscle tissue area by computer tomography, and thigh muscle strength in all subjects before and after IWT. We found that an increase in hamstring muscle tissue area was 2.8 ± 1.2% in NUT vs -1.0 ± 0.7% in CNT and that in isometric knee flexion force was 16.3 ± 3.7% in NUT vs 6.5 ± 3.0% in CNT; both were significantly higher in NUT than in CNT (both, P < 0.001). Thus, post-exercise macronutrient supplementation enhanced the increases in thigh muscle mass and strength, although partially, in home-based IWT in middle-aged and older women.

BackgroundExercise training throughout the lifespan is the most effective strategy to prevent age‐associated declines in physical fitness. We assessed the effects of 10‐year continuation of interval walking training (IWT) in older people.MethodsOne hundred fifty, 30, and 22 men (~68 years) and 333, 112, 85 women (~63 years) started the IWT program in April of 2005, 2006, and 2007, respectively, and thereafter, 36, 13, 7 men and 56, 20, and 16 women had continued the program without intermission until March in 2015, 2016, and 2017, respectively. They were named as the 10‐year IWT group while the rest of them as the dropout group. During the periods, we instructed subjects to perform IWT; repeating ≧5 sets of 3‐min fast walking at ≧70% of peak aerobic capacity for walking (VO2peak), followed by 3‐min slow walking at ~40% VO2peak per day, for ≧4 days/week. We measured VO2peak and isometric knee extension force (FEXT) before they started the program and every 6 months during the IWT. The target intensities for IWT were re‐adjusted every 6 month according to the current VO2peak. We confirmed that subjects in the 10‐year IWT group accomplished the above target throughout the period. For the control group, we adopted the values for the measurements from 208 men and 554 women before starting the program every year regardless of their continuity of the IWT over the 10 years and averaged them crosssectionally every 2 years of the ages from 67 to 77 years for men and 62 to 72 years for women. For the dropout group, in 2017, we recruited subjects who dropped out on the way of the 10‐year IWT to measure the present VO2peak, and 29 men and 97 women agreed to participate in the measurement.ResultsWe found that in the control group, FEXT decreased linearly along with aging and the decreases were ~30% in men and ~20% in women from the baselines to 10 years later. Similarly, the decreases in VO2peak were ~20% in men and women after 10 years. In contrast, in the 10‐year IWT group, FEXT decreased along with the following 9.5 years but maintained the higher level than the control group in men and women (P=0.02 and P<0.001, respectively). Additionally, in the 10‐year IWT group, VO2peak increased by ~20% for the first 6 month of the IWT and maintained the level along with the following 9.5 years in men and women. As a result, FEXT and VO2peak in the 10‐year IWT group were ≧20% and ≧40% higher than those of age‐matched subjects in the control group after 10 years (P=0.04 and P<0.001, respectively). In the dropout group, the profile of VO2peak before their dropout was similar to that in the 10‐year IWT group, but after the dropout, VO2peak decreased at −1.2±0.4% and −1.0±0.2% per year in men and women, respectively, until 2017, significantly greater decreasing rate than the 10‐year IWT group (both, P<0.001), but less than the control group.ConclusionsIWT over 10 years protected against age‐associated declines in physical fitness in older people and the effect was partially preserved even if they dropped out on the way.Support or Funding InformationThis study was supported by grants from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (16K16560, 15H01830).This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2018 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.

AimsWe examined whether the milk + carbohydrate (CHO) supplementation during interval walking training improved the symptoms of lifestyle‐related diseases with enhanced methylation of the pro‐inflammatory gene, NFKB2.MethodsTwenty nine subjects (~70 yr) having performed interval walking training for >6 months but with >130 mmHg of systolic pressure and >110 mg/dl of blood glucose participated in the study. After the baseline measurements of peak aerobic capacity (VO2peak) by graded walking test, blood constituents, blood glucose by continuous method (iPro2R), and carotid arterial compliance with Doppler ultrasound (Vivid7R) and non‐invasive arterial pressure measurement (FinometerR), we randomly divided subjects into two groups: MILK (6 men, 9 women) and CNT (6 men, 8 women) consuming either milk (10 g protein and 9.5 g CHO) + CHO (8.8 g) or CHO (7 g) alone during 5‐month interval walking training, respectively. After the training, we measured the same variables as before.ResultsIn MILK, VO2peak and carotid arterial compliance increased and mean blood glucose decreased with a reduced fluctuation after standardized meal intake during the day (all, P<0.05); however, these changes were minimal in CNT (all, P>0.06). This was accompanied by enhanced methylation of NFKB2 in MILK than CNT (P=0.045).ConclusionsMilk + CHO supplementation during interval walking training enhanced the improvement of lifestyle‐related diseases with enhanced NFKB2 methylation.Support or Funding InformationThis study was supported by a grant from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (15H01830).This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2018 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.

We examined whether post-exercise yogurt intake reduced cardiovascular strain during outdoor interval walking training (IWT) in older people during midsummer. The IWT is a training regimen repeating slow and fast walking at ~40% and ≥70% peak aerobic capacity, respectively, for 3 min each per set, ≥5 sets per day, and ≥4 days/wk. We randomly divided 28 male and 75 female older people (~73 yr), who had performed IWT ≥12 months, into a carbohydrate group (CHO-G) consuming jelly (45 g CHO, 180 kcal) and a yogurt group (YGT-G) consuming a yogurt drink (9.3 g protein, 39 g CHO, 192 kcal) immediately after daily IWT for 56 days while monitoring exercise intensity and heart rate (HR) with portable devices. We analyzed the results in 39 subjects for the CHO-G and 37 subjects for the YGT-G who performed IWT ≥ 4 days/wk, ≥60 min total fast walking/wk, and ≥4 sets of each walk/day. We found that the mean HR for fast walking decreased significantly from the baseline after the 30th day in the YGT-G (p < 0.03), but not in the CHO-G (p = 1.00). There were no significant differences in training achievements between the groups. Thus, post-exercise yogurt intake might reduce cardiovascular strain during outdoor walking training in older people.

AimsDeterioration of physical fitness with advancing age is suggested to be one of the major causes for dementia. We examined whether 5‐mo interval walking training (IWT) improved cognitive function with increased physical fitness in elderly.MethodsResidents >40 years old in Yurihonjo participated in this study. They were randomly divided into the control (CNT) and IWT groups. Subjects in the CNT group were instructed to maintain their sedentary lifestyle while those in the IWT group were instructed to perform IWT, repeating ≥5 sets of fast and slow walking for 3 min each at ≥70% and 40% peak aerobic capacity for walking (VO2peak), respectively, per day ≥4 days/week for 5 months from June to November, 2016. Before and after the intervention, we measured VO2peak and cognitive function with Urakami‐style Screening Test. Since 36 subjects dropped out during the intervention and additionally 24 subjects lacked ≥1 of the measurements, we analyzed the remaining 175 subjects (CNT, n=88 and IWT, n=87). Moreover, since subjects who marked ≤12 points in cognitive function were clinically defined as mild cognitive impairment, they were used for further analyses (CNT, n=17 and IWT, n=18).ResultsAfter the intervention, VO2peak and cognitive function increased by 3.0±1.1% and 3.5±3.0% in the IWT group, more than −2.0±1.3% and −7.1±2.9% in the CNT group, respectively (both, P<0.01), and these effects were enhanced in the mild cognitive impairment subjects; 5.8±2.3% and 34.1±8.7% in the IWT group vs −0.4±2.3% and 11.8±12.3% in the CNT group, respectively, (both, P<0.05).ConclusionThe five‐month IWT improved cognitive function with increased VO2peak in elderly, especially in the mild cognitive impairment individuals.Support or Funding InformationThis study was supported by a grant from by the Cabinet Office of Japan to re‐activate local communities which would lose their activity due to advanced aging.This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2018 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.