SBP and DBP increased significantly more during moderate load RE; thus, the magnitude of the external load is not the prime determinant of the pressure response during RE. If management of blood pressure is of concern, high load/low rep RE is preferable to medium load/high rep RE.

Background; Studies of the maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) of transfemoral amputees (TFA) have mostly used protocols that activate a relatively small muscle mass. Consequently, TFA VO2max may be systematically underestimated, and the validity of these test protocols is questionable.Objectives; 1) Investigate validity and reliability of a VO2max walking protocol. 2) Compare the VO2max of a TFA group to a group of matching controls (CON).Study design; 1) Randomized crossover study; walking vs. running VO2max for the CON group, 2) case-control study; TFA vs. CON group VO2max.Methods; Twelve TFA and CON participants performed a walking VO2max test with increasing treadmill inclinations to voluntary exhaustion. The CON group also completed a running ("gold-standard") VO2max test.Results; Mean (SD) CON group VO2max following walking and running was similar, i.e. 2.99 (0.6) and 3.09 (0.7) L·min -1 , respectively. Mean (SD) TFA walking VO2max was 2.14 (0.8) L·min -1 (compared to CON; p < 0.01). Mean intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) of repeated VO2 measurements was 0.97, and within-subjects standard deviation (Sw) was 60 mL min -1 . Conclusions;The walk protocol is valid. Walking VO2max of TFA was 40 % lower compared to CON.Reliability of the walking protocol is comparable to other walking protocols. Word count: 200 Clinical relevanceThe design, alignment and materials of prostheses are important for effective ambulation. Cardiorespiratory fitness is, however, also important in this regard, and a low fitness may compromise health and independent living. Hence, TFA with low physical fitness should engage in regular physical activity to improve health, gait capacity and independency.Word count: 50

Forty untrained persons were randomized to four different training protocols that exercised the m. triceps brachii. Group 1 and 2 performed high intensity (HI) elbow extensions and group 3 and 4 performed low intensity (LI) elbow extensions. Group 1 and 3 trained until they had accumulated a matching high volume (HV) of training, while group 2 and 4 trained until they had accumulated a matching low volume (LV) of training. Training for 5-8 weeks increased the HSP72, HSP27 and GRP75 levels in the subjects' m. triceps brachii by 111, 71 and 192%, respectively (Fig. 1a-c). There were, however, no significant differences in the heat shock protein (HSP) responses to training between the four training groups (Fig. 2a-c). The frequency of extreme responses to exercise was, however, higher after HI exercise than after LI exercise, indicating that HI exercise induces extreme HSP reactions in some subjects. When we assigned the subjects to three clusters, according to the total number of repetitions they had lifted, the subjects who had lifted the highest number of repetitions had lower PostExc HSP levels compared with subjects that lifted the lowest number of repetitions (Fig. 3a-c). Additionally, there was a negative non-linear regression (Fig. 4a-c) between the subjects PreExc levels of HSP72, HSP27 and GRP75 and the percentage change in their respective protein concentration after training (r = -0.75, -0.89 and -0.88, all P < 0.0001). Thus, the PreExc level of HSPs seems to be an important "regulator" of HSP expression following the training.