Effects of high‐resistance wheel running on hallmarks of endurance and resistance training adaptations in mice

Abstract

Exercise effectively promotes and preserves cardiorespiratory, neuromuscular, metabolic, and cognitive functions throughout life. The molecular mechanisms underlying the beneficial adaptations to exercise training are, however, still poorly understood. To improve the mechanistic study of specific exercise training adaptations, standardized, physiological, and well‐characterized training interventions are required. Therefore, we performed a comprehensive interrogation of systemic changes and muscle‐specific cellular and molecular adaptations to voluntary low‐resistance wheel running (Run) and progressive high‐resistance wheel running (RR) in young male mice. Following 10 weeks of training, both groups showed similar improvements in body composition and peak oxygen uptake (V̇O2peak), as well as elevated mitochondrial proteins and capillarization markers in the M. plantaris. Run mice clearly outperformed RR mice in a forced treadmill running capacity test, while RR mice displayed increased grip strength as well as superior mass gains in the M. soleus, associated with distinct proteomic changes specifying the two paradigms. Thus, even though both training modalities induce overlapping adaptations, Run interventions preferably improve submaximal running performance, while progressive RR is a valid model to study training‐induced gains in grip strength and plantar flexor hypertrophy.

Impaired age-associated mitochondrial translation is mitigated by exercise and PGC-1α

“…Thus, we finally assessed how exercise, a stimulus with strong protective effects against muscle aging, affects mitochondrial proteostasis in young and old muscle. Indeed, proteomic data ( 21 ) from cohorts of mice that were trained with either endurance or resistance voluntary running wheels revealed up-regulated mitochondrial ribosomal and translation proteins in response to both training paradigms, without indication of differential PGC-1α isoform expression in the late postexercise state ( Fig. 4 C and SI Appendix , Fig.…”

Stuart has got the PoWeR! Skeletal muscle adaptations to a novel heavy progressive weighted wheel running exercise model in C57BL/6 mice

“…In contrast, the soleus adapted in a load/volume‐dependent manner, perhaps due to its overall fibre type and recruitment pattern in an exercise model with such a strong endurance training component. Constant‐friction loaded wheel running models, utilizing both low and high resistance, similarly report soleus growth is load‐independent while plantaris mass is unchanged (Leuchtmann et al., 2023 ; Soffe et al., 2016 ). Furthermore, the plantaris appears to respond better to wheel running (weighted or unweighted) in rats than mice.…”