Recruiting

Strength Training

Sponsor:

Marquette University

Code:

NCT03888040

Conditions

Aging

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18 - 70+

Healthy Volunteers: Accepted

Interventions

Exercise

Study Details

Brief summary:

The proposed studies will assess 1) the mechanisms for the age-related increase in fatigability during dynamic exercise (Aims 1 and 2) and 2) the effectiveness of high-velocity resistance training coupled with blood flow restriction (BFR) in improving muscle power output and fatigability in older adults (Aim 3). The first two aims are cross-sectional studies comparing young (18-35 years old) and older adults (≥60 yrs old) to test our central hypothesis that the greater accumulation of metabolites and increase in fatigability in older adults is due to either age-related impairments in skeletal muscle bioenergetics (Aim 1) and/or vascular dysfunction (Aim 2). These two aims will integrate techniques to assess whole-muscle bioenergetics (31P-MRS) and in vivo vascular function (near infrared spectroscopy; NIRS and doppler ultrasonography) with in vitro assessment of single fiber bioenergetics (epifluorescence microscopy) and vasoreactivity of isolated skeletal muscle arterioles (video microscopy). We will then determine whether bioenergetics, vascular function and fatigability are altered in older men and women in response to 8 weeks of resistance exercise training of the lower limb both with and without blood flow restriction (Aim 3).

Conditions

Aging

Study ID

NCT03888040

Start date

Sep 1, 2020

Status verified date

Mar, 2024

Completion date

Aug 31, 2025

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Mar 31, 2025

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18 - 70+

Healthy Volunteers: Accepted

Inclusion Criteria:

  • men and women aged 18-40 years and >60 years

Exclusion Criteria:

  • body mass index ≥40 kg/m2;
  • type 1 or type 2 diabetes;
  • uncontrolled hypertension;
  • active cancer, cancer in remission, or having received treatment for any form of cancer in the previous five years;
  • coronary artery disease;
  • cardiovascular disease (e.g., PAD, PVD);
  • abnormal and untreated thyroid function;
  • chronic and/or regular nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) consumption,
  • tobacco use (includes smoking);
  • any condition that presents a limitation to exercise (e.g., severe arthritis, COPD, neuromuscular disorder, moderate or severe cognitive impairment, Alzheimer's Disease, severe untreated sleep apnea).
  • women who are pregnant or likely to be pregnant.
  • Subjects will be excluded if they have joint pain in the exercising leg or arm. Medication use. Medications currently taken or in the previous year and known to influence muscle mass (e.g., glucocorticoids, testosterone) and cortical and neuromuscular excitability will be exclusionary, while medications that may be prevalent among older adults (e.g., statins) will be accounted for with a covariate statistical model.

Study Design

Enrollment

120 participants

Anticipated

Allocation

Randomized

Intervention Model

Parallel Assignment

Primary purpose

Treatment

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

experimental: Blood Flow Restriction Training

This leg will then perform low-load resistance training (30% of 1-RM) including 3 sets of 15 knee extensions performed as fast as possible while seated upright in a knee extension weight machine. Sets will be interspersed with 30 seconds rest. This leg will always perform the training with blood flow restriction.

experimental: Resistance Training Only

This leg will then perform low-load resistance training (30% of 1-RM) including 3 sets of 15 knee extensions performed as fast as possible while seated upright in a knee extension weight machine. Sets will be interspersed with 30 seconds rest. This leg will always perform the training without blood flow restriction.

Interventions

Exercise

The participant will attend 3 training sessions per week for 8 weeks. Resistance training will be performed by each leg with a load of 30% of maximal strength: one leg with and the other without blood flow restriction.

Primary outcome measure

  • Change in Fatigability of the knee extensor muscles from baseline to after 8 weeks training [ Time Frame: One session before and then after 8 weeks of training ]
  • Change in single muscle fiber function form baseline to after 8 weeks training [ Time Frame: Before and after completion of resistance training intervention of 8 weeks. ]
  • Change in muscle volume of the quadricep muscles form baseline to after 8 weeks training [ Time Frame: Before and after completion of resistance training intervention of 8 weeks. ]
  • Change in muscle metabolism during a fatiguing knee extensor exercise from baseline to after 8 weeks resistance training [ Time Frame: Before and 2-days after completion of resistance training intervention of 8 weeks. ]
  • Change in vascular function via flow-mediated dilation of the femoral artery from baseline to after 8 weeks of training [ Time Frame: One session before and one after 8 weeks of training ]
  • Change in myofibrillar-ATPase efficiency from baseline to after 8 weeks of training [ Time Frame: One session before and after 8 weeks of training ]
  • Change in Oxygenation of the muscle between baseline to after 8 weeks of training [ Time Frame: One session before and after 8 weeks of training ]
  • Change in arteriole Vasodilation from baseline to after 8 weeks of training [ Time Frame: One session before and after 8 weeks of training ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Christopher W Sundberg, PhD

414-288-5607christopher.sundberg@marquette.edu

Sarah Lessila

slessila@umich.edu

Locations

Marquette University

Recruiting

Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, 53201

Contacts

Christopher W Sundberg, PhD

414-288-5607christopher.sundberg@marquette.edu

More Information

Sponsor

Marquette University

Last update posted

Feb 11, 2025

Last verified

Mar, 2024

Keywords

  • Aging
  • Fatigue
  • Resistance training
  • Skeletal Muscle
  • Knee extensor muscles
  • limb power

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-09-08. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by Marquette University on 2025-02-11.