title: Skeletal muscle remodeling in response to alpine skiing training in older individuals.
abstract: This study investigated whether regular alpine skiing could reverse sarcopenia and muscle weakness in older individuals. Twenty-two older men and women (67 ± 2 years) underwent 12 weeks of recreational skiing, two to three times a week, each session lasting ∼ 3.5 h. An age-matched, inactive group (n=20, 67 ± 4 years) served as a control (CTRL). Before and after the training period, knee extensors muscle thickness (T(m) ), pennation angle (θ) and fascicle length (L(f) ) of the vastus lateralis muscle were measured by ultrasound. Maximum isokinetic knee extensor torque (MIT) at an angular velocity of 60°/s was measured by dynamometry. After the training, T(m) increased by 7.1% (P<0.001), L(f) by 5.4% (P<0.02) and θ by 3.4% (P<0.05). The increase in T(m) was matched by a significant gain in MIT (13.3%, P<0.001). No significant changes, except for a decrease in θ (2.1%, P<0.02), were found in the CTRL group. The gain in T(m) in the training group correlated significantly with an increase in the focal adhesion kinase content, pointing to a primary role of this mechano-sensitive protein in sarcomere remodeling with muscle hypertrophy. Overall, the results show that alpine skiing is an effective intervention for combating sarcopenia and weakness in old age.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Biomedical Research into Human Movement (IRM), School of Healthcare Science, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, UK. m.narici@mmu.ac.uk
authors.forename: M V
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Narici
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Flueck
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Koesters
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gimpl
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Reifberger
authors.forename: O R
authors.initials: OR
authors.lastname: Seynnes
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Niebauer
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rittweger
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mueller
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological / Q000502:physiology*; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009119:Muscle Contraction / Q000502:physiology*; D053581:Muscle Strength Dynamometer; D018908:Muscle Weakness; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000502:physiology*; D055948:Sarcopenia; D012865:Skiing / Q000502:physiology*; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D019415:Torque; D016474:Weight-Bearing / Q000502:physiology*