Effect of Intermittent Training on Oxidative and Glycolytic Capacity in Rat Skeletal Muscles

Any type of exercise protocol has specific effects on the physiology of the body. Thus, according to the purpose of the training program and conditions of the subjects, a specific exercise protocol is needed to be considered. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to assess the effect of intermittent training on oxidative and glycolytic capacity in rat skeletal muscles. Forty male rats were divided into two old (27 mon, 389±31 g) and young groups (3 ± 4 mon, 224±14 g), each of which were randomly divided into control and experimental groups (n = 10). Training group performed intermittent exercise on a treadmill 6 times /week for 8weeks. It consisted of 10 bouts of 4 min running interspersed by 2 min of active rest. All rats were anesthetized, 24 hours after the last session exercise, and Soleus (SOL) and extensor digitorumlongus (EDL) muscles were removed rapidly. In fact, the tissues were analyzed in regard with CS and LDH enzymes activities. In order to analyze the study data, one way-ANOVA and Tukey's post-hoc tests were applied. The results demonstrated that CS enzyme activity in EDL and SOL muscles increased significantly in both, old (OT) and young groups (YT) (p < 0.05). Furthermore, although there was an increase in LDH enzyme activity in OT, it was not statistically significant. However, LDH enzyme activity was significantly higher in both EDL and SOL in YT (P > 0.05). The results suggested that the training method described in the present study can be quite beneficial to the young and old, when a simultaneous increase in oxidative and glycolytic capacity is aimed.