AUTHOR=Kittilsen Hans Torvild , Goleva-Fjellet Sannija , Freberg Baard Ingegerdsson , Nicolaisen Iver , Støa Eva Maria , Bratland-Sanda Solfrid , Helgerud Jan , Wang Eivind , Sæbø Mona , Støren Øyvind 

TITLE=Responses to Maximal Strength Training in Different Age and Gender Groups

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Physiology

VOLUME=12

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/physiology/articles/10.3389/fphys.2021.636972

DOI=10.3389/fphys.2021.636972

ISSN=1664-042X

ABSTRACT=<sec><title>Purpose</title><p>The present study aimed to investigate the potential impact of age, gender, baseline strength, and selected candidate polymorphisms on maximal strength training (MST) adaptations.</p></sec><sec><title>Methods</title><p>A total of 49 subjects (22 men and 27 women) aged 20–76 years, divided into five age groups, completed an 8 weeks MST intervention. Each MST session consisted of 4 sets with 4 repetitions at ∼85–90% of one-repetition maximum (1RM) intensity in leg-press, three times per week. 1RM was tested pre and post the intervention and blood samples were drawn to genotype candidate polymorphisms <italic>ACE</italic> I/D (rs1799752), <italic>ACTN3</italic> R577X (rs1815739), and <italic>PPARGC1A</italic> Gly482Ser (rs8192678).</p></sec><sec><title>Results</title><p>All age groups increased leg-press 1RM (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.01), with a mean improvement of 24.2 ± 14.0%. There were no differences in improvements between the five age groups or between male and female participants, and there were no non-responders. Baseline strength status did not correlate with 1RM improvements. <italic>PPARGC1A</italic> rs8192678 T allele carriers had a 15% higher age- and gender corrected baseline 1RM than the CC genotype (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.05). C allele carriers improved 1RM (%) by 34.2% more than homozygotes for the T allele (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.05).</p></sec><sec><title>Conclusion</title><p>To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to report improvement in leg-press maximal strength regardless of gender, baseline strength status in all age groups. The present study is also first to demonstrate an association between the <italic>PPARGC1A</italic> rs8192678 and maximal strength and its trainability in a moderately trained cohort. MST may be beneficial for good health and performance of all healthy individuals.</p></sec>