Medium intensity resistive training for combating sarcopenia: effects on oxiative stress, muscle size, morphology, strength and power.

It is generally accepted that free radicals or reactive oxygen species (ROS) play a primary role in the ageing process, especially in those tissues in which their generation is more pronounced, such as skeletal muscle (Fulle, et al. 2004). With aging a reduction in the cellular antioxidant buffering mechanisms (Hepple et al. 2003) and an increase in ROS generation due to mitochondrial dysfunction result in an increase in the oxidative stress to which cells are exposed (Barreiro et al., 2006). This results in damage to muscle components including myofibrilar proteins. Although the etiology of sarcopenia is still under investigation, reduced physical activity and oxidative stress have been found to play an important role (Jang et al. 2010; Argilés et al. 2015). Sarcopenia should then be fought through specific training designed to reduce the loss in muscle mass while minimizing ROS production. In this respect, exercise can induce antioxidant adaptation, thereby balancing oxidative stress and damage in aging skeletal muscle (Ji, 2001, 2002). Hence the present study aimed at testing the hypothesis that an innovative medium-intensity (60% 1RM) resistive exercise program would be effective in increasing muscle mass and strength while minimizing ROS production and oxidative stress in older sarcopenic individuals.