Abstract:
Power resistance exercise is a proven method of improving performance in sports that require high levels of power and explosive types of movement. Little is known about the intramuscular molecular responses to power resistance exercise that may explain the recovery and adaptation of muscle that leads to improved neuromuscular performance. The purpose of this study was to investigate the molecular responses to power resistance exercise and feeding during recovery in resistance-trained men. Muscle biopsies were obtained from seven resistancetrained men on three separate days, 3 h after a 90-minute session of power resistance exercise, with or without a meal afterwards, and after a 90 min session of rest only without a meal. Muscle mRNA expression, determined by RT-qPCR, increased for mechanical genes, CARP and MLP, associated with muscle contraction, structure and function. The mRNA levels of cellular stress-associated genes HSP27 and HSP70 were also increased after the exercise, whereas the proteolytic MuRF-1 was unchanged. There was no effect of a post-exercise meal on any of the genes investigated. These results suggest that power resistance exercise upregulates the expression of genes involved in mechanosensing pathways and cellular stress in skeletal muscle of resistance-trained men.
