In this study, the hypothesis that improvements in functional and structural measures could be detected in the young, female rat with only 5 days of moderate treadmill training was tested. Eight-week-old female Sprague-Dawley rats were divided randomly into control (n = 10) and training groups (n =11). Over the 5-day period, running duration and treadmill speed increased progressively. Maximal running time and gas exchange were measured on Day 6. In trained compared with control rats, maximal running time was 54% greater (p < .005), right hindlimb muscle was 16% heavier (p < .01), and end-exercise respiratory exchange ratio (RER) was 17% lower (p < .05). Substantial metabolic and structural adaptations occurred in young female rats after only 5 days of treadmill training. This protocol may be useful in discovering the initiating mechanisms of the training response in the young organism. © 1997 Human Kinetics Publishers, Inc.

Exercise training improves maximal oxygen uptake and endurance times in adult human beings and other animals. The mechanism of this improvement results in part from anabolic effects of exercise and may be mediated by growth hormone (GH). Little is known about the role of GH in the adaptation to exercise in younger, still-developing organisms. To examine this role, we began a 4-wk treadmill exercise training protocol in 14-d-old female rats. GH was suppressed by passive immunization with anti-GH releasing hormone antisera. There were four experimental groups: 1) GH-control (normal GH secretory capacity), untrained (n = 21); 2) GH-suppressed, untrained (n = 13); 3) GH-control, trained (n = 14); and 4) GH-suppressed; trained (n = 11). At the end of the training period, maximal oxygen uptake and treadmill endurance running time were measured. Serum GH and IGF-I were assessed using RIA, and whole hind limb musculature succinate dehydrogenase (an indicator of mitochondrial function) was measured with standard fluorometric technique. Body weight gain was markedly reduced in GH-suppressed rats (mean, 54% of GH-controls in untrained rats and 55% in trained; p < 0.05). No apparent effect of training on linear growth was observed. As expected, serum IGF-I was markedly reduced by GH suppression, but no exercise-induced increase occurred in IGF-I as a result of training in either the GH-control or GH-suppressed rats. In GH-control rats, maximal oxygen uptake and succinate dehydrogenase were 69% and 25% greater, respectively, in trained compared with untrained rats (p < 0.05).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)