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Updated: Jul 25, 2026
Improving Strength, Power, Muscle Aerobic Capacity, and Glucose Tolerance through Short-term Progressive Strength Training Among Elderly People
Published on: July 5, 2017
Muscle size responses to strength training in young and older men and women
S M Roth1, F M Ivey, G F Martel
1Department of Kinesiology, University of Maryland, College Park 20742, USA.
Objectives:
To examine the possible influences of age and gender on muscle volume responses to strength training (ST).
Design:
Prospective intervention study.
Setting:
University of Maryland Exercise Science and Wellness Research Laboratories.
Participants:
Eight young men (age 20-30 years), six young women (age 20-30 years), nine older men (age 65-75 years), and ten older women (age 65-75 years).
Intervention:
A 6-month whole-body ST program that exercised all major muscle groups of the upper and lower body 3 days/week.
Measurements:
Thigh and quadriceps muscle volumes and mid-thigh muscle cross-sectional area (CSA) were assessed by magnetic resonance imaging before and after the ST program.
Results:
Thigh and quadriceps muscle volume increased significantly in all age and gender groups as a result of ST (P < .001), with no significant differences between the groups. Modest correlations were observed between both the change in quadriceps versus the change in total thigh muscle volume (r = 0.65; P < .001) and the change in thigh muscle volume versus the change in mid-thigh CSA (r = 0.76, P < .001).
Conclusions:
The results indicate that neither age nor gender affects muscle volume response to whole-body ST. Muscle volume, rather than muscle CSA, is recommended for studying muscle mass responses to ST.
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