Resistance Training Adaptation

This controlled trial aims to investigate the neural adaptations induced by a 4-week resistance training program targeting the triceps surae muscles. Specifically, the study will examine the contribution of the corticospinal and reticulospinal pathways to the nervous adaptations associated with resistance training. It will give us more information about the nervous pathways mediating adaptations following this type of training. The main question it aims to answer is: What is the contribution of the cortico- and reticulospinal tracts to the nervous adaptations following a resistance training program? Participants will take part to a resistance training program of the triceps surae for 4 weeks. They will undergo assessments of corticospinal and reticulospinal excitability before and after the training intervention to determine changes in neural pathways The findings will improve our understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying strength gains following resistance training.

Skeletal muscle size, an important metabolic tissue, is governed by the balance between two opposing processes, muscle protein synthesis and muscle protein breakdown. In response to long-term resistance exercise (weightlifting), skeletal muscle growth is commonly observed and it is believed that this is due to increases in muscle protein synthesis which leads to a positive net protein balance stimulating muscle growth. Due to its links to overall metabolic health, maximising muscle growth in response to resistance exercise training has become a significant focus in recent times, with various dietary supplements proposed due to their additive effects on muscle growth with resistance training. Protein supplementation, most commonly whey protein, is the most popular dietary supplement utilised by individuals completing resistance exercise training, however, more recent research has suggested that specific components of whey protein, as well as other foodstuffs, have the potential to individually activate growth pathways within skeletal muscle. This study will investigate whether daily supplementation with a combination of these compounds is able to produce greater muscle growth, compared to a placebo, when combined with resistance exercise training. We will also investigate whether this supplement can also produce greater increase in strength as well as studying the potential mechanisms behind any of these preferential adaptations in muscle samples which will be collected before and after the training period.