Eur J Appl Physiol (2006) DOI 10.1007/s00421-006-0229-2 ORIGINAL ARTICLE S. Pogliaghi · P. Terziotti · A. Cevese F. Balestreri · F. Schena Adaptations to endurance training in the healthy elderly: arm cranking versus leg cycling Accepted: 5 May 2006  Springer-Verlag 2006 Abstract The eVect in healthy elderly subjects of cycle ergometer or arm ergometer training on peak oxygen consumption (VO 2peak ) and ventilatory threshold (VT) was studied. The aim was to determine the beneWt of each training modality on speciWc and cross exercise capacity. The cross-eVect was also evaluated as an index of the central nature of the adaptive response to training. Twelve non-smoking healthy males (age: 67 § 5 year; body mass: 75 § 9 kg) were randomly divided in two age-matched groups of six, performing an arm cranking (ARM) or a cycloergometer (CYC) training (12-week, 30 min, 3 times/week), while a third group of 6 subjects (age: 73 § 4 year; body mass: 80 § 8 kg) performed no training (control, C). At baseline and following the inter- vention, subjects carried out an incremental test to exhaustion both on the ergometer on which they trained (speciWc test) and on the other ergometer (cross test). Respiratory variables were measured breath by breath and heart rate (HR) was recorded. Peak oxygen con- sumption (VO 2peak ), ventilation (VE peak ), oxygen pulse (O 2 P peak ) and heart rate (HR peak ) were averaged over the last 10 s of exercise. Following training, while HR peak remained unchanged, signiWcantly higher W peak , VO 2peak , VE peak and O 2 P peak were obtained in both training groups, on both ergometers. The amplitude of the increase in W peak , VO 2peak and O 2 P peak was signiWcantly higher for speciWc than for cross tests (»19% vs. »8 % in CYC; »22% vs. »9% in ARM, P < 0.01) while the increase in same test condition was similar. No change was observed in the C group. The results indicate that aerobic training brought about with diVerent muscle masses, produce similar improvements in maximal and submaximal exercise capacity. Roughly half of such improvements are speciWc to exercise mode, which sug- gests peripheral adaptations to training. The other half is non-speciWc since it inXuences also the alternative exer- cise modality, and is probably due to central adaptations. Keywords Aging · Arm exercise · Physical conditioning · Physical Wtness Introduction Sedentary aging is associated with a physiological pro- gressive decline in exercise tolerance (»10% per decade after 30 years of age) (Buskirk and Hodgson 1987; Hep- ple et al. 1997), often worsened by physical inactivity and disease (Åstrand et al. 2003). The observed decrease in exercise tolerance is accounted for by a reduction in oxygen (O 2 ) transport (central mechanisms) (Ogawa et al. 1992), as well as by an impaired capacity for O 2 utilization (peripheral mech- anisms) (Fleg and Lakatta 1988; Janssen et al. 2000), the relative role being still not determined (Seals et al. 1984; Buskirk and Hodgson 1987). It is well established that regular exercise training enhances the performance of trained muscles (speciWc eVect) (Hagberg et al. 1989). Yet, the relative contribu- tion of central and peripheral adaptations to the enhancement of exercise capacity in the elderly, like in the young, remains controversial (peripheral: Seals et al. 1984; Meredith et al. 1989; Frontera et al. 1990; central: Thompson et al. 1981; Makrides et al. 1990; Stratton et al. 1994; Beere et al. 1999) and might diVer in old com- pared to young subjects, because of a diVerence in the baseline contribution of central and peripheral limita- tions to exercise tolerance. The “transferability” of the training eVect has been largely utilized as an evidence of the central nature of the adaptive response (Rösler et al. 1985; Loftin et al. 1988; S. Pogliaghi (&) · P. Terziotti · A. Cevese Laboratorio di Fisiologia dell’Esercizio, Facoltà di Scienze Motorie, Università degli Studi di Verona, Via Casorati, 43, 37131 Verona, VR, Italy E-mail: silvia.pogliaghi@univr.it Tel.: +39-045-8425128 Fax: +39-045-8952631 F. Balestreri · F. Schena CeBiSM, Università degli Studi di Trento, Via Matteo del Ben, 5/b, 38068 Rovereto, TN, Italy