Training effects
The 5.4% change in the VO max achieved in this study is a typical response to mild endurance training in elderly subjects (Spina, 1999; Table 1). In contrast, more than twice the relative changein VO max was found in endurance training of adults (e.g. 114%; Hoppeler et al. 1985). However, the low relative change in VO max in this study reflects that training elevated mitochondrial coupling, resulting in a relative increase in Pmax in the elderly group (117%) that more closely agrees with the adult VO max improvements. Similar relative training responses are evident at the cell level for mitochondrial content in adults (140%; Hoppeler et al. 1985) versus ATPmax (130%) in the elderly subjects (Table 1). The total training time was also similar in the two studies despite different training