Exercise and Nutritional Supplementation for Aging and Sedentary Lifestyles

The present study is a randomized double-blind placebo controlled repeated measures design, with sampling of the cohorts on multiple occasions. Upon obtaining informed consent participants will be randomized into one of six groups:

Healthy younger males - n=20; Healthy older males - placebo n=10, supplement n=10; Sarcopenic older males, placebo, n=20, supplement n=20;

Take home resistance training program The older adult male groups will be provided with a progressive resistance training program which will use exercise bands (Therabands®, Akron, Ohio) and consist of six upper body and six lower body exercises, which will be performed three times per week for 12 weeks without supervision at home. Each session will consist of active warm-up (5min), resistance training with elastic tubing (45min), and cool down (5min). Briefly, the resistance exercises will be performed using elastic tubing for chair squats, hip flexions, leg extensions, leg flexions, ankle dorsiflexion, wall push-ups, back rows, shoulder abductions, triceps extensions, and forearm flexions. Ankle plantar-flexions and abdominal curl-ups will be performed using body weight as resistance. Each participant will be given an exercise instruction booklet and a set of five elastic tubes offering different resistances. Prior to beginning the program trained staff will meet with participants and will teach them how to properly perform exercises in addition to determining the starting elastic tubing size. Furthermore, participants will perform one set of each exercise during weeks 1 and 2, two sets of each exercise during weeks 3 and 4, and three sets of lower body and two sets of upper body exercises during the remaining weeks. Participants will be instructed to move to the next larger tubing size when they can perform 12 repetitions with good exercise form during their last set. This progression will be monitored by the project staff mid way through the study over the phone.

Study products Study products will be provided by Infinit Nutrition Canada (Windsor, Ontario) to all older male subjects, however the young males will only act as baseline controls. The composition of the study products is displayed above in the general experimental design. Both products are similar in taste and appearance and provide an energetic value of ∼200 kcal per serving in a volume of 200 mL. Participants will be asked to consume 1 serving daily of the study product throughout the 12-wk intervention period. Participants will consume their serving at approximately the same time of day, but preferably before breakfast. Participants will be instructed to consume the supplement as a single bolus within 5-10 min. Subjects will also also be provided an omega-3 supplement (or placebo, if they are assigned to the placebo arm) and be instructed to consume 2 teaspoons at the same time as their nutritional supplement. Participants will be instructed to record product intake in a diary to check compliance. To maintain the double-blind nature of the experiment, the placebos, which contains microcrystalline cellulose or safflower oil, will be matched in size and appearance.

Three day weighed food record Participants will be asked to record everything that they consumed for 3 nonconsecutive days: 2 week-days and either a Saturday or a Sunday. On completion of the food record, it will be analyzed using a commercially available computerized database software (Nutribase version 11.5, Cybersoft Inc., Phoenix, AZ, USA). Food items will be aggregated into the following categories: fruit (e.g., fresh/frozen, tinned, juice), vegetables (e.g., fresh/frozen, canned), dairy products (e.g., milk, yoghurt, cheese), breads and cereals (e.g., bread, breakfast cereal, rice, pasta), meats and alternatives (e.g., red meat, poultry, fish, pork, processed meat, tofu, eggs, nuts) and extra foods (e.g., hamburger, pizza, meat pies, chocolate, cake, ice cream, jam, biscuits, crackers, crisps, alcohol).