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  • Clinical Techniques
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On strength training paradigms for rodents

Lab Animal volume 45, pages 363–365 (2016)Cite this article

The majority of exercise-based rodent studies use endurance exercise as a stimulus to induce changes in organs of interest1,2. Strength training, however, is the counterpart of endurance exercise and provides critical information related to muscular hypertrophy3. The use of strength training in rodent models provides an alternative method of determining the efficacy of exercise as a therapeutic modality.

The majority of rodent-based studies that incorporate 'exercise' as part of their research design primarily focus on endurance (or aerobic) training4. Brossia-Root, Alworth, and Malek4 detailed that endurance training can be used to study the influence of exercise on various organs such as the brain and heart. The underlying physiological changes attributed to endurance training, however, are fundamentally different from strength training3. Typically, endurance training increases skeletal muscle capillarity and mitochondrial density, whereas strength training increases muscle mass and enzymes associated with ATP-phosphagen/glycolysis systems5.

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Figure 1: A rodent climbing apparatus.
Figure 2: A mouse with double-sided tape on his/her tail holding a hook attached to a conical tube containing BB pellet weights.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Laboratory Animal Resources, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI

    Lisa J. Brossia-Root &  Leanne C. Alworth (Column Editor)

  2. Integrative Physiology of Exercise Laboratory, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI

    Moh H. Malek

Authors
  1. Lisa J. Brossia-Root
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  2. Moh H. Malek
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  3. Leanne C. Alworth
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Correspondence to Moh H. Malek.

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Brossia-Root, L., Malek, M. & Alworth, L. On strength training paradigms for rodents. Lab Anim 45, 363–365 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/laban.1118

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