Cardiac adaptation to endurance exercise in rats

Endurance exercise is widely assumed to improve cardiac function in humans. This project has determined cardiac function following endurance exercise for 6 (n = 30) or 12 (n = 25) weeks in male Wistar rats (8 weeks old). The exercise protocol was 30 min/day at 0.8 km/h for 5 days/week with an endurance test on the 6th day by running at 1.2 km/h until exhaustion. Exercise endurance increased by 318 percent after 6 weeks and 609 percent after 12 weeks. Heart weight/kg body weight increased by 10.2 percent after 6 weeks and 24.1 percent after 12 weeks. This is an abbreviated abstract.