Reduced sensorimotor lactate concentration and improved sleep efficiency following resistance training in older adults

Scherrer, Selin; Egger, Sven; Liu, Xinyu; Wick, Anna Zoé; Rasch, Björn; Xin, Lijing; Lauber, Benedikt; Taube, Wolfgang

doi:10.1007/s11357-026-02519-x

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Reduced sensorimotor lactate concentration and improved sleep efficiency following resistance training in older adults

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Scherrer, Selin ORCID University of Fribourg
Egger, Sven ORCID University of Fribourg
Liu, Xinyu ORCID Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
Wick, Anna Zoé ORCID University of Fribourg
Rasch, Björn ORCID University of Fribourg
Xin, Lijing ORCID Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
Lauber, Benedikt ORCID University of Fribourg
Taube, Wolfgang ORCID University of Fribourg

2026

Published in:

GeroScience. - Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2026

English As populations age worldwide, pathological neurodegeneration with subsequent cognitive decline has emerged as a pressing public health challenge. As effective treatments remain limited once neurodegeneration has occurred, prevention and delay of decline onset are crucial. While physical exercise is associated with improved cognition, exercise-specific mechanisms remain unclear. We therefore examined the effects of 12 weeks explosive lower-body resistance training (RT) in community-dwelling older adults on proposed markers associated with brain metabolism and sleep. Thirty-six participants (64–81 years) completed pre and post assessments consisting of sensorimotor lactate and N-acetylaspartate (NAA) levels via 7 T magnetic resonance spectroscopy (analyzable lactate data: n = 24; NAA: n = 32), objective sleep architecture with wearable polysomnography (n = 34), and subjective sleep quality of the recorded nights with the revised sleep questionnaire A (n = 25) as well as of the preceding 4 weeks with the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (n = 36). Participants were assigned to RT (3 sessions per week) or a control group (CON; maintaining lifestyle). After significant Group × Time interactions via repeated-measures ANCOVA with sex as covariate, paired t-tests revealed that RT significantly (p < 0.05) reduced resting lactate concentration (d = 0.78), improved objective sleep efficiency (d = 0.75), and prolonged total sleep time (d = 0.61). Our findings suggest that resistance training may be particularly beneficial for older adults experiencing fragmented sleep and impaired neural oxidative metabolism.

Faculty

Faculté des sciences et de médecine

Department

Section de médecine

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