This study aimed to investigate the effect of milk fat globule membrane (MFGM) supplementation on motor unit adaptation following resistance training in older adults. Twenty-five older males and females took MFGM (n = 12) or a placebo (PLA; n = 12) while performing 8 weeks of isometric knee extension training. During the training, the motor unit firing pattern during submaximal contractions, muscle thickness, and maximal muscle strength of knee extensor muscles were measured every 2 weeks. None of the measurements showed significant differences in muscle thickness or maximal muscle strength (MVC) between the two groups (p > .05). Significant decreases in motor unit firing rate following the intervention were observed in PLA, that is, 14.1 ± 2.7 pps at 0 weeks to 13.0 ± 2.4 pps at 4 weeks (p = .003), but not in MFGM (14.4 ± 2.5 pps to 13.8 ± 1.9 pps). Motor unit firing rates in MFGM were significantly higher than those in PLA at 2, 4, 6, and 8 weeks of the intervention, that is, 15.1 ± 2.3 pps in MFGM and 14.5 ± 3.3 pps in PLA at 70% of MVC for motor units recruited at 40% of MVC at 6 weeks (p = .034). Significant differences in firing rates among motor units with different recruitment thresholds were newly observed following the resistance training intervention in MFGM, indicating that motor unit firing pattern is changed in this group. These results suggest that motor unit adaptation following resistance training is modulated by MFGM supplementation in older adults.
Keywords: aging; motor unit identification; multichannel surface electromyography; nutritional supplementation.
© 2020 The Authors. Physiological Reports published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of The Physiological Society and the American Physiological Society.