Exercise not only tones your muscles but also boosts muscle stem cells

It is no secret that exercising can help you age gracefully by keeping you fit. But it turns out that endurance exercise, like running, doesn't just tone muscles, it enhances muscle stem cells, too.

Researchers at Tel Aviv University in Israel have found that exercise ameliorates the effects of ageing by increasing the number of muscle stem cells called satellite cells in animal models.

Muscle regeneration depends on satellite cells, myogenic stem cells that reside on the myofibre surface. Reduced numbers and/or decreased myogenic aptitude of these cells may impede proper maintenance and contribute to the age-associated decline in muscle mass and repair capacity.

The study was designed to investigate the effects of long-term treadmill running on satellite cell performance in young and old male and female rats.

The researchers investigated the effects of gender, ageing, and moderate-intensity endurance training on the number and myogenic capacity of satellite cells in animal models.

They found that the number of satellite cells increased after rats spent 13 weeks running on a treadmill for 20 minutes a day.

Younger rats showed a 20% to 35% increase in the mean number of stem cells per muscle fibre, while older rats showed a 33% to 47% increase.

Since these cells regenerate muscles after injury or illness, the researchers believed that the difference in stem cell numbers could explain why human exercisers have better muscle function than non-exercisers as they age.

Better muscle quality could also delay sarcopenia, the decline in muscle mass that occurs with ageing.

 The study was published online in the journal PLoS ONE.