Abstract

We tested the hypothesis that increments in glucose metabolism in muscles from trained animals are caused by training adaptations in skeletal muscle and not by the residual effects of the last training session. The effects of a single bout of exercise on glucose metabolism (glycolysis and glycogenesis) were compared, against appropriate controls, in untrained (experiment 1) and trained (experiment 2) rat soleus muscles immediately (t = 0) and 3, 6, 24, 48, and 96 h after a standardized bout of exercise. [³H]Glucose incorporation into glycogen and glycolysis was measured in vitro in the absence and presence of insulin (0.1 and 10 nM). Experiment 1: A single bout of exercise provoked an increase in glycogenesis in the exercised, untrained muscles compared with the nonexercised, untrained muscles (0–96 h; P = 0.006). Glycolysis was not altered (0–96 h; P > 0.05). Experiment 2: In the exercised trained soleus, rates of glycolysis were > in the exercised, untrained soleus, at insulin concentrations of 0.1 nM (0–96 h; P = 0.005) and 10 nM (0–96 h; P = 0.01), but not in the absence of insulin (0–96 h; P > 0.05). No differences were observed in the rates of glycogenesis (0–96 h; P > 0.05). Therefore, acute exercise provokes increments in glycogenesis, whereas training increases glycolysis, in the presence of insulin, for some time after exercise. We speculate that insulin-dependent increments in glycolysis in trained muscles are a consequence of increased glucose transport caused by a greater pool of insulin-translocatable, intracellular glucose transporters.