Understanding the Effects of Obesity on Autophagic and mTORC1 Signalling Following Resistance Exercise and Protein Ingestion in Skeletal Muscle.
It is well known that individuals living with overweight or obesity are not able to activate skeletal muscle growth processes to the same extent as lean individuals following activities such as weightlifting (resistance exercise) or protein ingestion. However, the underlying cell signalling pathways which may be regulating these impairments are not fully understood. This study aims to understand if skeletal muscle signalling responses to resistance exercise and protein intake differ between lean individuals and those living with overweight or obesity. The investigators will recruit a cohort of lean individuals and a cohort of individuals living with overweight/obesity who will undertake a bout of single-leg resistance exercise and consume a protein-rich drink. Before and after this, muscle samples will be obtained from each leg of participants at different timepoints to understand the effects of exercise and feeding combined (exercised leg) and feeding alone (rested leg) on different cellular processes which regulate muscle growth. This will allow the investigators to understand if their are specific pathways within skeletal muscle which could be targeted in future interventions to overcome impaired protein metabolism in those living with overweight/obesity.
• Age - 18-45yrs
• BMI - 18.5-24.9kg/m2 OR \>28kg/m2 (self-declaration, or calculated by research team based on height and weight)
• Weight Stable i.e. no change in weight of more than 5% in previous 6 months
• Meeting UK Physical activity guidelines (150 mins moderate or 75 mins vigorous activity/wk)
• Not involved in structured exercise training in previous 6 months
• No other diagnosed metabolic or neuromuscular conditions (self-declaration)