Figure 1.

Treadmill exercise regimen timeline. Treadmill exercise regimen was composed of three phases: the pre-exercise, treadmill acclimation, and treadmill exercise phases. During the pre-exercise phase (week 1), baseline locomotor activity was determined for each test subject to assess locomotor capabilities prior to treadmill exercise. Exercise and non-exercise groups were assigned such that there was an equal representation of locomotor activity in both groups. Treadmill acclimation (weeks 2–3) was completed in two stages. In stage 1, all subjects sat on the stationary treadmill for 5–10 min per day for 3 days to acclimate to the treadmill environment. All exercise and non-exercise rats were then trained to walk on the treadmill at low to moderate speeds for 5–10 min per day for 7 days during the second stage of treadmill acclimation. During the treadmill exercise phase (weeks 4–8), exercise rats underwent two round of exercise, where each round consisted of 12 days of exercise. A 2 week rest period separated the two rounds of exercise. During this phase, exercise rats exercised for 35 min per day, whereas the non-exercise cohorts sat on the stationary treadmill for 35 min per day. Body weight was measured before (first session) and after (last session) each phase of this regimen as previously reported.³⁸