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AgingM3AXNCT06507189

Multidimensional Predictive Modeling to Understand Mechanisms of Exercise Response Heterogeneity in Older Adults (M3AX)

A study testing Combined endurance and resistance training in people with Aging and Aging Well, run by Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition at 2 sites in United States.

Recruiting

Looking for participants now. Contact the study team or a site below to ask about taking part.

Sites and contacts
Official record
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Trial summary

Aging-related functional declines are thought to be caused by hallmark biological processes that ultimately manifest in physical, mental, and metabolic impairments that compromise healthspan and quality of life. Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Ages 60 years and olderHealthy volunteers can take part
Conditions the study is for
Aging, Aging Well
What is being tested?
Combined endurance and resistance training
Could I receive a placebo?
No, everyone receives an active treatment
How many people
250 participants
Where
2 sitesUnited States
Study dates
27 Jan 2025to 31 Aug 2029
Phase
Interventional
Are there results?
Not yet: the study is under way

Key requirements

Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.

  • Ages 60 years and older
  • All sexes
  • Healthy volunteers accepted
  • Adult, Older adult

Who may be able to join

  • Male or female aged 60 or above
  • Free of chronic disease
  • No structured exercise program (2 or more bouts/wk) within previous 12 months
  • Cognitively capable of providing informed consent

Who cannot join

  • Neuromuscular or musculoskeletal disorder that would limit ability to perform the exercise and/or testing bouts
  • Cardiopulmonary disorders or reduced breathing capacity
  • Metabolic diseases including markers of liver disease (ALT > 52 U/l) and type 2 diabetes (HbA1C = or > 6.5, fasting blood glucose = or > 126 mg/dl)
  • Any other disease or disorder that would influence exercise response (e.g., chronic kidney disease, dementia, current cancer diagnosis or within 2 yr remission, cerebrovascular disease)
  • Any current infectious disease
  • Life expectancy < 1 year
Show all 13Show fewer
  • Insulin sensitizing/blood glucose lowering agents such as metformin or metabolic weight loss agents (e.g. GLP-1 agonists)
  • High dose statin (dose equivalent of 40 mg/d or higher simvastatin)
  • Lidocaine allergy
  • Regular tobacco use and/or vaping
  • Excessive alcohol consumption (3 drinks/d or 7 drinks/wk for females; 4 drinks/d or 14 drinks/wk for males)
  • BMI 35.0 kg/m2 or higher
  • Unable to commit to ~6 months required to complete the study

Trial locations and contacts

2 sites in 1 country. Contact the study team or a site near you to ask about taking part.

Craig Tuggle contact

205-352-6036

ctuggle@ihmc.org

Marcas Bamman, PHD contact

mbamman@ihmc.org

United States2 sites, 2 recruiting
  • Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation

    Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, 73104

    Ben Miller, PHD, 405-271-7767, Benjamin-Miller@omrf.org

    Recruiting
  • Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition

    Pensacola, Florida, 32502

    Craig Tuggle, 205-352-6036, ctuggle@ihmc.org

    Recruiting

Other trials in United States

About this study

Official title: Multidimensional Predictive Modeling to Understand Mechanisms of Exercise Response Heterogeneity in Older Adults

Aging-related functional declines are thought to be caused by hallmark biological processes that ultimately manifest in physical, mental, and metabolic impairments that compromise healthspan and quality of life. Exercise is a multipotent treatment with promise to mitigate most aging hallmarks, but there is substantial variability in exercisƒe responsiveness. Combining endurance and resistance training in alignment with public health guidelines will be used to better understand variable exercise responsiveness in older adults with the ultimate goal of improving each older adult's capacity to attain the many health benefits of exercise.

Read the detailed description

Aging-related functional declines are thought to be caused by hallmark biological processes1 that ultimately manifest in physical, mental, and metabolic impairments - compromising healthspan and quality of life (QoL). Exercise is a multipotent treatment with promise to mitigate most aging hallmarks, but there is substantial variability in individual exercise responsiveness. This inter-individual response heterogeneity (IRH) was first identified and extensively interrogated by Bouchard and colleagues in the context of endurance training (ET). Subsequently, the investigators have demonstrated resistance training (RT) IRH and have studied potential IRH mechanisms. The investigators then led multiple trials in older adults examining dose titration, adjuvant nutrition or medication in attempts to lower poor response rates. Many knowledge gaps remain as summarized in the National Institutes of Aging (NIA) workshop on IRH seeding this Requests for Applications (RFA). The investigators have assembled an interdisciplinary team to address the RFA's central goal, "to better understand factors underlying response variability to exercise training in older adults." Although Health and Human Services (HHS) guidelines specify combined ET and RT to maximize health benefits in aging adults, large-scale exercise trials studying IRH (i.e., HERITAGE, MoTrPAC) have restricted participants to a single exercise mode. For this project, the investigators propose the innovative, but logical, strategy to use combined ET and RT. Low cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF, VO2max) and low functional muscle quality (fMQ; strength/muscle mass) are multi-system manifestations of the deterioration of the cellular hallmarks of aging. Importantly, both CRF and fMQ are modifiable with ET and RT. Thus, the investigators design premise is that combined ET+RT is an excellent strategy for elucidating factors underlying IRH, as it forges a path toward understanding and mitigating IRH in aging with direct translatability to best-evidence public health recommendations.

It is yet to be determined how the hallmarks of aging interact to influence exercise responsiveness. For example, muscle mitochondrial energetics and proteostasis are inextricably linked, and poor responder status may be caused by lack of energetic resources to maintain proteostasis throughout an exercise program. Similarly, aging disrupts circadian clocks, leading to inflammation and disrupted cell signaling, which may also contribute to IRH.

While sources of IRH are a constellation of modifiable and non-modifiable factors, the investigators will test the hypothesis that factors central to aging itself - aging hallmarks such as proteostasis, mitochondrial energetics, and inflammation, as well as systemic and muscle-specific circadian clock function and output - are chief contributors to the multidimensional circuitry that determines whether an individual achieves the minimum clinically important difference (MCID) in CRF and/or fMQ with exercise training. The investigators will also test the hypothesis that altered exercise dosing coupled with lifestyle recommendations will promote attainment of MCIDs among older adults who do not initially respond. With CRF and fMQ as primary clinical outcomes, the investigators will use a 2-phase Sequential Multiple Assignment Randomized Trial (SMART) of combined ET+RT with clinical phenotyping and blood/muscle molecular and cellular analyses.

Conditions
Aging, Aging Well
Being tested
Combined endurance and resistance training

What participants receive

What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.

  • Combined endurance and resistance trainingOther

    ET will consist of 3x/wk training (MWF) with MF being steady state cycling, treadmill, or elliptical at 70-75% HRR for 30 min and the W session being a 20 min high intensity interval session on a cycle ergometer (1 min on/off; 10 cycles) targeting 85-90% HRR. The treadmill and elliptical on M or F will be provided for variety but the mainstay will be cycle ergometry. On MF participants will complete 3 sets x 8-12 repetitions for leg press, knee extension, hamstring curl, chest press, seated row, overhead press, lat pulldown, triceps push-down, and biceps curl in superset fashion [i.e., alternate between opposing muscle groups without rest (chest press followed by seated row)] with a 60 s rest between supersets. Sets will be performed with load progression to ensure volitional fatigue in the 8-12 rep range. Core exercises (trunk flexion and extension) will also be included using bodyweight only for 3 sets.

Study groups in NCT06507189
Study groupRoleWhat they receive
Phase I (12 weeks)ExperimentalIn Interrogation, all participants will exercise train using an exercise prescription that is in accordance with current public health recommendations. At the end of Phase I participants will be classified into one of four categories: (1) CRF-/fMQ-, 2) CRF-/fMQ+, 3) CRF+/fMQ- and 4) CRF+/fMQ+).
Receives: Other: Combined endurance and resistance training
Phase II (10 weeks)ExperimentalBased on the Phase I categories of responsiveness, exercise training will be boosted in the three groups that are non-responsive in one or both outcomes. CRF-/fMQ+ will receive boosted ET, CRF+/fMQ- will receive boosted RT, and CRF-/fMQ- will receive boosting in both. All three of these classifications will also receive education on wearable device data and other free-living recommendations. Participants classified as CRF+/fMQ+ at the end of Phase I will be randomized to either continue the supervised exercise training or to free-living.
Receives: Other: Combined endurance and resistance training

What is being measured

The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.

  1. Cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF)

    A primary outcome of this investigation is cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF). The CRF is the amount of oxygen (ml/kg) that is used during exercise and how efficient you are using that oxygen. The exercise used to measure oxygen uptake is a stationary bicycle with increasing intensity until you are able to maintain pace. Your expired air is collected with a mask or mouthpiece and analyzed with an oxygen and carbon dioxide sensor.

    Measured: 23 weeks

  2. Functional muscle quality (fMQ)

    A primary outcome of this investigation is functional muscle quality (fMQ). This is a ratio of knee extension strength to thigh leanness. Knee extension strength is the maximum amount of weight you can successfully lift one time. Thigh lean mass is measured with the dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA). This is a common tool used to measure bone density, but it is very efficient at determining fat and lean masses partitioned in the body.

    Measured: 23 weeks

Secondary outcomes (5)
  1. Balance

    Balance will be assessed with tools such at the short physical performance battery (SPPB). The SPPB is a clinical test used to measure balance in three areas of balance: stand-in balance, gait speed and chair stand time. The overall higher score you have is an indicator of better balance.

    Measured: 23 weeks

  2. Cognitive performance

    An assessment such as the Trail Making Task (TMT)is used to measure reaction times at the beginning of and after the exercise intervention.

    Measured: 23 weeks

  3. Body composition

    Body composition will be measured four times pre and post to exercise intervention.

    Measured: 23 weeks

  4. Metabolic health

    A clinical assessment such as continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) will be use to measure metabolic health at the beginning, the middle, and end of intervention time points. CGM will monitored for seven days pre and post to the exercise intervention. This can be used to determine blood glucose response before and after exercise.

    Measured: 23 weeks

  5. Metabolic health

    The HOMA-IR will is test used to determine protein turn over or how efficient you are at processing proteins.

    Measured: 23 weeks

Timeline

From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.

  1. First posted18 Jul 2024
  2. Study start27 Jan 2025
  3. Primary completion31 Jul 2028 (estimated)
  4. Study completion31 Aug 2029 (estimated)

Resources

More details

For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.

Study design
Study type
Interventional
Phase
Phase N/A
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomised
Intervention model
Factorial
Model description
The overarching goal of this project is to determine factors contributing to response heterogeneity in outcomes key to healthy aging. The first phase of this two-phase trial will be focused on understanding the underlying biological mechanisms that explain/predict response heterogeneity and the second phase will test augmentation efforts to mitigate poor responsiveness while assessing whether the same or different mechanisms predict response when augmenting an individual's prescription in Phase II.
Masking
Double blind
Who is masked
Investigator, Outcomes assessor
Enrolment
250 participants (estimated)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT06507189
Sponsor's protocol ID
IRB-2024-0083
Acronym
M3AX
Status last verified
Apr 2026
First submitted
27 Jun 2024
Last updated
10 Aug 2026
Results posted
No
Data monitoring committee
Yes
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
Individual data sharing
Yes: Data Entry and Management System. Regarding the data entry and management system (DEMS) used for data management, we will customize one of the DEMS platforms developed by the team at IHMC using Smartabase, which is a federally approved, secure cloud-based environment we are currently using in other federally funded observational studies and clinical trials. We have experienced Smartabase builders on the team led by Dr. McAdam who will create custom programs and forms for the study that facilitate data collection and entry while also having the infrastructure to provide access to real-time data summaries and comparisons across all performance sites. Importantly, we have established numerous streamlined approaches for direct electronic data transfer to Smartabase from testing instruments (e.g., DXA, metabolic carts, strength dynamometers, EMG systems) via APIs to eliminate manual data entry errors.

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

A study testing Combined endurance and resistance training in people with Aging and Aging Well, run by Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition at 2 sites in United States.

The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.

Who may be eligible to take part?

The sponsor lists 4 inclusion and 13 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.

Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?

The record says: looking for participants now, as of the sponsor's last update on 10 Aug 2026. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.

Where is the study taking place?

The record lists 2 sites in United States. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.

What are the possible benefits and risks?

They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.

Are results available for this study?

This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.

How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?

Contact Craig Tuggle (205-352-6036, ctuggle@ihmc.org), or a site near the patient. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.

What does the primary outcome measure?

Cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) (time frame: 23 weeks). The study lists 2 primary outcomes in all. It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.

Where can I read the original study information?
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?

No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.

How often is this information updated?

AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 10 Aug 2026.

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