Lucas Sousa Miralles; Marcio Ian De Souza Pereira; Victoria Regina Ferro; Kamilla Oliveira De Paula Correa; Maria Luisa Tomiazzi; Lucas Silva Santos; Henrique Izaias Marcelo; Paulo Henrique Aleixo; Sílvio Assis de Oliveira-Júnior & Robson Chacon Castoldi

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of soft drink consumption and the realization of one concurrent training protocol on the Soleus muscle of Wistar rats. In total, 32 male Wistar rats were used, post-weaning, in the biological phase (30 days old). The animals were distributed into four groups: Control (C); Control and Soda (CSD); Concurrent Training (CT); Concurrent Training and Soda (CTSD). The concurrent training protocol was composed of aerobic and resistance exercises. The aerobic training protocol included three sessions per week on non-consecutive days, for 30 minutes of swimming exercises, with an intensity of 80 % of the anaerobic threshold (Lan). The resistance training protocol (strength) included four series of 10 jumps, with overload corresponding to 50 % of the body weight of each animal. Forty-eight hours after the last session, the animals were submitted to a surgical process for removal of Soleus muscle samples and histological slides. All experimental groups showed increases in transverse section area and body mass. The animals that received soft drinks (CSD and CTSD) demonstrated lower ingestion of water and feed. Lastly, it was observed that trained animals ingested smaller amounts of soft drinks compared to control animals (TCR vs CR) (p<0,05). It is possible to conclude that soft drink ingestion did not interfere negatively in muscle adaptation. However, animals that ingested soft drinks showed increased values for body mass and decreased water and feed ingestion.

KEY WORDS: Soft drinks; Physical Education and Training; Skeletal Muscle; Wistar rats; Histology.

SOUSA MIRALLES, L.; DE SOUZA PEREIRA, M. I.; FERRO, V. R.; OLIVEIRA DE PAULA CORREA, K.; TOMIAZZI, M. L.; SILVA SANTOS, L.; MARCELO, H. I.; ALEIXO, P. H.; ASSIS DE OLIVEIRA-JÚNIOR, S. & CHACON CASTOLDI, R. Soft drink consumption and concurrent training: Effects on soleus muscle of animals in growth stage. Int. J. Morphol., 43(4):1208- 1213, 2025.