The ovariectomized female rat as a model animal for the study of adaptation to endurance training.

The effect of a 6-week endurance training program on food consumption and weight gain was investigated in intact and castrated male and female rats. Training decreased on weight gain and food consumption in both intact and castrated male rats. Intact female rats increased food consumption during training and had larger lean body weights than untrained-intact females at the end of the training program. However, the trained-ovariectomized rats consumed the same amount of food as the untrained-ovariectomized group and had similar lean body weights at the end of the training program. Thus, the ovariectomized female rat appears to be a good model for the study of adaptation to endurance training.