Effect of a high protein milk drink with or without resistance training on muscle mass, muscle strength and functional performance in healthy active older adults.

Participants will complete a 12-week intervention trial and be randomly allocated into one of 4 groups: 1. Dairy group Will be provided with a dairy product, standardised food provisions* and Actigraph monitor. 2. Resistance training group Resistance training intervention, Ad libitum food + Actigraph monitor. 3. Dairy group plus resistance training intervention Dairy product and resistance training intervention, standardised food provisions* and Actigraph monitor. 4. Control group Ad libitum food + Actigraph monitor. *standardised food provisions include providing participants with ready made meals and snacks that will provide participants with 100% of total estimated energy and protein requirements based on Schofield (BMR+ PAL) equations and in accordance to the Australian healthy eating guidelines. Dairy group: Nutrition intervention will be facilitated by a Dietitian. Participants in the dairy trials (groups 1 and 2) will be provided with a 250ml tetra pack of milk, which the participants will be asked to consume twice a day. 1 with their breakfast meal and the other either post training or at lunch time. Participants will be required to return their empty milk containers to test for compliance. When in the laboratory participants will be required to drink their beverage after completing their training in front of a researcher. The nutritional intervention will be administered by a dietitian, which will picked up by the participants on a weekly basis. Exercise group: Those allocated in the exercise trials (groups 2 and 3) will be required to attend 3 supervised sessions a week. The duration of the exercise session, including adequate cardiovascular warm-up and cool-down, will be ~60 minutes. The following exercises have been selected as they are low risk and easy for untrained individuals to complete. The following exercises have been selected based on previous established protocols as they are low risk and the most basic exercises for untrained individuals to complete. The following exercises have been used in previous studies thus deemed safe for older adults to perform. Resistance Exercise Session: • Leg Press • Lateral pull down • Chest press • cable machine (shoulder and upper back) • Core (abdominal and lower back) Arms (Biceps and triceps) The weights of these exercises will be determined based on individuals 1-RM (1 repetition maximum), which will be measured during baseline measurements. Participants will perform these exercises under the supervision of an exercise professional who is first-aid trained. The first 6 weeks of the trial the resistance training the intensity of the exercise will be 50-60% of 1RM or 5 to 6RPE (rate of perceived exertion) 3 sets of 10-15 repetitions. From 6 weeks to 12 weeks, participants will perform resistance training at 65-75% or 6.5-7 RPE of their 1RM of 3 sets and 6-8 repetitions. All exercise sessions will be logged by the supervising researcher to monitor attendance. All participants All participants will be required to Wear an activity tracker (Actigraph) during the course of the 3-month trial. Additionally, all participants are required to attend the laboratory on 3 separate occasions for measurements. This will be pre-trial, 6 weeks and 12 weeks (end of trial).