Abstract

Exercise training induces adaptations in skeletal muscle that enhance the capacity for energy production and resistance to fatigue. These adaptations are in part mediated by repeated transcriptional activation of genes involved in these processes in response to individual bouts of exercise. It is emerging that epigenetic mechanisms, including alterations in DNA methylation and histone modifications, contribute to regulation of the transcriptional response to exercise. This chapter provides an overview of these mechanisms and the evidence implicating their involvement in the skeletal muscle adaptive response to exercise and exercise training. Furthermore, important questions for the field will be posed, including whether the exercise adaptive response is transmissible across generations and how metabolism and epigenetics interact during exercise and exercise training.