To examine the effects of age and chronic overload training on left ventricular systolic function during static exercise, Doppler echocardiography studies were performed in 14 young (28 ± 6 years) and 10 older (51 ± 3 years) weight lifters and also in 14 young (29 ± 6 years) and 10 older (52 ± 1.1 years) normal individuals during upright dead-lift isometric exercise, at 30% of maximal voluntary contraction for 3 min. At rest, older weight lifters demonstrated impaired left ventricular systolic function as compared with the other three groups. During exercise, peak and mean velocity values increased significantly (p