It is a pleasure to serve as the ACSM topical representative for Skeletal Muscle, Bone, and Connective Tissue. I look forward to seeing everyone in person this year in sunny San Diego, CA. The 2022 ACSM Annual Meeting will feature several outstanding sessions on the interactions between exercise, skeletal muscle, bone and connective tissue health. There are three sessions that I think will be of particular interest to conference attendees. The first is a highlighted symposium entitled, “The Role of Exercise in Bone and Skeletal Muscle Cross Talk: An Update on Biological Aspects and Clinical Implications.” This session is scheduled for Friday from 3:45 PM-5:45 PM.  The symposium will be chaired by Wendy Kohrt, Ph.D., FACSM, from the University of Colorado Anschurtz Medical Campus, and features two other outstanding speakers: Mark Hamrick, Ph.D., from the Medical College of Georgia and Dawn Lowe, Ph.D., FACSM, from the University of Minnesota. This session will summarize the role of exercise on skeletal muscle-bone cross talk, highlighting the role of calcium efflux, skeletal muscle-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) and the role of estrogen on skeletal muscle and bone health. 

The second symposium I would like to highlight is entitled, “Metabolic Sexual Dimorphism: Implications for Exercise is Medicine.” This session is scheduled for Thursday from 1:30 PM-3:30 PM and features five outstanding scientists. Speakers include Gina Many, Ph.D., from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Bryan Bergman, Ph.D., from the University of Colorado, Denver, Marcas Bamman, Ph.D., from the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition, Laren Sparks, Ph.D,. from AdventHealth Translational Research Institute and Laurie Goodyear, Ph.D., from Joslin Diabetes Center, Harvard Medical School. This session will 1) highlight recent advances in our understanding of metabolic sexual dimorphism and associated exercise responses, 2) encourage sex stratification in the field of exercise science and 3) emphasize the need to consider sex as a modulating variable when developing exercise prescription programs. Our understanding of sex differences continues to evolve; thus, this session will appeal to a broad audience of basic scientists, clinicians and practitioners. 

The final symposium that I would like to highlight is entitled, “Biohacking Exercise with Blood Flow Restriction: An Innovative Solution for Athletes, Patients, and Older Adults,” and features four of the leading experts on blood flow restriction exercise training. The session is scheduled for Friday from 1:30 PM-3:30 PM. Speakers include, Jeremy Loenneke, Ph.D., FACSM, from University of Mississippi, Michael Behringer, Ph.D., from Goethe University Frankfurt, Lars Donath, Ph.D., from German Sport University and Summer Cook, Ph.D., from the University of New Hampshire. This session will describe the key science behind blood flow restriction and the potential utility and risks of this technique across a variety of populations and scenarios. Specific emphasis will be placed on how this technique can be used to enhance function in athletes and older adults as well as the restorative effects on those recovering from injury. 

In addition to these sessions there will an oral free communication session on “Skeletal Muscle Basic Science” (Friday 3:45 PM), a thematic poster session on “Hot Topics in Skeletal Muscle Mitochondrial Health” (Thursday 9:30 AM) and several poster sessions spread throughout the week. 

Learn more about additional sessions in Skeletal Muscle, Bone, and Connective Tissue and the many other sessions that will be presented at the 2022 ACSM Annual Meeting. 

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Gordon Fisher, Ph.D., FACSM, is a member of the faculty at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Department of Human Studies and holds Senior Scientist positions in the Center for Exercise Medicine, Nutrition and Obesity Research Center, and the Diabetes Research Center at UAB.