Recruitment was carried out through newspaper and radio advertising, and home delivery of leaflets in the central area and residential neighborhoods. All participants completed health history and physical activity questionnaires and met the following inclusion criteria: 60 years old or more, physically independent, free from cardiac or orthopedic dysfunction, not receiving hormonal replacement and/or thyroid therapy, not using equipment that would prevent the accomplishment of protocols and tests, and not performing any regular physical exercise for 6 months preceding the beginning of the study. Participants have passed a diagnostic graded exercise stress test with 12-lead electrocardiogram reviewed by a cardiologist and were released with no restrictions for participation in this investigation. Eighty-three Brazilian older women (≥ 60 years old), volunteered to participate in this investigation. After individual interviews, thirteen volunteers were excluded because they did not meet the inclusion criteria. Seventy participants were submitted to a standardized resistance training (RT) program, for eight weeks. After the assessments, the participants were randomly divided into three groups according relative strength (ratio of total strength obtained on 1-RM tests by body mass): (1) whey protein pre- and placebo post- RT (whey protein-placebo, (2) placebo pre- and whey protein post- RT, and (3) placebo pre- and post- RT. A blinded researcher was responsible for generating random numbers for participant allocation. All groups were submitted to the same RT program and 66 participants completed the experiment. The reasons for withdrawal from the study was reported as personal reasons and transportation issues.