The influence of physical training on coronary collateral circulation following acute ligation of the left coronary artery was determined in pentobarbital-anesthetized rats. Coronary blood flows were determined with 15-microns microspheres during a wide range of perfusion pressures and during adenosine infusion. The demarcation between normal and ischemic tissue was achieved using nitroblue tetrazolium strain and thioflavin S fluorescence. Contractile performance was not altered by training, with the exception of a lower left ventricular end-diastolic pressure when afterload was elevated. Blood flow to and the size of the central ischemic zone were not influenced by training. However, in border zones, where collateral dependent flow is expected to be most pronounced, blood flow as a percent of normal was increased (16%, P less than 0.02) in trained animals. This increased was abolished by coronary vasodilation with adenosine. These results indicate that training caused a limited increase in collateral blood flow to the border zone. Further, tissue reactivity to adenosine following short periods of ischemia is normal in trained rats but decreased in border (11%) and ischemic (21%, P less than 0.05) zones in sedentary rats. Whether his small increase in blood flow to the border tissue, along with a retained capacity for dilatation, could lead to an improved salvage of tissue remains to be evaluated.