Ageing in men is associated with a number of physiological adaptations that result in lower resting muscle blood flow (BF) and vascular conductance (VC)¹. However, it has recently been reported that the vasodilatory capacity in ageing men appears to be well preserved during leg graded exercise of the knee extensor muscles¹. We examined leg VC responses during a graded incremental exercise in ageing men, using a calf plantar flexion exercise model. Inactive aged (68 ± 4 yr; n=8) and young (22 ± 1 yr; n=9) male volunteers participated in this ethically approved study performing a graded intermittent calf plantar flexion exercise (6s duty cycle: 2 s contraction, 4 s relaxation) to failure on a custom-built calf ergometer at a tilt of 67°. Calf BF was measured contraction by contraction using venous occlusion plethysmography. Volunteers also performed a forearm reactive hyperaemic test to assess forearm VC. Data was analysed using ANOVA and presented as mean ± S.D. Aged demonstrated a significant decline (P<0.05) in resting mean calf VC (0.14 ± 0.07 ml.100ml^-1.mmHg^-1.10) compared with young (0.20 ± 0.05 ml.100ml^-1.mmHg^-1.10). During calf plantar flexion incremental exercise this difference was abolished while the aged demonstrated significantly higher (P<0.05) mean calf BF at high absolute forces (400N, 700N, 850N) compared to young. No age differences were observed in calf VC responses during all the workloads of the graded test or in forearm BF and VC following the reactive hyperaemic test. Peak calf muscle force during the graded test was significantly reduced (P<0.001) in the aged (644±195N) in comparison to the young (967±224N). In conclusion, dspite a reduced muscle performance and resting vascular conductance in the aged group there was no impairment of calf vasodilatory responses to plantar flexion exercises. The mechanisms behind this could be in part attributed to a lower peripheral oxygen extraction capacity with ageing².