In the presence of 5mM glucose insulin only modestly activated rates of glucose uptake by rat epitrochlearis muscles while the rate of glycogen formation from D(U-14C) glucose was markedly stimulated by the hormone. No effect of insulin on lactate output could be detected under these conditions. The activation of labeled glycogen formation by insulin occurred in a dose-dependent manner and a maximal effect was noted at hormone concentrations greater than 4 mU/ml. However, glycogen accumulation by epitrochlearis muscles obtained from old, spontaneously obese rats was activated by only 38 +/- 15% by a supermaximal insulin concentration (200 mU/ml) compared to a 123 +/- 43% stimulation observed in muscles from small rats. This impaired responsiveness to the hormone could not be explained by inhibition of the glycogen synthetase system by increased amounts of endogenous glycogen in the epitrochlearis muscle of spontaneously obese rats. The magnitude of this resistance greatly exceeds the modest reduction in insulin receptor number reported for msucle membranes in obese rats which suggests that other defective cellular components contribute to this syndrome.