The impact of exercise training upon sympathetic activation is not well understood, especially across untrained and trained limbs in athletes. Therefore, in eight sedentary subjects (VO_2max = 40 ± 2 ml/kg/min) and eight competitive cyclists (VO_2max = 64 ± 2 ml/kg/min) we evaluated heart rate, blood pressure, blood flow, vascular conductance (VC) and vascular resistance (VR) in the leg and arm during acute sympathetic stimulation (cold-pressor test, CPT). The CPT was also performed during dynamic leg (knee-extensor) or arm (handgrip) exercise at 50% of maximal work rate (WRmax). At rest, the CPT decreased VC similarly in the leg and arm of sedentary subjects (-33 ± 8% leg, -38 ± 6% arm) and cyclists (-34 ± 4% leg, -31 ± 9% arm), and during exercise CPT-induced vasoconstriction was blunted (i.e. sympatholysis) in both the leg and arm of both groups. However, the magnitude of sympatholysis was significantly different between the arm and leg of the sedentary group (-47 ± 11% arm, -25 ± 8% leg), and was less in the arm of cyclists (-28 ± 11%) than sedentary controls. Taken together, these data provide evidence that sympathetically-mediated vasoconstriction is expressed equally and globally at rest in both sedentary and trained individuals, with a differential pattern of vasoconstriction during acute exercise according to limb and exercise training status.