Measuring local haemodynamics in skeletal muscle has the potential to provide valuable insight into the oxygen delivery to tissue, especially during high demand situations such as exercise. The aim of this study was to compare the skeletal muscle microvascular response during post-occlusive reactive hyperaemia (PORH) with the response to exercise, each measured using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) and to establish if associations exist between muscle measures and exercise capacity or sex. Participants were from a population-based cohort study, the Southall and Brent Revisited (SABRE) study. Skeletal muscle measures included changes in tissue saturation index at the onset of exercise (∆TSI BL-INC ) and across the whole of exercise (∆TSI BL-EE ), time to 50%, 95% and 100% PORH, rate of PORH recovery, area under the curve (AUC) and total oxygenated Haemoglobin (oxy-Hb) change during PORH. Exercise capacity was measured using a 6-min stepper test (6MST). Analysis was by multiple linear regression. In total, 558 participants completed the 6MST with NIRS measures of TSI (mean age±SD: 73 ± 7years, 59% male). A sub-set of 149 participants also undertook the arterial occlusion. Time to 100% PORH, recovery rate, AUC and ∆oxy-Hb were all associated with ∆TSI BL-EE (β-coefficient (95%CI): 0.05 (0.01, 0.09), p = 0.012; −47 (-85, −9.9), p = 0.014; 1.7 (0.62, 2.8), p = 0.002; 0.04 (0.002.0.108), p = 0.041, respectively). Time to 95% & 100% PORH, AUC and ∆oxy-Hb were all associated with ∆TSI BL-INC (β-coefficient (95%CI): −0.07 (−0.12,−0.02), p = 0.02; −0.03 (−0.05, −0.003), p = 0.028; 0.85 (0.18, 1.5), p = 0.013 & 0.05 (0.02, 0.09), p = 0.001, respectively). AUC and ∆Oxy-Hb were associated with steps achieved (β-coefficient (95%CI): 18.0 (2.3, 33.7), p = 0.025; 0.86 (0.10, 1.6), p = 0.027). ∆TSI BL-EE was associated with steps and highest VO 2 (1.7 (0.49, 2.9), p = 0.006; 7.7 (3.2, 12.3), p = 0.001). ∆TSI BL-INC was associated with steps and VO 2 but this difference was attenuated towards the null after adjustment for age, sex and ethnicity. ∆TSI BL-EE was greater in women (3.4 (0.4, 8.9) versus 2.1 (0.3, 7.4), p = 0.017) and ∆TSI BL-INC was lower in women versus men (2.4 (0.2, 10.2) versus 3.2 (0.2, 18.2), p = 0.016). These Local microvascular NIRS-measures are associated with exercise capacity in older adults and several measures can detect differences in microvascular reactivity between a community-based sample of men and women.