The effects of resistance and endurance training on risk factors of vascular inflammation and atherogenesis in non-athlete men.

Background: Studies show that different types of training have a significant role in reducing both new and traditional risk factors of cardiovascular diseases, and the new risk factors are more sensitive and accurate in predicting such diseases.

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the effects of resistance and endurance exercises on risk factors of vascular inflammation and atherogenesis in non-athlete men.

Methods: Thirty-six non-athlete male students (mean age: 20.45 ± 1.20 years; mean body mass index: 23.66 ± 3.65 kg/m²) were randomly assigned into either three groups: control group, resistance training (RT), and endurance training (ET). The training groups exercised for 3 days/week for 8 weeks. ET group performed treadmill-running at 65%-80% of maximum heart rate and with a 16-30 min duration; the task of RT group consisted of three repetition sets, 8-10 per set, at 60%-80% of one repetition maximum, with 2-min recesses. Blood samples were taken before and after the training program. Data were analyzed by Shapiro-Wilk test, one-way ANOVA, LSD test, and dependent t-test (α ≤ 0.05).

Results: The results indicated a significant reduction in total cholesterol levels in both RT and ET groups. Also high-density lipoprotein cholesterol significantly increased in both training groups. In addition, following 8 weeks, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in ET group was significantly decreased, whereas these training methods have had no significant effects on the new cardiovascular biomarkers (hs-CRP, IL-6, and sICAM-1).

Conclusion: It seems that both ET and RT with improvement in lipid profiles could be effective in prevention and treatment of the cardiovascular disease.