Effects of low- and high-repetition resistive training on lipoprotein-lipid profiles

Thirty-seven healthy untrained males (age = 21 +/- 1 yr; range = 19 to 35 yr) were studied to determine the effects of 10 wk of low- and high-repetition resistive training on lipoprotein-lipid profiles. Subjects were assigned to 1 of 3 groups: a low-repetition group (N = 15) that trained using 4 to 6 repetitions maximum or a high-repetition group (N = 14) that used 14 to 16 repetitions maximum in their training or to an inactive control group (N = 8). The number of sets was adjusted to equalize workloads. Muscular strength increased significantly in both training groups as indicated by the increase in the one-repetition maximum test (P less than 0.05). VO2max, body weight, and percent body fat did not change in either of these groups. However, fat-free weight increased significantly in both training groups (both P less than 0.05). The low-repetition training program resulted in no significant changes in the plasma concentrations of triglycerides (104 +/- 15 vs 89 +/- 8), total cholesterol (150 +/- 7 vs 141 +/- 6), high-density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol (40 +/- 1 vs 41 +/- 2), and HDL2-cholesterol (7 +/- 1 vs 7 +/- 1). A similar pattern was observed for the high-repetition group ([i.e., no significant changes in the concentrations of triglycerides (87 +/- 10 vs 89 +/- 8), total cholesterol (148 +/- 6 vs 162 +/- 6), HDL-cholesterol (40 +/-2 vs 40 +/- 2), and HDL2-cholesterol (6 +/- vs 1 vs 7 +/- 2)]. All lipid values were expressed in milligrams per deciliter (mean +/- SE).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)