Acute Hormonal and Inflammatory Responses following Lower and Upper Body Resistance Exercises Performed to Volitional...

Area of Science:

• Exercise Physiology
• Endocrinology
• Immunology

Background:

• Resistance training elicits acute physiological responses, including hormonal and inflammatory markers.
• The specific exercise modality may differentially influence these responses.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the effects of single bench press (BP) versus leg press (LP) resistance training sessions on key physiological markers.
• To investigate changes in testosterone, cortisol, interleukin-6 (IL-6), C-reactive protein (CRP), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and creatine kinase (CK) activity.

Main Methods:

• Cross-over randomized trial involving eleven strength-trained males.
• Participants completed five sets of BP or LP exercise to volitional failure at 50% of one-repetition maximum.
• Blood samples were collected at baseline, immediately post-exercise, and 1 hour post-exercise.

Main Results:

• Leg press (LP) significantly increased interleukin-6 (IL-6) concentrations post-exercise.
• Bench press (BP) resulted in significantly lower cortisol concentrations at 1 hour post-exercise compared to both immediate post-exercise and the LP condition.
• Creatine kinase (CK) activity increased following both BP and LP exercises, with LP showing a significant increase from baseline to both post-exercise time points.

Conclusions:

• The extent of muscle mass activated during resistance exercise influences acute hormonal and inflammatory responses.
• Exercises engaging larger muscle groups, like the leg press, may more significantly elevate myokine (IL-6) concentrations.
• Bench press may elicit a more favorable cortisol response compared to leg press.