Effect of eight weeks high intensity aerobic exercise on C-reactive protein levels in obese middle-aged men

C-reactive protein (CRP) is a marker of chronic systemic inflammation frequently used in cardiovascular disease risk assessment. The aim of this study was to investigate CRP concentrations in middle-aged men after 8 weeks high intensity aerobic exercise.

Twenty two sedentary obese middle-aged men (aged: 46.4 ± 2.3 years and body mass index (BMI): 32.8 ± 2.0 kg/m2; ± SD) volunteered to participate in this study. The subjects were randomly assigned to training group (n=11) or control group (n=11). The training group performed high intensity aerobic training 3 days a week for 8 weeks at an intensity corresponding to 75-80% individual maximum oxygen consumption for 45 min.

The results showed that the body weight, BMI, body fat percent and WHR were decreased and VO2max was increased in the training group compared to the control group (P<0.05). After 8 weeks, the training group resulted in a significant decrease (58.7 %) in the CRP in compared with the control group.

The results suggest high intensity aerobic exercise improves body composition and decreases CRP concentrations in obese middle-aged men.