The Effects of 3000 Meters Swimming on Serum Level of Leptin and Glucose Under 2 Different Intensities: Continuous and Intermittent

Leptin, that is a marker of fat mass in the body, has an important role in the body total metabolism and glucose homeostasis. This study sought to determine whether subjects’ plasma leptin and glucose level were affected by the type of intensity exercise they carried out. A total of 24 male elite swimmers (Mean age: 25.33, SD: 3.54 y) were randomly assigned into one of two groups: control and training. Study design consisted of pretest, training phase, and the posttest phase (immediately and 24 hours after training). Participants of the training group took part in two training conditions: continuous and intermittent. Serum leptin and glucose were measured in pretest and posttest phases. The results demonstrated that serum leptin and glucose were significantly decreased in intermittent exercise compared to continuous intensity exercise. Furthermore, zero-order correlation indicated significant relationship between serum leptin and glucose in the posttest of intermittent type of intensity exercise. Overall, the results of this study indicate that intermittent exercise reduces the plasma leptin level. In addition, this reduction is significantly correlated to the glucose level in the blood. The continuous exercise was shown to have no effects on the plasma leptin level, and there was no relationship between the glucose and leptin levels.