Effects of Circuit Resistance Training with Different Parts of Saffron Supplementation on Testosterone and Cortisol Hormones

During recent years, consumption of nutritional supplements has become popular in the athletes to enhance muscle power, function, and hypertrophy. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of circuit resistance training and saffron supplementation on plasma testosterone and cortisol in young college men. 44 healthy male were divided into four groups including: water-training, sweat petals-training, style saffron-training and stigma-training. Resistance training consisted of 12 stations (each station lasts for 30 seconds at 40% of one repetition maximum) for 2 weeks (5 sessions per week). Saffron was used daily, 500 mg twice a day, in the morning and immediately after exercise. Blood samples were taken before and 48 hours after the last session and were used for analysis of testosterone by Elisa kit and cortisol by Elecsys system. Results showed there is No significant difference in testosterone (P=0.093) and cortisol (P=0.378) between the groups. Variations inner groups showed significant increase in plasma testosterone levels in all groups (P<0.05) and a significant decrease in plasma cortisol levels in group stigma-training (P<0.038). Also, significant increases in testosterone to cortisol ratio in groups stigma-training (P=0.001) and (P=0.031) was observed. But no significant changes in the other groups were observed. Circuit Resistance training improves the testosterone and cortisol; however this improvement was increased when this training combined with saffron supplements.