Effect of Eight Weeks of Upper Body, Lower Body, and Concurrent Resistance Training on the Levels of Homocysteine, Adiponectin, and Insulin Resistance in Healthy Untrained Females

Homocysteine and Insulin resistance increase and adiponectin reduction are the risk factors for cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. In contrast, regular physical exercise is the effective intervention for reducing these risk factors. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of eight weeks of upper body, lower body, and mix resistance-training on adiponectin, homocysteine concentration, and insulin resistance in healthy untrained female students.

A total of 56 healthy females (age: 21± 3 years old, weight: 60± 5 kg, height: 160± 5 cm, Body Mass Index: 21 /5 ± 3/5 kg m) voluntarily participated in the current study. After two sessions of getting familiar with each other and identifying maximum power, participants were randomly divided into four groups (upper body resistance, lower body resistance, mix [upper and lower] resistance, and control group). Training groups performed six resistance exercises for upper body, lower body, mixed upper and lower body three sessions per week for eight weeks. To measure adiponectin, homocysteine, and insulin resistance, blood samples were obtained before trainings and four weeks after training sessions and at the end of the training period.

It was shown that adiponectin levels increased significantly after eight weeks of resistance exercises in the upper body, lower body, and mix groups. The highest increase was observed in lower body and the lowest one was found in upper body training groups. Also, lower body and mix groups’ homocysteine levels reduced significantly. Moreover, insulin resistance index had significant reduction in all the training groups.

Eight weeks of upper, lower body, and combined resistance training resulted in significant increase in adiponectin levels and a significant decrease in insulin and homocysteine resistance levels in untrained women, which directly affected the involved muscle mass and the length of exercise. In other words, the more the muscle mass is used over a longer period of time, the greater the benefits of increasing serum adiponectin and decreasing insulin resistance and decreasing homocysteine, and thus, in general, overall improving risk factors for preventing cardiovascular and metabolic diseases.