The effects of concurrent training with and without branch chain amino acids on lipid profiles and testosterone level of male body-builders

This study compared the effects of 8 – week of concurrent exercises (aerobic and resistance training) with and without Branch Chain Amino Acids (BCAA) supplement on testosterone level and lipid profiles of male body builders.

Forty male body builders that had 3-4 years training background were randomly selected and divided into two equal groups as control group who only did concurrent exercises (aerobic –resistance) and experimental group who perform concurrent exercise and taking BCAA supplement after training and before going to bed. The average age and body mass index of control group and experimental group were 24.8±5.1and 27.3 ± 2.15, 25 ± 2.1 and 27.4 ± 2.13 respectively. To show the central tendency and variability, descriptive statistics was applied. Independent t-test analyses were carried out to discover the difference of the two groups. Statistical significance was set at (P<0.05). All data were analyzed by SPSS software, version 18.

The results show significant decrease of Triglyceride (TG) (P= 0.001), low density lipoprotein (LDL-c) (P=0.034), total cholesterol (TC) (P=0.003) and increase high density lipoprotein (HDL-c) (P=0.001) in control group and decrease of TG (P=0.001) LDL (P=0.037), TC (P=0.025) and increases of HDL-c (P=0.002) in experimental group. Furthermore, the testosterone level of subjects didn’t change significantly in control and experimental groups.

In conclusion, concurrent training may be more effective than endurance and strength training alone for simultaneously improving the serum lipid profile.