Research article - (2017)16, 375 - 382
Chronic Eccentric Exercise and Antioxidant Supplementation: Effects on Lipid Profile and Insulin Sensitivity
Christina Yfanti1, Athanasios Tsiokanos1, Ioannis G. Fatouros1,2, Anastasios A. Theodorou1, Chariklia K. Deli1,2, Yiannis Koutedakis1,2,3, Athanasios Z. Jamurtas1,2,
1School of Physical Education and Sport Science, University of Thessaly, Trikala, Greece
2Institute for Research and Technology of Thessaly (I.RE.TE.TH) at Trikala, Greece
3School of Sports, Performing Arts and Leisure, University of Wolverhampton, United Kingdom

Athanasios Z. Jamurtas
✉ School of Physical Education & Sport Science, University of Thessaly, Karies, Trikala 42100, Greece
Email: ajamurt@pe.uth.gr
Received: 11-04-2017 -- Accepted: 29-06-2017
Published (online): 08-08-2017

ABSTRACT

Eccentric exercise has been shown to exert beneficial effects in both lipid profile and insulin sensitivity. Antioxidant supplementation during chronic exercise is controversial as it may prevent the physiological training-induced adaptations. The aim of this study was to investigate: 1) the minimum duration of the eccentric exercise training required before changes on metabolic parameters are observed and 2) whether antioxidant supplementation during training would interfere with these adaptations. Sixteen young healthy men were randomized into the Vit group (1 g of vitamin C and 400 IU vitamin E daily) and the placebo (PL) group. Subjects received the supplementation for 9 weeks. During weeks 5-9 all participants went through an eccentric exercise training protocol consisting of two exercise sessions (5 sets of 15 eccentric maximal voluntary contractions) per week. Plasma triglycerides (TG), total cholesterol (TC), high density lipoprotein (HDL), low density lipoprotein (LDL), apolipoproteins (Apo A1, Apo B and Lpa) and insulin sensitivity (HOMA) were assessed before the supplementation (week 0), at weeks 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9. TG, TC and LDL were significantly lower compared to pre supplementation at both weeks 8 and 9 (P<0.05) in both groups. HDL was significantly elevated after 4 weeks of training (p < 0.005) in both groups. There was no effect of the antioxidant supplementation in any of the variables. There was no effect of either the training or the supplementation protocol in apolipoproteins levels and insulin sensitivity. A minimum duration of 3 weeks of eccentric exercise training is required before beneficial effects in lipid profile can be observed in healthy young men. Concomitant antioxidant supplementation does not interfere with the training-induced adaptations.

Key words: Eccentric exercise, insulin sensitivity, metabolic profile, vitamin supplementation

Key Points
  • Eccentric training results in improvements in blood lipid profile.
  • A minimum of three weeks is needed to see improvements in blood lipid profile following eccentric training.
  • Vit C and E supplementation concomitant with eccentric training has no effect on blood lipid profile or insulin sensitivity.








Back
|
Full Text
|
PDF
|
Share