Inflammation status of healthy young men: initial and specific responses to resistance training

Our primary aim was to study the effects of a 4-week preparatory resistance-training (RT) period followed by 12 weeks of 2 specific RT protocols (either hypertrophic-strength (HS) or strength-hypertrophy-power training) on inflammation markers and the possible relationship of the changes in abdominal fat and lean mass to the changes in inflammation status. A total of 82 healthy men were included in the study. Maximal concentric leg press strength (1-repetition maximum), total body lean mass, total body and abdominal fat mass, circulating high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, interleukin-6, interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1ra), monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1), and selected adipocytokines (resistin, adiponectin, and leptin) concentrations were measured before and after 4 (wk4) and 16 weeks (wk16) of RT. After the initial phase of RT, on wk4, abdominal and total fat mass as well as plasma leptin concentrations were significantly reduced (p < 0.05), whereas muscle mass, IL-1ra, resistin, and M...