Effects of a Single bout of Cycling Exercise with and without Blood Flow Restriction on Serum Concentrations of Testosterone, Cortisol and Tumor Necrosis Factor-Alpha in Healthy Men

Subject Areas : Journal of Animal Biology

Eidi  Alijani ¹ (Department of Physical Education and Sports Science, Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, University of Karaj, Karaj, Iran)
Mahsa  Mohsen Zadeh ² (Department of Physical Education and Sports Science, Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, University of Karaj, Karaj, Iran)
Fatemeh  Aghasi ³ (Department of Physical Education and Sports Science, Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, University of Karaj, Karaj, Iran)

Received: 2020-02-10 Accepted : 2020-06-04 Published : 2020-09-15

Keywords: Cortisol, TNF-α, Testosterone hormone, Restriction exercise, Treadmill activity,

Abstract :

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of a single bout of cycling exercise with and without blood flow restriction on serum concentrations of testosterone, cortisol and tumor necrosis factor-alpha in healthy men. For this purpose, 16 members of R8 Niavaran Gym were selected. Subjects were divided into two groups according to their power: cycling with foot arteries blockage and cycling without foot arteries blockage. The training session consisted of 3×3-minutes cycling with 50% Wmax intensity, with a rest interval of 30-45 seconds. The group without arteries blockage performed the same protocol, except that there were no blood flow restrictions. Blood samples were taken 24 hours before the start of the training period and 24 hours after the last training session. Data were analyzed using independent t-test and dependent t-test at the significant level of P <0.05. The obtained results showed that within-group changes in testosterone and TNF-α in the arteries blockage group and without arteries blockage group showed no significant changes (P≥0.05). Also, between-group changes showed no difference between the two groups (P≥0.05). the within-group changes of cortisol significantly increased in the arteries blockage group (P≤0.05) and did not show a significant change in the group without arteries blockage (P≥0.05). Between-group changes showed a difference between the two groups (P≤0.05). The present study showed that blood flow restriction activity had no significant effect on serum testosterone and TNF-α levels in healthy men in relation to the same activity without blood flow restriction, but this difference was significant in cortisol level. As a result, people who are reluctant to do intense and long-term exercise can increase testosterone and reduce inflammatory factors using a less intense restricted blood flow exercise.

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