Comparison of 2 Weekly Frequencies of Resistance Training on Muscular Strength, Body Composition, and Metabolic Biomarkers in Resistance-Trained Older Women: Effects of Detraining and Retraining

• Published in: Journal of strength and conditioning research Vol. 36; no. 5; pp. 1437 - 1444
• Main Authors: Amarante do Nascimento, Matheus, Nunes, João Pedro, Pina, Fábio L.C., Ribeiro, Alex S., Carneiro, Nelson H., Venturini, Danielle, Barbosa, Décio S., Mayhew, Jerry L., Cyrino, Edilson S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 01-05-2022; Copyright by the National Strength & Conditioning Association; Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Ovid Technologies
• Subjects: Aged; Biomarkers; Body Composition; Body fat; C-reactive protein; Cholesterol; Cholesterol, LDL; Fasting; Fat-free body mass; Female; Glucose; High density lipoprotein; Humans; Insulin-like growth factor I; Laboratory testing; Low density lipoprotein; Metabolism; Middle Aged; Muscle Strength; Muscle, Skeletal; Physical training; Resistance Training - methods; Strength training; Testosterone; Training level; Triglycerides
• ISSN: 1064-8011; 1533-4287
• DOI: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000003799

ABSTRACTAmarante do Nascimento, M, Nunes, JPA, Pina, FLC, Ribeiro, AS, Carneiro, NH, Venturini, D, Barbosa, DS, Mayhew, JL, and Cyrino, ES. Comparison of 2 weekly frequencies of resistance training on muscular strength, body composition, and metabolic biomarkers in resistance-trained older womenEffects of detraining and retraining. J Strength Cond Res XX(X)000–000, 2020—This study aimed to compare the effects of 2 weekly frequencies of resistance training (RT) on muscular strength, body composition, and metabolic biomarkers in previously resistance-trained older women after detraining and retraining. Forty subjects (>60 years) performed RT (8 exercises, 1 set of 10–15 repetitions maximum) 2 (G2x) or 3 (G3x) times per week over 12 weeks of training and retraining. After training, subjects were detrained for 12 weeks. After detraining, there were significant decreases (p < 0.05) in upper-body (∼12%) and lower-body (∼14%) muscular strength, fat-free mass (FFM) (∼2%), and testosterone (∼26%), whereas increases were revealed for fat mass (FM) (∼4%), relative body fat (∼3%), fasting glucose (∼8%), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) (∼21%), and triglycerides (∼24%), with no differences between groups (p > 0.05). Following retraining, there were significant increases (p < 0.05) for upper (∼7%) and lower (∼10%) muscular strength, FFM (∼2%), and testosterone (∼20%). In contrast, decreases were found for FM (∼7%), relative body fat (∼3%), fasting glucose (∼6%), LDL-C (∼14%), and triglycerides (∼21%), also with no differences between groups (p > 0.05). Gains after retraining were lower than after training (p < 0.05) only for upper- and lower-body muscular strength (∼6%) and testosterone (∼11%). Total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, IGF-1, and C-reactive protein did not change at any point in the study for either group (p > 0.05). Our results suggest that older women can regain previous RT program benefits following detraining, regardless of the weekly training frequency. However, some fitness components may take longer to reestablish than the initial training level.