Comparison of the effect of endurance and strength concurrent training order on the level of the lipocalien-2 and insulin resistance in inactive obese women

The regular exercise training has been recommended as a preferred strategy and effective approach to reduce of the inflammatory cytokines such as lipocalin- 2 (Lcn2), and also can improve of the insulin resistance in obese individuals. Therefore, due to the findings limitation on the different order of concurrent endurance and strength training and the effect of the this area, the aim of the study was to compare the effect of different order of endurance and strength concurrent training on body composition, insulin resistance and serum level of the Lcn2 in inactive obese women.

Fourty five inactive obese women in a semi-experimental with pre-test and post-test design purposefully participated and randomly divided into three groups including control (n=15), resistance + endurance training (n=15) and endurance + strength training (n=15) group. Training program was performed 12 weeks and 3 times per week. The endurance training also was performed 20 minutes running on treadmill in each session with 55-75% HRmax intensity as the same for strength training it was included two sets on eight stations with 8-15 repetitions up to 55-75% one repetition maximum. Body composition indices and fasting blood serum samples were measured 48 hours before the start of training and also after the last training session. For statistical analysis paired samples t-test and analysis of covariance at the significant level of p<0.05 were used.

The results indicated both type of exercise training could significantly decreased the body composition indices (weight, body fat percent, body mass index, waist to hip ratio), insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) and concentration of the serum Lcn2 (p<0.05). But there were no significant differences between two concurrent training methods (p>0.05), and these biomarkers did not show any significant change in the control group (p>0.05).

The concurrent training, independent of the order of exercise, can be an effective method to improve of obesity risk factors such as body composition, insulin resistance and Lcn2 marker in obese women.