THE EFFECTS OF MUSCLE STRENGTH RESPONSIVENESS TO PERIODIZED RESISTANCE TRAINING ON RESISTIN, LEPTIN, AND CYTOKINE IN ELDERLY POSTMENOPAUSAL WOMEN

The aim of this study was to evaluate muscle strength responsiveness and to determine whether interleukin 4 (IL-4), leptin, and resistin would be affected by the individual pattern of response to a resistance training (RT) periodization program. Twenty-six elderly postmenopausal women participated in the present study (mean age = 62.57 +/- 6.69 years and body mass index = 28.09 +/- 4.83 kg.m(-2)). Four-month longitudinal training program was performed consisting of 2 whole-body sessions per week with increasing intensity and decreasing volume by using 6-14 repetitions maximum (RM). Two acute whole-body RT sessions (before and after chronic training) were also performed comprising 3 sets of 12-14RM. The responsiveness was determined based on their relative muscle strength gains in 458 leg press. High responders were defined as relative muscle strength gains >= 32% and low responders,32% (n = 13 in each group). Muscle strength increased by a higher amount in the high-responsive group as compared with the low-responsive group in the 458 leg press and bench press, whereas muscle strength increased for both groups when compared with pretraining evaluation (p = 0.001). Low responders displayed higher plasma leptin levels when compared with high responders at baseline (p = 0.001), and after 16 weeks of training, leptin levels were significantly lower when compared with baseline (pretraining period). Both groups displayed a decrease in baseline resistin values after 16 weeks of RT, but only a statistically simple main effect was observed for low responders. In addition, there were no effect of time and no significant interaction between the responsiveness and time on IL-4 concentration. In conclusion, RT is effective in improving upper and lower limb muscle strength in elderly women, with higher magnitudes of increase seen for those classified as high responders. Resistin and leptin displayed a decrease over time, regardless of responsiveness classification.