These results suggest that ASP+ASG supplementation may increase the contribution of oxidative metabolism in energy production and delay fatigue during exercise performed above the AT.

Introduction: The characterization of immune and oxidative stress responses to acute and chronic exercise training is important because it may aid in the safety and dose–response prescription of resistance training (RT) in many populations.Purpose: The present study compared changes in acute oxidative stress and markers of apoptosis in immune cells before and after 8 weeks of low-load RT with total or partial blood flow restriction (BFR) versus high-load traditional RT.Methods: Twenty-seven untrained men were randomly divided into three groups: traditional RT [75% one-repetition maximum (1-RM)], RT with partial (20% 1-RM), and total BFR (20% 1-RM). Over an 8-week period, participants performed six sets of arm curls until failure with 90 seconds of recovery for 3 days/week. Blood samples were obtained before and after the first and last training sessions.Results: Data indicated that all training groups showed similar increases in muscular strength (p < 0.001), reduction in mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) after exercise in neutrophils (p < 0.001), and increase in caspase-3 activity after exercise (p < 0.001). Traditional RT and total BFR showed increased plasma lipid peroxidation (p < 0.001) and protein carbonyls (p < 0.001) and lower levels of reduced glutathione (GSH) (p < 0.001) after exercise. No change was observed in oxidative stress biomarkers in response to partial BFR (p > 0.05).Conclusion: Data show that RT with partial BFR can increase muscular strength but still does not augment biomarkers of oxidative stress in untrained men. In addition, RT with total BFR promoted similar responses of oxidative stress and markers of immune cell apoptosis versus traditional RT.

New Findings What is the topic of this review?A meta‐analysis of the efficacy of high intensity interval training (HIIT) in reducing weight, total fat mass (FM) and (intra)‐abdominal FM in normal‐weight and overweight/obese women before and after menopause. What advances does it highlight?HIIT programmes in women significantly decrease body weight and total and abdominal FM. Their effects are more evident in pre‐ than in postmenopausal women. Cycling HIIT seems more effective than running, especially in postmenopausal women, and training interventions longer than 8 weeks comprising three sessions a week should be promoted. Abstract High‐intensity interval training (HIIT) is a stimulating modality for reducing body weight and adipose tissue. The purpose of this meta‐analysis was to assess the efficacy of HIIT in reducing weight, total fat mass (FM) and (intra)‐abdominal FM in normal‐weight and overweight/obese women before and after menopause. A structured electronic search was performed to find all publications relevant to our review. Stratified analyses were made of hormonal status (pre‐ vs. postmenopausal state), weight, HIIT modalities (cycling vs. running), programme duration (< or ≥8 weeks) and the methods used to measure body composition (dual‐energy X‐ray absorptiometry vs. computed tomography, Magnetic Resonance Imaging and others). A total of 38 studies involving 959 subjects were included. Our meta‐analysis showed that overall HIIT programmes significantly decrease weight, total and abdominal FM in women. Both normal weight and overweight/obese women lost total FM after HIIT protocols whereas HIIT was only effective in decreasing abdominal FM in women with excess adiposity. When pre‐ and postmenopausal women were considered separately, the effect of HIIT on weight, total and abdominal FM were only significant before menopause. Cycling HIIT seemed more effective than running, especially in postmenopausal women, and training interventions longer than 8 weeks comprising three sessions were more efficient. HIIT is a successful strategy to lose weight and FM in normal weight and overweight/obese women. However, further studies are still needed to draw meaningful conclusions about the real effectiveness of HIIT protocols in postmenopausal women.

BackgroundThe effects of creatine (CR) supplementation on glycogen content are still debatable. Thus, due to the current lack of clarity, we investigated the effects of CR supplementation on muscle glycogen content after high intensity intermittent exercise in rats.MethodsFirst, the animals were submitted to a high intensity intermittent maximal swimming exercise protocol to ensure that CR-supplementation was able to delay fatigue (experiment 1). Then, the CR-mediated glycogen sparing effect was examined using a high intensity intermittent sub-maximal exercise test (fixed number of bouts; six bouts of 30-second duration interspersed by two-minute rest interval) (experiment 2). For both experiments, male Wistar rats were given either CR supplementation or placebo (Pl) for 5 days.ResultsAs expected, CR-supplemented animals were able to exercise for a significant higher number of bouts than Pl. Experiment 2 revealed a higher gastrocnemius glycogen content for the CR vs. the Pl group (33.59%). Additionally, CR animals presented lower blood lactate concentrations throughout the intermittent exercise bouts compared to Pl. No difference was found between groups in soleus glycogen content.ConclusionThe major finding of this study is that CR supplementation was able to spare muscle glycogen during a high intensity intermittent exercise in rats.