Effects of time-of-day strength training on plasma testosterone and cortisol concentrations in male amateur athletes

Abstract

BACKGROUND:The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of time-ofday-strength training on plasma testosterone (T) and cortisol (C) concentrations in male amateur athletes. METHODS: Forty five male athletes (age, 21.2±0.3 years; height, 1.75±0.14 m; weight, 72±1.52 kg) participated in the present study. They were subjected to strength training of the knee extensor and flexor muscles. Following this, they were randomly assigned into three groups: morning strength training group (MSTG, 07:00-08:00 hours, n=15), afternoon strength training group (ASTG, 16:00-17:00 hours, n=15) and morning and afternoon strength training group (MASTG, 07:00-08:00 and 16:00-17:00 hours, n=15). The concentration of T and C for each athlete was collected in all three conditions in the morning, noon and afternoon, before and after 8 weeks of strength training. The effects of group, time of the day and pre-to post-training were verified by a 3-way analysis of variance with repeated measures. RESULTS: Our results indicate that strength training induces an increase of plasma T/C ratio in both groups of athletes who have always trained for only one session per day mainly in the afternoon compared with the MASTG (P < 0.05). However, a reduction of the plasma T/C ratio was observed in the athletes who have always trained successively in the morning and in the afternoon (P < 0.05). Plasma T/C ratio exhibit circadian rhythmicity in all groups showing a low level in the morning, whereas in the afternoon an increased value was more noted (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: From an applied perspective, this study suggests that amateur athletes should train at the afternoon to maximize their performance gain.

Salivary Testosterone and Cortisol Levels in Tunisian Elderly Male Patients With Mild Alzheimer’s Disease. Implications of Musical Therapy And/Or Physical Rehabilitation

“…The differences in T production between men and women might explain the higher prevalence of the disease in women (Picanco et al, 2018). T is a steroid hormone secreted by the Leydig cells of the testes under hypothalamic and pituitary control defining the hypothalamo-pituitary-testicular (HPT) axis and in small amounts from the adrenal cortex (Bouazizi et al, 2019). In both sexes, T follows a diurnal rhythm with peak concentrations occurring in the morning followed by a progressive decline over the course of the day, rising again at night during sleep (Bouazizi et al, 2019).…”

“…T is a steroid hormone secreted by the Leydig cells of the testes under hypothalamic and pituitary control defining the hypothalamo-pituitary-testicular (HPT) axis and in small amounts from the adrenal cortex (Bouazizi et al, 2019). In both sexes, T follows a diurnal rhythm with peak concentrations occurring in the morning followed by a progressive decline over the course of the day, rising again at night during sleep (Bouazizi et al, 2019). Many studies have also reported a link between low T levels and the risk of developing AD which is the leading cause of dementia (Lei and Renyuan, 2018).…”