Effect of Exercise Training on Resting Testosterone Levels in Inactive Men

Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research: October 7, 2021 - Volume - Issue -.

Doi: 10.1519 / JSC.000000000000004146

Commentary

The anabolic hormone testosterone plays a pivotal role in healthy aging in men and tends to decline with age.

The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis was twofold.

(a) To assess the effect of exercise training on resting total testosterone levels in inactive, apparently healthy men.

(b) To determine if the effects of exercise training were different and analyzed by training mode, age, weight status, or testosterone measurement.

 A review of 18 years, interventions (exercise training lasting at least 4 weeks [any modality of intensity above 4 metabolic equivalents]), controls (inadequately active men), and outcomes (total testosterone concentration at rest) was searched for these criteria.

Intervention effects, weighted by the inverse of the pooled variance, were calculated as standardized mean differences (SMD) compared to the control group.

The analysis included 11 RCTs representing 421 insufficiently active and apparently healthy men aged 19-75 years across 16 intervention groups who participated in aerobic, resistance, or combined training for a median of 12 weeks.

These results showed that exercise training had little effect on resting total testosterone concentrations (mean SMD [95% CI]: 0.00 [-0.20 to 0.20]).

Subgroup analysis showed that the effects of exercise training were not significantly affected by training mode, age, weight status, or testosterone measurements.

These results indicate that exercise training may not affect resting total or free testosterone concentrations in insufficiently active, bona fide men.