Acute Resistance Exercise Reduces Postprandial Lipemia and Oxidative Stress in Resistance-Trained Men

Abstract McAllister, MJ, Steadman, KS, Renteria, LI, Case, MJ, Butawan, MB, Bloomer, RJ, and McCurdy, KW. Acute resistance exercise reduces postprandial lipemia and oxidative stress in resistance-trained men. J Strength Cond Res 36(8): 2139–2146, 2022—Acute ingestion of a high-fat meal (HFM) results in significant increases in postprandial triacylglycerols (TAG) and markers of oxidative stress (OS). Combined aerobic and resistance exercise can attenuate postprandial lipemia; however, it is not clear if acute resistance exercise alone can reduce postprandial OS. The purpose of this study was to determine if acute resistance exercise can attenuate postprandial OS and to compare the effects of moderate versus high-intensity resistance exercise in this regard. Nine ( n = 9) moderately resistance-trained individuals completed 3 testing conditions in a randomized order as follows: (a) rest (no exercise), (b) moderate intensity (3 sets of 10 repetitions at 68% 1 repetition maximum [RM]), and (c) high-intensity resistance exercise (4 sets of 6 repetitions at 85% 1RM). Exercises included barbell back squat, bench press, straight leg deadlift, lat pull-down, upright row, and sit-ups. A HFM was ingested 12 hours after each condition. Blood samples were collected immediately before as well as 2 and 4 hours after ingestion and analyzed for TAG, cholesterol (CHOL), insulin, malondialdehyde (MDA), total nitrate/nitrite (NOx), glutathione (GSH), and advanced oxidation protein products (AOPP). When comparing 4 hour area under curve (AUC) data between conditions, AOPP demonstrated a significantly lower AUC after the moderate-intensity condition compared with resting condition. In addition, resistance exercise resulted in significantly higher plasma NOx concentrations as well as lower TAG and CHOL concentrations after HFM ingestion. Resistance exercise also prevented a decline in GSH that was induced by the HFM. These results demonstrate that acute resistance exercise can attenuate postprandial OS.