Abstract

Regular resistance training has been shown to have many physiological and psychological health benefits. However, the underlying physiological processes are not yet fully understood. One explanation is that resistance training acts like an acute stressor and modulates physiological pathways that are associated with the stress response such as the sympathetic nervous system (SNS), the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS), and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. This was systematically investigated in our study. Participants were 45 healthy men who had been doing resistance training regularly for at least nine months. Salivary α-amylase and heart rate that were used as markers for SNS activity increased during the training and decreased afterwards. PNS activity that was assessed by means of heart rate variability parameters decreased during the training and increased after it. Salivary cortisol that was used as marker for HPA axis activity decreased throughout the session. Furthermore, an improvement of positive affect was found after the training. However, additional analyses indicated that the physiological response patterns were found for participants who chose upper-body exercises (in contrast to lower-body exercises) only. Therefore, we were able to show that an upper-body resistance training acts partially like an acute stressor which leads to the typical SNS and PNS – but not HPA axis – stress responses. We conclude that resistance trainings might be an alternative to classical relaxation programs which would have the additional advantage that it is a physical training at the same time. However, more research is needed to develop specific trainings which entirely fulfill this goal.

摘要

定期进行阻力训练已显示出许多生理和心理健康益处。然而，尚未完全理解潜在的生理过程。一种解释是，阻力训练的作用类似于急性应激源，并调节与应激反应相关的生理途径，例如交感神经系统（SNS），副交感神经系统（PNS）和下丘脑-垂体-肾上腺（HPA）轴。在我们的研究中对此进行了系统地调查。参加者有45名健康男性，他们至少定期进行了抵抗训练9个月。唾液α-淀粉酶和心率用作SNS活性的标志物，在训练过程中增加，此后下降。通过心率变异性参数评估的PNS活性在训练期间下降，训练后上升。在整个疗程中，用作HPA轴活性标记物的唾液皮质醇下降。此外，训练后发现积极影响有所改善。但是，其他分析表明，仅选择上半身运动（与下半身运动相反）的参与者发现了生理反应模式。因此，我们能够证明，上身抵抗训练的部分作用类似于急性应激源，可导致典型的SNS和PNS（而非HPA轴）应激反应。我们得出的结论是，阻力训练可能是经典放松计划的替代方法，这将带来额外的优势，那就是同时进行身体训练。但是，需要进行更多的研究来开发能够完全实现此目标的特定培训。