The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of 12 weeks of resistance training on muscle strength, body composition and triglycerides in sedentary men. Fourteen healthy men were randomly divided into experimental (EG = 29 ± 1 yrs; 180.0 ± 3.0 cm; 80.5 ± 1.8 kg) and control (CG = 27 ± 1 yrs; 170.0 ± 2.0 cm; 76.2 ± 0.9 kg) groups. The EG subjects participated in a resistance training protocol during 12 weeks, three times per week. The program of resistance training included 10 exercises performed in two sets of 10-20 repetitions. Body mass, height, skinfold thickness and triglycerides were measured before and after the 12 weeks of intervention. One maximal repetition test (1RM) was done to measure muscle strength. Significant differences (P<0.05) were observed on the sum of skinfolds only in EG after the resistance training, while body mass and triglycerides did not change in neither groups. Muscle strength increased (P<0.05) in both exercises performed between the first and the second and between the second and the third 1-RM tests. Therefore, 12 weeks of resistance training were enough to improve muscle strength and sum of skinfolds, but without promoting any changes in triglycerides and body mass.
strength training; plasma triglycerides; body fat percentage
