Regardless of what form of exercise done it is done to improve health, little is known about exactly how different forms of exercise training effects health. University of Copenhagen researchers have taken a step to understanding the diverse effects of different forms of training, showing that cardio training on a bike causes 3 times as large an increase in production of FGF21 hormone than strength training with weights does, and FGF21 has many positive effects on metabolism.
Effects on 10 healthy young men divided into 2 groups doing both types of training once a week were studied, both forms of training were fairly hard lasting an hour: cardio consisted of cycling at 70% of maximum oxygen intake levels, and strength training consisted of 5 exercises repeated 5 x 10 times involving the body’s main muscle groups. 8 blood samples were subsequently taken from the subjects over a period of 4 hours to measure development of lactic acid, blood sugar, bile acid, and various hormones in the body, these measurements revealed an increase in production of FGF21 hormones in connection with cardio exercises, with strength training showing no changes in regards to the hormone.
FGF19 hormone content was also measured which has been linked to muscle growth, based on those studies strength training was expected to have an effect on the hormone, but none were shown in the results of the randomised crossover study, contrary to hypothesis FGF19 hormone levels dropped slightly after strength training, suggesting there is something about the effect of strength training that there is no knowledge of and gives rise to new cause for additional research subject matter. Other links between hormones involved in metabolism and exercise will now be looked at more closely by the researchers in further studies.
Results were limited to blood samples not being taken more than 4 hours after training and can say nothing about effects of full training programmes on these hormones. Results on metabolic FGF21 hormone are significant enough to provide solid foundation for investigation of whether similar effects can be seen in other groups of subjects.
