8 weeks resistance training have a positive effect on reducing body weight, BMI, WHR and percent body fat but could not decrease leptin, insulin and glucose levels and insulin resistance

1. 8 weeks of physical training reduces weight but not leptin, insulin and glucose
Obesity plays a key role in developing diabetes as there’s a relation between serum leptin
made by fat cells and insulin. Several studies validated that serum leptin resistance may lead
to insulin resistance and diabetes, and many researchers tried to discover how physical
exercises can affect fat serum and insulin resistance including a new research that has been
published recently.
This new study is carried by group of researchers from University of Tehran, Iran,
Department of Sport Sciences, and has published in a Journal of Research in
Endocrinology. The study’s objective was to study effects of 8 weeks training on levels of
leptin and insulin in 20 obese females.
Previous studies have find out that “exercise training and physical activity can reduce fat
mass, play a critical role in energy expenditure and affect hormonal concentrations and
metabolites… and could modify the leptin response.” But, the results of this current study
shows that “8 weeks resistance training have a positive effect on reducing body weight, BMI,
WHR and percent body fat but could not decrease leptin, insulin and glucose levels and
insulin resistance.”
However, researchers of the study still believe that “fat mass is associated with insulin levels.
So, reduced fat mass, also vary insulin levels. Perhaps, lack of significant amounts of leptin is
related to the nutrition status and its type.” They also went on explaining that “this study had
... limitation such as small sample size, no follow-up study and no measurements of daily
physical activity in two groups during eight weeks... and based on these results, it could be
suggested that further research is recommended to examine the effects of resistance training
on leptin and insulin resistance with control of factors such as lifestyle or daily energy
expenditure, diet or without it, cortisol and hormonal concentrations.
Though the study finds that the physical exercises don’t necessarily affect leptin and insulin
resistance and only reduces obesity, but weight loss reduces a lot of health risks including
chronic diseases as stated by different studies.