The effect of eight weeks of interval training on plasma levels of antioxidant enzymes in inactive elderly men

Background and purpose: Aging is a set of progressive changes with gradual decrease in physiological function and homeostasis capacity that increases the risk of disease and mortality. the purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of interval training on indices of antioxidants in inactive older men. Methods and Materials: In this quasi-experimental study, 20 inactive elderly men were selected by available sampling and randomly divided into experimental (n = 10) and control (n = 10) groups. To investigate the effect of aging on antioxidant indices, 10 inactive young men were selected by purposive sampling. The training protocol consisted of 8 weeks of interval training with an intensity of 50% reserve heart rate (activity period) and 30% reserve heart rate (rest period) with 10 alternations in the first four weeks and 15 alternations in the second four weeks with a 1:1 work/rest ratio. Blood samples were taken from the subjects 48 hours before and after the first and last training session and the antioxidant indices of catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPX) were measured in two stages. To analyze the data, for intragroup comparison, and to compare groups were used of the dependent t-test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with Tukey post hoc test at a significance level of 0.05. Results: The results of this study showed that the antioxidant enzymes CAT, SOD and GPX were significantly reduced in the elderly groups compared to the young group (P <0.05). Also, due to eight weeks of interval training, the levels of all three enzymes increased significantly (P <0.05). Conclusion: According to the results of the present study, it seems that interval exercise can increase the antioxidant defense of older men and also a suitable intervention to deal with the effects of oxidative stress due to aging and improve the quality of life in the elderly people.