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The cortisol awakening response (CAR) is commonly used as a marker of psychological stress; however, it is unknown whether CAR is affected by regular physical-exercise-induced stress. Purpose: To assess the relationship between training load and CAR. Methods: Recreational endurance athletes were recruited from local running clubs. Subjects (n = 15) completed training logs for 2 wk, with various training loads, including psychometric analysis (Recovery-Stress Questionnaire for Athletes). Subjects provided saliva samples each day immediately after waking and 30 min postwaking. Samples were analyzed for cortisol concentration via enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and subsequently were analyzed for CAR and CAR%. Daily training load was calculated and analyzed as training impulse. Simple linear regression was used to assess the relationship between CAR and training impulse. Results: CAR (r2 =.352, P =.025) and CAR% (r2 =.373, P =.012) both showed a significant negative relationship with training load. Conclusions: These results suggest that CAR is affected by regular exercise training loads in recreational athletes. It is recommended that future CAR research control for fitness level and exercise training load in physically active populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Increasing the amount of physical activity is an important strategy for weight loss. This systematic review summarizes recent findings on the effects of physical training on anthropometric characteristics, physical performances and physiological capacities in individuals with overweight and obesity. A systematic literature search strategy was conducted from inception until June 2019 using four electronic databases that identified 2,708 records. After screening for titles, abstracts and full texts, 116 studies were included in our final analysis. Both aerobic (e.g., endurance training) and anaerobic training (e.g., high‐intensity training, resistance training) improved body composition and physical fitness indicators in adults, adolescents and children with obesity (effect size: 0.08 < d < 2.67, trivial to very large). This systematic review suggests that both low‐ and high‐intensity training significantly reduced body weight and fat mass while increasing fat‐free mass in individuals with obesity (effect size: 0.04