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Introduction and Aim: Myostatin and follistatin are the main hormones for regulating muscle mass, and previous research suggests they are modulated by resistance training. We therefore performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to investigate the impact of resistance training on circulating myostatin and follistatin in adults., Methods: A search was conducted in PubMed and Web of science from inception until October 2022 to identify original studies investigating the effects of resistance training compared with controls that did not exercise. Standardized mean differences and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using random effects models., Results: A total 26 randomized studies, including 36 interventions, and involving 768 participants (aged ∼18 - 82 years), were included in the meta-analysis. Resistance training effectively decreased myostatin [-1.31 (95% CI -1.74 - -0.88, p = 0.001, 26 studies] and increased follistatin [2.04 (95% CI: 1.51 - 2.52), p = 0.001, 14 studies]. Subgroup analyses revealed a significant decrease in myostatin and increase in follistatin regardless of age., Conclusion: Resistance training in adults is effective for reducing myostatin and increasing follistatin which may contribute to the beneficial effects of resistance training on muscle mass and metabolic outcomes., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The effects of aerobic training (AT) on cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), and resistance training (RT) on muscular strength, are well known in older adults. However, less is known about the potential additive benefits of concurrent training (CT) versus AT or RT alone in this population. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to investigate the effects of CT, versus AT or RT, on CRF and muscular strength in middle-aged to older adults. PubMed and Web of Science were searched through October 2021 to identify randomized trials evaluating CT versus AT and/or RT in middle-aged and older adults (>50 yrs). Studies were included that measured CRF, using maximal or peak oxygen uptake (VO 2max/peak ); and/or lower- and upper-body muscular strength measured using 1-repetition maximum (1RM) to 10RM tests during isoinertial contractions, or peak torque during isometric dynamometry or isokinetic dynamometry at 30 to 60°/s. Standardized mean differences (SMD) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were determined using random or fixed effects models. Forty-nine studies involving 2,587 middle-aged to older participants with mean ages ranging from 55 to 88 years, were included in the meta-analysis. Results indicated that CT effectively increased VO 2max/peak (SMD: 0.77, p = 0.005, 12 intervention arms) when compared to RT. In addition, CT effectively increased lower- (SMD: 0.60, p = 0.001, 43 intervention arms) and upper-body (SMD: 0.57, p = 0.001, 28 intervention arms) muscular strength when compared to AT. However, there were no differences in VO 2max/peak (SMD: 0.09, p = 0.09, 33 intervention arms) between CT and AT, or in lower-body (SMD: 0.07, p = 0.48, 21 intervention arms) and upper-body (SMD: -0.07, p = 0.38, 17 intervention arms) muscular strength between CT and RT. Overall, CT was shown to be effective for increasing CRF and muscular strength in middle-aged to older adults and there was no negative effect on the magnitude of changes in these outcomes compared to either AT or RT alone. These results suggested that CT should be considered a viable strategy to improvement of CRF and muscular strength with aging., (Copyright © 2022. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to investigate the effect of resistance training (RT) with and without caloric restriction (CR) on visceral fat (VF). PubMed and Scopus were searched to identify original articles published through December 2020. Standardized mean differences and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were determined, and separate analyses were conducted for RT versus control, and RT plus CR versus CR only. Thirty-four studies including 38 intervention arms and involving 2285 were included in the meta-analysis. RT effectively reduced VF [-24 (95% CI -0.34 to -0.13), p < 0.001; I 2  = 4.17%, p = 0.40; 24 intervention arms] when compared with control. Based on subgroup analyses, reduction in VF was significant for individual with (p = 0.04) and without (p < 0.001) obesity as well as across medium-term (p = 0.001) and long-term (p = 0.002) interventions. Reduction in VF was significant for both middle-age (p = 0.03) and elderly (p = 0.001) adults but was not significant for pediatric (p = 0.08) participants. However, RT plus CR did not indicate superiority effect on VF [0.23 95% CI -0.04 to 0.51, p = 0.09; I 2  = 58.76%, p = 0.003; 14 intervention arms] when compared with CR only. Our results confirm that RT may be effective for reducing VF, but adding RT with CR was not associated with a greater effect for reducing VF., (© 2021 World Obesity Federation.)

Fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF-21) and myostatin have been proposed to be potential therapeutic target for insulin resistance in age-related metabolic disorders including type 2 diabetes (T2D). Moreover, despite the potential metabolic effect of resistance training on insulin resistance, aging, and T2D; the effect of this type of exercise training on FGF-21 and myostatin in elderly men with and without T2D are unknown. Forty-four elderly men were assigned to either the RT training (RT; without T2D: 12, with TD2 = 10) or the control group (C; without T2D: 12, with TD2 = 10). The RT group performed 12-wk resistance training intervention, 3 days/wk, 10 repetitions with 70% 1RM. At the baseline, the elderly men with T2D had a higher FGF-21 ( p  = 0.002) and myostatin ( p  = 0.02) concentrations and lower muscle strength ( p  = 0.01) than the elderly men without T2D. RT resulted in significant decrease in FGF-21 and myostatin concentration and increase in muscle strength in both elderly men with and without T2D ( P  = 0.001, for all) as well as decrease in HOMA-IR in only elderly men without T2D ( P  = 0.001). There was no significant difference in the RT-induced FGF-21 reduction between elderly men with and without T2D ( p  = 0.77, p  = 0.28, respectively), but, RT caused a larger reduction in circulating myostatin in elderly men without T2D than with T2D ( P  = 0.007). Taken together, our results demonstrated that 12 weeks of RT induced an overall significant reduction of FGF-21 and myostatin in elderly men with and without T2D; with higher reduction of myostatin in elderly men without T2D.