Cardiovascular Effects of Circular Training (Resistance-Interval) Combined with Berberine on Overweight Elderly Men

Background: Obesity and overweight, along with inactive lifestyle, have been introduced as the most important risk factors of cardiovascular diseases, especially among elderly. This study aimed to determine the effect of circular training (resistance-interval) combined with berberine on cardiovascular risk factors and C reactive protein (CRP) in overweight elderly men. Methods: 40 sedentary healthy elderly male with the ages ranged from 50 to 55 years old were divided into 4 groups as following: circular training (resistance-interval, 8 weeks, 3 times/weekly) (CT), berberine supplementation (BS), circular training combined with berberine (CTBS), and control (CON) groups (n = 10 each group). The duration of Intervention was 8 weeks. Fasting blood samples were collected before and 48 hours after the last training session to determine the cardiovascular risk factors (TG, TC, LDL, HDL) and serum CRP for all groups. Multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) was used to compare the groups' results. Results: All interventions (CT, BS, and CT-BS) resulted in significant decrease in TG, TC, and LDL, and also an increase in DL. Serum CRP was significantly decreased in CT and CT-BS groups, but not in BS. In addition, significant difference was observed in cardiovascular risk factors and CRP within groups with emphasizing more on cardiovascular effects of CT-BS. Conclusions: Based on the results, it is concluded that circular trainings combined with berberine supplementation is associated with more cardiovascular effectiveness than each one alone in overweight elderly men.