Journal of

Introduction: Obesity is a metabolic disorder that is caused by increased energy intake and reduced energy expenditure. This study aimed to investigate the effect of eight weeks of aerobic training on Irisin serum levels and lipid profile of overweight male students.

Methods: In this quasi-experimental study, 24 overweight male students (age: 21.13±1.88 years and BMI: 25-29.9 kg/m²) were selected by purposeful and convenience sampling method, who were randomly assigned into control (n=12) and experimental (n=12) groups. The program involved training with 60-80 HRmax% for 3 sessions per week, 40-50 minutes per session lasting for 8 consecutive weeks. The control group, simultanonsly, continued their daily activities and did not participate in the aerobic exercise. Irisin serum levels and lipid profile of all subjects were measured before and after the training period. To make intra and intergroup comparisons, repeated measure analysis of variance was used, and the level of significance was set at P<0.05.

Results: Eight weeks of aerobic exercise led to a significant increase of Vo₂max and HDL-C levels (P<0.05) as well as a significant decrease of weight, BMI, body fat percent and TC (P<0.05). In contrary, the variations of Irisin levels, Serum LDL-C, and TG did not demonstrate any significant changes (P>0.05).

Conclusion: Aerobic training, without making any changes in Irisin levels, can produce a positive effect on the increase of VO₂max, improvement of body composition and decrease of lipid risk factors.