Metabolic and anti-inflammatory benefits of eccentric endurance exercise - a pilot study

ABSTRACT Background Eccentric endurance exercise (e.g. hiking downwards) is less strenuous than concentric exercise (e.g. hiking upwards) but its potential to reduce cardiovascular risk is unknown. Materials and methods We randomly allocated 45 healthy sedentary individuals (16 men and 29 women, mean age 48 years) to one of two groups, one beginning with two months of hiking upwards, the other with two months of hiking downwards the same route, with a crossover for a further two months. For the opposite way, a cable car was used where compliance was recorded electronically. The difference in altitude was 540 metres; the distance was covered three to five times a week. Fasting and postprandial metabolic profiles were obtained at baseline and after the two month periods of eccentric and concentric exercise, respectively. Results Forty‐two of the 45 participants completed the study; the compliance rate was therefore 93%. Compared with baseline, eccentric exercise lowered total cholesterol (by 4·1%; P = 0·026), low‐density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (by 8·4%, P = 0·001), Apolipoprotein B/Apolipoprotein A1 ratio (by 10·9%, P