The effect of exercise order on testosterone and cortisol responses to lower and upper body resistance training exercises

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of resistance exercise order on circulating testosterone (T) and cortisol (C). A secondary purpose was to assess the effect of exercise order on volume (sets x repetitions) and the perception of the volume as measured by session rating of perceived exertion (SRPE). Adult males with at least 1 year of resistance training and minimum strength to body mass ratio of 1:1 for the bench press (BP) and 2:1 for the leg press (LP) were recruited for the study. During session 1, participants were familiarized with the BP and LP and tested for the maximum load that could be lifted for the two exercises. On two separate sessions separated by 72 hours, participants performed both the BP-LP (session 2) and the LP-BP (session 3) order. For both exercises a load 73.5% of one repetition maximum was lifted to failure over 4 sets. Exercises were separated by 5 minutes and sets by 2 minutes. Blood samples were taken and analyzed at pre-, mid- and postsession. T and C values were assessed as plasma volume (PV) corrected and uncorrected. There was not a significant difference for the order by time interaction for PV corrected or uncorrected T and C. Total volume was not significantly different (p=0.61) between the UB-LB (62±7reps) and LB-UB (61±7reps) orders. SRPE was not significantly different between the two orders (p=0.22). The order by time interaction for lactate was not significant (p = 0.14). There does not appear to be an affect of resistance the exercise order of LP and BP on T and C. The exercise orders resulted in the same exercise volume and lactate responses which in turn resulted in no interaction in T and C between the UB-LB and LB-UB exercise orders. The difference in working skeletal muscle between the BP and LP may not have been great enough to produce a significant interaction for T and or C. More research is needed to determine if exercise order may be important using other popular resistance exercises.