Date of Award
2025
Document Type
Dissertation
Department
Physical Education
First Advisor
Hunter S. Waldman
Second Advisor
Rebekah Carpenter
Third Advisor
Lauren Killen
Abstract
Metabolic dysfunction is associated with excess adipose tissue and interventions to elicit improvements to body composition could combat these health consequences. Acute nutritional and exercise strategies have the potential to shift metabolic processes toward those favoring fat oxidation. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of high-intensity resistance training (HIRT) and pre-exercise protein (PRO) ingestion on post-exercise respiratory exchange ratio (RER) in lean (LN) and overweight (OW) females. Twenty recreationally-active females (LN: n =10; OW: n = 10) completed two experimental sessions, consisting of HIRT and two acute nutritional interventions: PRO and placebo (PLA). RER was analyzed via indirect calorimetry at the following timepoints: baseline (BASE), immediately-post (IP), 30-min (30), and 60-min (60) post-HIRT. LN and OW females displayed significantly lower 30-RER (LN: 0.75±0.04, OW: 0.74±0.06) and 60-RER (LN: 0.76±0.04, OW: 0.73±0.06) post-HIRT when compared to BASE. PRO ingestion resulted in significantly lower RER values in OW females IP-HIRT (PRO: 0.74±0.05, PLA: 0.78±0.08; p = 0.02), and lower RER values in LN females at all timepoints post-HIRT (all p < 0.05), compared to PLA. These results show that HIRT effectively reduces RER in LN and OW females for 60 min post-exercise, and that the addition of PRO ingestion prior to HIRT provides a synergistic effect.
Recommended Citation
Bowling, Lynnsey, "Protein Ingestion and High-Intensity Resistance Training Decrease Respiratory Exchange Ratio Following Exercise in Females Across Various Body Compositions." (2025). Dissertations. 21.
https://roar.una.edu/dissertations/21
