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Effects of HMB supplementation on hormonal adaptations following resistance training: a systematic review and meta-analysis

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A Correction to this article was published on 19 July 2023

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Abstract

Purpose

The aim was to perform a meta-analysis of studies examining the effects of β-hydroxy-β-methylbutyrate (HMB) supplementation on hormonal adaptations after resistance training.

Methods

PubMed, Directory of Open Access Journals, Google Scholar and Web of Science were systematically searched up to June 2021 and updated in July 2022. The Cochrane Collaboration tool for evaluating the risk of bias was applied for assessing the studies' quality and then eight studies were included in the review. The random effects model was applied to estimate the overall effect.

Results

The HMB group showed greater adaptive changes in cortisol levels in comparison to placebo (PL) group after resistance training (ES; − 0.2 vs. 0.08, p = 0.041, ∆%; − 2.5 vs. 1.2, p = 0.1). Similarly, the HMB group indicated greater adaptations in testosterone (ES; 0.44 vs. 0.02, p = 0.02, ∆%; 13.4 vs. 3.2, p = 0.02) and IGF-1 (ES; 0.32 vs. 0.13, p = 0.001, ∆%; 3.75 vs. 1.75, p = 0.01) levels after training intervention. There was no significant difference between the HMB and PL groups in growth hormone changes following resistance training (ES; 0.77 vs. 0.2, p = 0.8, ∆%; 55.3 vs. 11.7, p = 0.43).

Conclusions

The results of this meta-analysis demonstrated the efficacy of HMB supplementation (3 g daily HMB for 7 weeks) to provide greater changes compared with placebo supplementation in resting hormonal concentrations (i.e., testosterone, cortisol and IGF-1).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Exercise Physiology Research Center, Life Style Institute, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Abolfazl Shakibaee, Hossein Shirvani & Mohammad Samadi

  2. Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, Ghadire University of Langerud, Langerud, Guilan Province, Iran

    Mahdi Gholizadeh

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  1. Abolfazl Shakibaee
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Correspondence to Mahdi Gholizadeh.

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Abolfazl shakibaee, Mahdi gholizadeh, Hossein Shivani, Mohammad Samadi: no conflict of interest.

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Shakibaee, A., Gholizadeh, M., Shirvani, H. et al. Effects of HMB supplementation on hormonal adaptations following resistance training: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Sport Sci Health 19, 1083–1092 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11332-023-01081-9

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