4. Discussion
muscle mass, cardiovascular disease
OXIDATIVE STRESS, CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE, CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASES
The main findings of this study were that RT was effective for decreasing fat mass and trunk fat, as well as for improving glucose concentrations and inflammatory (IL-10, TNF-α, C-reactive protein) and oxidative stress biomarkers (AOPP and FOX), regardless of the exercise order. Our hypothesis that the MJ-SJ group would present superior responses was refuted. According to our knowledge, this is the first study comparing the effects of different exercise orders on cardiovascular disease risk factors in untrained older women. Because of this unique approach, comparisons with other studies are limited. It is worth highlighting that we found similar gains in muscular strength and muscle mass for MJ-SJ and SJ-MJ exercise orders in this same sample [Given that the MJ-SJ order could favor the accumulation of a higher volume load, we hypothesized that this order could be more efficient in improving risk factors for cardiovascular diseases. The volume load is a determining variable for the RT adaptations [For IL-6, although the effect of RT was not significant for both training groups, effect size values indicated that the decrease was of moderate magnitude. In contrast, the control group had an increase in the IL-6 concentration. As it is a pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokine, the IL-6 responses, by itself, do not allow us to state that the increase or decrease was due to corresponding to a less inflamed environment [We also observed a reduction in blood glucose and LDL-c in MJ-SJ and SJ-MJ contrasted to the control group. The lack of investigations that directly compare the effect of the exercise order on blood markers restricts us from comparing with previous findings; notwithstanding, our results are in accordance with previous studies that found favorable effects of RT on these outcomes in older women [Regarding oxidative stress, we did not observe any difference between the two exercise orders; both intervention groups improved oxidative stress biomarkers (i.e., AOPP and FOX). Few studies have investigated the RT effect—and consequently the exercise order—on oxidative stress biomarkers. From the available findings, it is possible to notice some divergences in the impact of RT on these biomarkers. For example, Ribeiro et al. [It is essential to feature the strengths of the present study. Professionals with RT experience supervised all training sessions to ensure participant safety and the proper exercise technique. The importance of supervised RT in older adults has been reported in some studies [