Journal of Exercise & Organ Cross Talk
Journal of Eexercise & Organ Cross Talk

DeLorme-Watkins or high-intensity pyramidic training protocol: Which one has more effectiveness on adiponectin and TNF-α?

Articles in Press

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Keyvan Ahmadi Dehrashid

Assistant Professor, Department of Physical education and sport sciences, Payame Noor University (PNU), Tehran, Iran.

10.22122/jeoct.2026.566465.1183
Abstract
This study aimed to investigate the effects of two different resistance training protocols on TNF-α and adiponectin in young overweight men. Sixty healthy overweight men (BMI ≥ 25 kg/m², age 20–30 years) were randomly assigned to three groups: Experimental Group 1 (EG1), Experimental Group 2 (EG2), and Control Group (CG). EG1 performed the DeLorme-Watkins protocol, consisting of 3 sets of 10 repetitions at 50%, 75%, and 100% of 10RM, while EG2 performed HIPT, consisting of 3 sets (set 1: 6 repetitions at 70% of 1RM; set 2: 4 repetitions at 80% of 1RM; set 3: 2 repetitions at 90% of 1RM). Training lasted 8 weeks. TNF-α and adiponectin levels were measured pre- and post-intervention. One-way ANOVA with Tukey post hoc tests and paired-samples t-tests were used to analyze inter- and intra-group differences (α≤0.05). TNF-α significantly decreased in EG1 (P = 0.04), while adiponectin levels significantly increased in both EG1 (P = 0.02) and EG2 (P = 0.03) at post-test compared to pre-test. Additionally, TNF-α levels were significantly lower in EG1 than in CG at post-test (P = 0.01). Both resistance training protocols exerted beneficial effects on inflammatory and anti-inflammatory markers, potentially contributing to cardiovascular disease prevention. However, the DeLorme-Watkins protocol resulted in a significantly greater reduction in TNF-α levels compared to HIPT, whereas no significant between-group difference was observed for adiponectin.

What is already known on this subject?

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are increasingly recognized as chronic inflammatory disorders. Inflammation plays a central role in all stages of atherosclerosis, including initiation, progression, and plaque rupture 

 

What this study adds?

Both resistance training protocols—DeLorme-Watkins and high-intensity Pyramidal Training (HIPT)—demonstrated beneficial effects on TNF-α as a pro-inflammatory marker and adiponectin as an anti-inflammatory adipokine.

Keywords

Resistance exercise training
TNF-&alpha
Adiponectin
Inflammatory markers
Cardiovascular disease

Subjects

Acknowledgements

The author would like to express sincere gratitude to Payame Noor University for their support of this research.

Funding

None.

Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Compliance with ethical standards

Conflict of interest the authors declare that there is no conflict of interest in the present research.

Ethical approval This study was conducted in accordance with the ethical standards of the Institutional Research Committee and the 1964 Helsinki Declaration. All participants provided written informed consent prior to participation.

Informed consent Performed. 

Author contributions 

Conceptualization: K.A.D., Methodology: K.A.D., Software: K.A.D., Validation: K.A.D.,; Formal analysis: K.A.D.,; Investigation: K.A.D.,; Resources: K.A.D.,; Data curation: K.A.D.,; Writing - original draft: K.A.D.,; Writing–review & editing K.A.D.,; Visualization: K.A.D.,; Supervision: K.A.D.; Project administration: K.A.D.,.; Funding acquisition: K.A.D.    

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Journal of Exercise & Organ Cross Talk

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 18 February 2026

  • Receive Date 15 December 2025
  • Revise Date 16 February 2026
  • Accept Date 18 February 2026

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