Abstract des Autors

This review paper presents a general discussion of how endurance exercise training affects circulating levels of testosterone, as well as other pertinent aspects of the male reproductive hormonal system. Research in this area during the last decade has detected that the male reproductive system is adversely affected by exercise training. The most consistent finding reported has been that the resting levels of testosterone are lower in the endurance-trained male when compared to matched, untrained men. The mechanism for this lowering is currently unclear, but evidence suggests a regulatory dysfunction within the hypothalamo-pituitary-testicular axis may develop due to exercise training. Potentially, lowered testosterone levels in the endurance-trained male could disrupt his anabolic and androgenic functions/processes. Presently, however, there are only limited findings to indicate any problem associated with the testosterone-dependent physiological processes in the male to occur due to endurance-exercise training. Much further research, however, is needed in this area of exercise endocrinology. Verf.-Referat