Effect of Combined Aerobic and Resistance Exercise on Semen Quality Among Chinese College Students

NCT ID: NCT06867627

Last Updated: 2025-08-06

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 60 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2025-03-10
• Study Completion Date: 2025-08-01

Brief Summary

The goal of this randomized controlled clinical trial is to investigate the effects of moderate-intensity combined aerobic and resistance exercise on semen quality in Chinese college students. The main question is aim to explore whether moderate-intensity combined aerobic and resistance exercise can improve semen quality.

Participants in the intervention group will receive moderate-intensity combined aerobic and resistance exercise three times a week for a period of 12 weeks (The time range is from March 17, 2025 to June 8, 2025. Excluding weekends, Labor Day, and the traditional Chinese Qingming Festival and the Dragon Boat Festival during that period, a total of 32 training sessions are planned). The control group are requested to maintain their normal daily activities. Both groups receive semen routine and serum sex hormones testing before and after the intervention.

Researchers will compare the change in semen routine parameters from baseline to post-intervention at 12 weeks between the intervention and control groups.

Detailed Description

Investigators will conduct a randomized controlled trial to examine whether moderate-intensity combined aerobic and resistance exercise can improve semen quality. A total of 60 participants will be recruited from one university. Inclusion criteria were college students aged 18 to 24 who signed informed consent form, good health with no eating disorders, mental health disorders, chronic diseases, serious systemic illnesses, genitourinary diseases or infections, and were assessed as having "low" physical activity on the self-reported International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) over the past year, with sperm progressive motility of less than 32%, at least two evaluations at three-month intervals. Exclusion criteria include smoking, alcohol dependence, and use of drugs that affect sperm production function such as hormones and antibiotics within the past 3 months, and history of reproductive system surgery (e.g., cryptorchidism, postoperative varicocele). After stratification by BMI, participants were assigned 1:1 to the intervention and control groups.

The intervention group will receive 12 weeks of moderate-intensity combined aerobic and resistance exercise training for 60 minutes three times per week on non-consecutive days (The time range is from March 17, 2025 to June 8, 2025. Excluding weekends, Labor Day, and the traditional Chinese Qingming Festival and the Dragon Boat Festival during that period, a total of 32 training sessions are planned). Aerobic exercise is carried out in the form of running and skipping rope, and resistance exercise involves different muscle groups in the upper and lower limbs of the body. All training sessions will be conducted daily at the same time (17:00-18:00) under the guidance of a professional physical education teacher and two trained postgraduate medical students. Before the official start of the exercise intervention, participants in the intervention group will undergo a pre-intervention adaptive test to determine the maximum heart rate, and the repetitions maximum (RM) for resistance training.

Training sessions begin with a 10-minute warm-up period that includes jogging and dynamic muscle stretching. This is followed by 20 minutes of running/jumping rope on the playground. Each intervention participant will wear a heart rate armband (Polar OH1, Finland) for real-time heart rate detection to maintain achievement of a predetermined target heart rate and training intensity. Target heart rate of moderate-intensity = maximum heart rate x 64%~76%. Then, after 10 minutes of rest adjustment and preparation, a 20-minute resistance training session will be performed, including all major muscle groups. Exercises for upper body muscles such as push-ups, pull-ups, and band curl; Lower body exercises included squats, tuck jump, and burpee; and exercises for core muscle groups such as plank hold, sit-ups, and hip bridge. Resistance training will start at 50% of 1RM and increases intensity by 10% after every three sessions, with two sets of repetitions and 60-90 seconds of rest between sets. By the third week, it will reach 70% of 1RM, and repeat 3 sets at 70% of 1RM starting at week 4. After the end of week 6, re-evaluate the RM every 3 weeks and repeat 3 sets at 70% of the new 1RM (i.e., starting from Week 7 and Week 10), maintaining a 60-90 second rest between each sets. The Borg rating of perceived exercise (RPE) is combined with target heart rate for monitoring exercise intensity during exercise implementation. RPE will be applied at the end of warm-up, aerobic exercise, and resistance exercise to assess the subjective perception of participants during exercise. RPE scores of 12-13 indicate moderate intensity. After resistance training, investigators will perform a 10-minute relaxation session that includes slow walking and static muscle stretching.

The control group did not receive exercise intervention and maintained their original physical activity habits. All participants were required to maintain normal dietary habits during the study period. The primary outcome of this study is to compare the change of sperm progressive motility between intervention and control groups from pre- to post-intervention at 12 weeks.

Conditions

Semen Quality

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: TREATMENT
• Blinding Strategy: SINGLE

Study Groups

Exercise intervention group

Participants will receive 12 weeks of moderate-intensity combined aerobic and resistance exercise training for 60 minutes three times per week on non-consecutive days (A total of 32 training sessions, excluding weekends, Labor Day, and the traditional Chinese Qingming Festival and the Dragon Boat Festival during that period). Aerobic exercises take the form of running and jumping rope. Resistance exercises involve different muscle groups in the upper and lower body.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Moderate-intensity combined aerobic and resistance exercise training

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Training sessions begin with a 10-minute warm-up period that includes jogging and dynamic muscle stretching. This is followed by 20 minutes of running/jumping rope on the playground. Each intervention participant will wear a heart rate armband (Polar OH1, Finland) for real-time heart rate detection to maintain achievement of a predetermined target heart rate and training intensity. Then, after 10 minutes of rest adjustment and preparation, a 20-minute resistance training session will be performed, including all major muscle groups. Resistance training will start at 50% of 1RM and increases intensity by 10% after every three sessions, with two sets of repetitions and 60-90 seconds of rest between sets. By the third week, it will reach 70% of 1RM, and repeat 3 sets at 70% of 1RM starting at week 4. After the end of week 6, re-evaluate the RM every 3 weeks and repeat 3 sets at 70% of the new 1RM (i.e., starting from Week 7 and Week 10), maintaining a 60-90 second rest between each sets.

Control group

Participants maintain their original physical activity and lifestyle habits.

Group Type: NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

Moderate-intensity combined aerobic and resistance exercise training

Training sessions begin with a 10-minute warm-up period that includes jogging and dynamic muscle stretching. This is followed by 20 minutes of running/jumping rope on the playground. Each intervention participant will wear a heart rate armband (Polar OH1, Finland) for real-time heart rate detection to maintain achievement of a predetermined target heart rate and training intensity. Then, after 10 minutes of rest adjustment and preparation, a 20-minute resistance training session will be performed, including all major muscle groups. Resistance training will start at 50% of 1RM and increases intensity by 10% after every three sessions, with two sets of repetitions and 60-90 seconds of rest between sets. By the third week, it will reach 70% of 1RM, and repeat 3 sets at 70% of 1RM starting at week 4. After the end of week 6, re-evaluate the RM every 3 weeks and repeat 3 sets at 70% of the new 1RM (i.e., starting from Week 7 and Week 10), maintaining a 60-90 second rest between each sets.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

1. College student, 18 to 22 years old.

2. Good health with no eating disorders, mental health disorders, chronic diseases (such as diabetes and cardiovascular diseases), serious systemic illnesses, genitourinary diseases or infections.

3. Assessed as "low" physical activity trajectory on the self-reported International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) over the past year.

4. In the past year, sperm progressive motility of less than 32% on at least two evaluations at three-month intervals.

Exclusion Criteria

1. Smoking and alcohol dependence.

2. Use of drugs that affect sperm production function, such as hormones and antibiotics, in the past 3 months.

3. History of reproductive system surgery (e.g., cryptorchidism, postoperative varicocele).

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 22 Years
• Eligible Sex: MALE
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Sponsors

The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University

OTHER

Sponsor Role: collaborator

Anhui Medical University

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Yuan Mengyuan

PhD

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

Puyu Su, Professor

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Anhui Medical University

Locations

The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University

Hefei, Anhui, China

Countries

China

References

Hajizadeh Maleki B, Tartibian B, Chehrazi M. Effectiveness of Exercise Training on Male Factor Infertility: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-analysis. Sports Health. 2022 Jul-Aug;14(4):508-517. doi: 10.1177/19417381211055399. Epub 2021 Nov 20.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

PMID: 34806474 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

82240107

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id