BACKGROUND AND AIM: Inhibition of myostatin as a myokine is involved in reducing fat accumulation through increasing muscle mass. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of an aerobic exercise course on myostatin levels and metabolic risk factors in middle-aged men with metabolic syndrome. METHODS: This research was an experimental study with a pre- test and post- test design. 20 men with metabolic syndrome and average age of 53.6 +/- 3.13 years voluntarily participated in this study and were randomly divided into two control (n = 10) and aerobic exercise (n = 10) groups. The assimilation of the subjects of the two groups was done based on the inclusion criteria and random selection of the subjects in the groups. The exercise program included 12 weeks of aerobic exercise with a sequence of 3 sessions per week and each session included 45 minutes of exercise with an intensity of 60 to 70% of reserve heart rate. During the intervention period, the control group only did their daily activities without exercising. All research variables such as myostatin levels, metabolic factors and body composition, and maximum oxygen consumption were measured in two stages before the training intervention and 48 hours after the last training session. Statistical analysis of the data was done by independent and dependent t-tests. RESULTS: There was a significant difference between the two training and control groups in all research variables (p <= 0.05). Myostatin values (p = 0.001), HDL (p = 0.001), VO2max (p = 0.001) significantly increased and the values of body weight (p = 0.001), BMI (p = 0.001), waist size (p = 0.001), mean blood pressure (p = 0.001), total cholesterol (p = 0.001), triglyceride (p = 0.002), LDL (p = 0.001), blood sugar (p = 0.001)) and insulin resistance index (p = 0.001) in the exercise group decreased significantly in the post-test compared to the pre-test. CONCLUSION: It seems that a 12 week aerobic exercise program with an intensity of 60 to 70% of reserve heart rate could be suggested as a non-drug method to reduce myostatin and control metabolic risk factors in patients with metabolic syndrome.

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