Add Two Pounds of Lean Mass in Three Weeks W/ HIIT. HIIT Sprint Training Builds Muscle & Anaerobic Power While Reducing the Exercise Induced GH Response by 64%
HIIT - A GH diminishing mass builder? |
In their latest paper which appeared in the December edition of the Journal of Exercise Physiology Kevin Ritsche, Jason Smith, Paul Mellick, and Laurie Wideman report the results of a recent experiment in the course of which 19 recreationally active male subjects (24.9 ± 3.9 yrs) completed a one-week high intensity interval training.
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The training protocol consisted of 4 to 6 repetitions of 30-sec maximal sprints and was performed three times per week for 3 weeks. One day of rest intervened each training session.
"The first 3 training sessions consisted of four 30-sec repetitions at 7.5% body mass with 4 min of active recovery at 50 W between each repetition. Training sessions 4 to 6 (wk 2) consisted of 5 repetitions, and sessions 7 to 9 (wk 3) consisted of six 30-sec maximal repetitions. During each repetition, each subject was encouraged verbally to provide maximal effort" (Ritsche. 2014).At the end of each week, 48 hrs after the third training session for the week, subjects completed the acute sprint test protocol outlined previously (including blood draws).
Figure 3: Peak growth hormone concentrations after the workouts during the pre-test and after 1, 2 & 3 weeks of training; %-ages indicate difference to pre-value (Ritsche. 2014). |
It is thus not necessarily a bad thing and does therefore not stand in contrast to the adaptational response Ritsche et al. describe in their latest paper. If you take another look at Figure 3 and compare the GH response to the adaptations in Figure 2, it rather indicates that the subjects got used to the exercise | Comment on Facebook!
- Burgomaster, Kirsten A., et al. "Six sessions of sprint interval training increases muscle oxidative potential and cycle endurance capacity in humans." Journal of applied physiology 98.6 (2005): 1985-1990.
- Gibala, Martin J., et al. "Short-term sprint interval versus traditional endurance training: similar initial adaptations in human skeletal muscle and exercise performance." The Journal of physiology 575.3 (2006): 901-911.
- Ritsche, Kevin, et al. "Acute Exercise-Induced Growth Hormone is Attenuated in Response to Short-Term, High-Intensity Exercise Training." Journal of Exercise Physiology (2014).