Pilot study: an acute bout of high intensity interval exercise increases 12.5 h GH secretion

The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that high-intensity interval exercise (HIE) significantly increases growth hormone (GH) secretion to a greater extent than moderate-intensity continuous exercise (MOD) in young women. Five young, sedentary women (mean ± SD; age: 22.6±1.3 years; BMI: 27.4±3.1 kg/m² ) were tested during the early follicular phase of their menstrual cycle on three occasions. For each visit, participants reported to the laboratory at 1700 h, exercised from 1730-1800 h, and remained in the laboratory until 0700 h the following morning. The exercise component consisted of either 30-min of moderate-intensity continuous cycling at 50% of measured peak power (MOD), four 30-s "all-out" sprints with 4.5 min of active recovery (HIE), or a time-matched sedentary control using a randomized, cross-over design. The overnight GH secretory profile of each trial was determined from 10-min sampling of venous blood from 1730-0600 h, using deconvolution analysis. Deconvolution GH parameters were log transformed prior to statistical analyses. Calculated GH AUC (0-120 min) was significantly greater in HIE than CON (P = 0.04), but HIE was not different from MOD. Total GH secretory rate (ng/mL/12.5 h) was significantly greater in the HIE than the CON (P = 0.05), but MOD was not different from CON or HIE. Nocturnal GH secretion (ng/mL/7.5 h) was not different between the three trials. For these women, in this pilot study, a single bout of HIE was sufficient to increase 12.5 h pulsatile GH secretion. It remains to be determined if regular HIE may contribute to increased daily GH secretion.