The Acute Physiological and Perceptual Responses Between Bodyweight and Treadmill Running High-Intensity Interval Exercises

Gabriella F Bellissimo; Jeremy Ducharme; Zachary Mang; Desmond Millender; Jessica Smith; Matthew J Stork; Johnathan P Little; Michael R Deyhle; Ann L Gibson; Flavio de Castro Magalhaes; Fabiano Amorim

doi:10.3389/fphys.2022.824154

The Acute Physiological and Perceptual Responses Between Bodyweight and Treadmill Running High-Intensity Interval Exercises

Front Physiol. 2022 Mar 10:13:824154. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2022.824154. eCollection 2022.

Affiliations

¹ Health, Exercise and Sports Sciences, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, United States.
² School of Health and Exercise Sciences, University of British Columbia, Kelowna, BC, Canada.
³ Department of Physical Education, Universidade Federal dos Vales do Jequitinhonha e Mucuri, Diamantina, Minas Gerais, Brazil.

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare the acute physiological, perceptual, and enjoyment responses between bodyweight high-intensity interval exercise (BW-HIIE) and treadmill running high-intensity interval exercise HIIE (RUN-HIIE).

Methods: Twelve adults [age: 29.5 ± 5.3 years; weight: 70.9 ± 15.0 kg; height: 167.9 ± 8.9 cm; peak oxygen consumption (VO₂ peak): 48.7 ± 6.5 ml min^-1·kg^-1] performed both RUN-HIIE and BW-HIIE. RUN-HIIE consisted of two sets of 5, 60-s (s) run intervals at 100% of the speed achieved during VO₂ peak testing followed by 60s of walking at 4.02 km/h. BW-HIIE consisted of two sets of 5, 60s 'all-out' effort calisthenic exercises followed by 60s of marching in place at 100 steps per minute. Oxygen consumption (VO₂), blood lactate (B_lac), heart rate (HR), and rating of perceived exertion (RPE) were measured during exercise. Physical activity enjoyment (PACES) was assessed post-exercise. Creatine Kinase (CK) was measured before exercise and 48-h post-exercise. Muscle soreness was assessed before exercise, post-exercise, and 48-h post-exercise.

Results: Oxygen consumption relative to VO₂ peak was higher (p < 0.001) during RUN-HIIE (88 ± 3%) compared to BW-HIIE (77 ± 4%). HR relative to HRpeak was higher (p = 0.002) for RUN-HIIE (93 ± 1%) compared to BW-HIIE (88 ± 2%). B_lac was higher (p < 0.001) after BW-HIIE (11.2 ± 3.2 mmol/l) compared to RUN-HIIE (6.9 ± 2.0 mmol/l). Average RPE achieved was higher (p = 0.003) during BW-HIIE (16 ± 2) than RUN-HIIE (14 ± 2). PACES was similar for RUN-HIIE and BW-HIIE (p > 0.05). No differences (p > 0.05) in CK were observed between RUN-HIIE and BW-HIIE.

Conclusion: Our results indicate 'all-out' calisthenic exercise can elicit vigorous cardiorespiratory, B_lac, and RPE responses. Implementing this style of exercise into training requires minimal space, no equipment, and may elicit cardiometabolic adaptations seen with traditional forms of high-intensity exercise.

Keywords: acute exercise response; bodyweight exercise; calisthenics exercise; high-intensity exercise; interval exercise; treadmill running exercise.