PMID 36072848

Research
All papers

Psychophysiological Responses of Exercise Distribution During High Intensity Interval Training Using Whole Body Exercise

Machado AF, Zovico PVC, Evangelista AL, Rica RL, Miranda JMQ, Alberton CL, Bullo V, Gobbo S, Bergamin M, Baker JS, Bocalini DS

Question

Does the order of bodyweight exercises in an all-out HIIT bodywork session change physiological, performance, recovery, and affective responses?

Summary

This acute crossover study tested three orders of the same bodyweight HIIT exercises in healthy male CrossFit practitioners. Heart rate, lactate, and perceived exertion were similar across exercise orders, but movement count, perceived recovery, and pleasure differed. Alternating jumping jacks, burpees, mountain climbers, and squat jumps in protocol A produced more movements and better recovery/affective responses than orders that concentrated more fatiguing exercises early.

Methodology

  • Healthy male CrossFit practitioners.
  • 20 participants.
  • Bodyweight exercises.
  • Work intervals: 30 s.
  • Recovery: 30 s passive recovery.
  • Intensity: All-out effort.
  • 20 min.
  • Acute.
  • Single session.
  • Randomized crossover acute exercise study.
  • Movement count, Heart rate, Blood lactate, and Perceived exertion and recovery were tracked.

Outcomes

Movement count

Protocol A produced more movements than B and C.

A 712 +/- 59; B 524 +/- 49; C 452 +/- 65; p<0.001.

Mixed

Physiological intensity

Heart rate, lactate, and RPE did not differ between exercise orders.

RPE AUC p=0.9926.

No clear change

Perceived recovery

Perceived recovery differed substantially by order, highest in protocol A and lowest in C.

AUC A 64 +/- 19; B 52 +/- 11; C 17 +/- 13; p<0.001.

Mixed

Affect

Protocols B and C induced displeasure compared with A.

Mixed

Insights

  • Exercise order can change how hard a bodyweight HIIT session feels even when HR and lactate are similar.
  • Alternate demanding and less demanding movements to preserve recovery and affect.
  • Burpees and squat jumps clustered early may reduce recovery and pleasure.

Limitations

  • Healthy trained male sample only
  • Acute-only study
  • No maximal test to confirm HR kinetics
  • Results cannot be generalized to other HIIT formats or clinical populations
  • Possible conflict of interest

Safety

  • No adverse events were reported, but participants were trained healthy men.
  • All-out bodyweight HIIT may not generalize to untrained users.