Recreational 3 × 3 basketball elicits higher heart rate, enjoyment, and physical activity intensities but lower blood lactate and perceived exertion compared to HIIT in active young adults
Question
Do acute physiological, hormonal, psychological, and physical responses differ between recreational 3 × 3 basketball and a similar-duration gym HIIT session in active young adults?
Summary
In active young male recreational basketball players, one short 3 × 3 basketball match produced higher heart-rate intensity, accelerometer-measured activity intensity, and enjoyment than a duration-matched gym HIIT session, while HIIT produced higher lactate, perceived exertion, and a within-condition creatine kinase increase.
Methodology
- Apparently healthy male recreational basketball players who were habitually active and physically fit.
- 12 participants.
- Bodyweight/gym circuit with push-ups, shuttle sprints, squat jumps, shuttle side-steps, sit-ups, and jumping jacks.
- Work intervals: 30 seconds.
- Recovery: 30 seconds rest.
- Intensity: All-out/as many rounds as possible; mean 83.6 ± 5.5% HRmax reported.
- 10-minute standardized warm-up plus 12-minute HIIT protocol.
- Single acute session.
- Acute comparison only.
- Randomized within-subject acute crossover study.
- Heart-rate intensity, Blood lactate and creatine kinase, Enjoyment and perceived exertion, and Physical activity intensity were tracked.
Outcomes
Heart rate
3 × 3 basketball produced a higher percentage of HRmax than gym HIIT.
p < 0.001; mean difference -7.6 percentage points; Cohen's d -1.6.
Lactate and CK
HIIT produced higher post-condition blood lactate and a significant within-HIIT creatine kinase rise, indicating greater metabolic and muscle stress.
Blood lactate HIIT-post 10.0 ± 6.4 vs 3 × 3BB-post 5.8 ± 3.1 mmol/L; between-condition post p = 0.020. CK increased within HIIT p = 0.020.
Enjoyment and RPE
3 × 3 basketball was more enjoyable and perceived as less strenuous than HIIT.
Enjoyment p = 0.014; RPE p = 0.024. Median RPE HIIT 6.5 vs 3 × 3BB 5.0.
MVPA
3 × 3 basketball produced more time in moderate-to-vigorous and vigorous activity zones.
MVPA 95.6 ± 1.9% vs 75.6 ± 6.2%, p < 0.001; vigorous activity 71.9 ± 15.2% vs 61.4 ± 3.0%, p = 0.030.
Insights
- Sport-based intervals can produce high cardiovascular intensity with better enjoyment than a gym circuit in people who like the sport.
- A 30:30 mixed bodyweight/shuttle format is a reproducible short HIIT comparator.
- The basketball finding should not be generalized to people without basketball experience or to long-term adaptations.
Limitations
- Small male-only sample.
- Acute design with no training adaptation outcomes.
- Participants had prior basketball experience and were already active.
- Hip accelerometers may under-detect static gym exercises such as push-ups and sit-ups.
- No adverse-event table or detailed tolerability reporting.
Safety
- Participants completed PAR-Q screening and were informed of risks.
- The article did not report adverse events or injuries.
- Authors suggested the short sessions did not induce high muscle damage in active young adults, based on CK values.