Authors: Shane S. Robinson¹, Jason C. Casey², Gregory Palevo³

¹GME Senior Research Project Manager, Northeast Georgia Medical Center, Gainesville, GA, USA

²Associate Professor, Metropolitan State University of Denver, Denver, CO, USA

³Assistant Professor, Albany State University, Albany, GA, USA

Correspondence:

Shane S. Robinson, MS, CSCS
549 Paxton LN
Jefferson, Georgia 30549
Shane.Robinson@nghs.com
678-983-5533

Shane Robinson, MS, CSCS is a Senior Research Project Manager for Graduate Medical Education at Northeast Georgia Medical Center and Adjunct Faculty for Kinesiology at the University of North Georgia. His research interests include acute cardiovascular and metabolic responses to high-intensity exercise and adaptations to resistance training and cardiovascular disease.

Jason Casey, Ph.D., CSCS*D, ACSM-EP, is an Associate Professor of Exercise Science at Metropolitan State University of Denver, CO. His research interests focus on fatigue and recovery associated with exercise, athlete monitoring, and sport-related measurement issues.

Gregory Palevo, PhD, ACSM-EP, AACVPR Fellow, is an Assistant Professor of Exercise Science at Albany State University in Albany, GA. He continues to pursue his research interests in heart failure patients, studying the effects of nitric oxide supplementation and exercise.

Comparing Cardiovascular and Metabolic Demands between Two Bouts of High-Intensity Functional Training (HIFT)

Abstract

Purpose: The overall objective of this study is to determine if the wide variety of exercise selections in High-Intensity Functional Training (HIFT) affects the metabolic demands between each workout. Methods: A crossover design with six experienced participants were used to compare the mean and maximum values of heart rate, oxygen consumption, the difference between post-exercise and resting blood lactate accumulation, immediate post-exercise rating of perceived exertion, and total caloric expenditure from exercise and 15-minute post-exercise oxygen consumption between a seven-minute workout of burpees and an eight-minute workout box jumps and ascending weight and repetitions of the barbell deadlift. An independent T-test was used to compare the outcome variables between the two workouts. Results: Mean and maximal oxygen consumption was significantly greater in the seven minutes of maximum burpees compared to the eight minutes of box jumps and deadlifts. There was no significant difference in mean and maximal heart rate, blood lactate accumulation, rating of perceived exertion, and total caloric expenditure between the two workouts. Conclusion: Both bouts of HIFT were executed to complete as many repetitions as possible, which lead to similar cardiovascular and metabolic measures except for the participants’ oxygen consumption. This difference was primarily due to the ascending weights and the repetitions of the deadlift. All participants’ average repetitions completed per minute decreased significantly when they came across the 275-pound barbell for 25 repetitions. Applications in Sport: These findings show that even though all HIFT workouts are performed at high intensity, the variance in exercise selection can impact the participant and how they respond to each workout requires further research into how these different modalities and variations can impact exercise participants and their limitations to better understand HIFT and how it can compare to other forms of exercise.

Keywords: HIFT, metabolic demands, AMRAP, burpees, box jumps, deadlifts, EPOC, intermittent exercise, body composition