Exercise Intensity Study: Transcriptional Responses at Different Intensities

Exercise training improves fitness levels and is vital to preventing many chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes. However, the cellular processes that regulate these beneficial adaptations to exercise are not well understood.

Evidence suggests that performing exercise at different intensities (i.e., above or below the lactate threshold) elicits distinctively different responses in your muscle. Improving our understanding of why these responses occur will help to optimise exercise prescription for athletes and to treat many chronic diseases.

This study aims to study the molecular response to exercise performed above and below the lactate threshold, and how this response changes after 8 weeks of high-intensity interval training. This information is important to help exercise and sports scientists answer longstanding questions of interest regarding the best methods for optimising exercise prescription to maximise the associated health and performance benefits.

Recruitment for this study is now underway.

All participants will undertake fitness and health testing before and after 8 weeks of HIIT training.

Eligibility

• male
• aged 18-40 years old
• non-smoker
• free from medical conditions (e.g., heart rhythm disturbance, elevated blood pressure, diabetes, cardiovascular abnormalities, respiratory conditions, and musculoskeletal injuries)
• active: habitual physical activity levels around 150 min/wk of moderate-to-high intensity exercise
• not currently participating in any elite-level sporting competitions.

Further target criteria (which may be determined in the lab):

• BMI: < 30 g/m²
• Aerobic capacity (VO₂peak): between 30 and 45 mL/kg/min (will be assessed in the first session).

Benefits of participating

While we cannot guarantee any benefits from your participation in this study, we consider the following to be benefits:

• You will receive high-quality exercise training supervised by exercise science researchers, in a state-of-the-art research facility.
• The training may improve aspects of your health and fitness.
• You will receive potentially valuable information regarding your aerobic fitness.
• You will receive an individualised report on your fitness improvements on completing the training period.
• Some meals will be provided on the testing days.

$200 voucher

You will be remunerated for your time and efforts volunteered to this study in the form of a $200 e-gift voucher, which will be provided to you via email in a staggered payment ($100 voucher upon completing pre-training biopsy trails and the other $100 voucher upon completion of the study).

What participants are required to do

The time commitment for this study will be 47-53 visits over approximately 17 weeks, which include the following phases.

Pre-training exercise tests (each session separated by ≥ 24-48 hours):

• 2 x ramp exercise test (VO2max tests) [~ 30-40 min per visit]
• 2-5 x constant-power exercise tests [~ 45 min per visit] – venous blood samples taken during the exercise testing
• 2 x exhaustive exercise bouts [~ 30–45 min per visit]

Pre-training muscle biopsy trials (each session separated by ≥ 72 h):

2 x exercise sessions (1 × above and 1 × below the lactate threshold) [~4.5-5 h per visit]
Muscle biopsies from the mid-thigh collected before, immediately after and 4 hours after each exercise session (3 biopsies at each exercise session – 6 in total)

8-week endurance training program:

4 sessions per week, involving high-intensity interval training (HIIT), performed on stationary exercise bike

Post-training exercise tests and muscle biopsy trials

• All pre-training exercise testing is repeated (except the exhaustive bouts, and minus 1 ramp exercise test)
• Muscle biopsy trials are repeated

For more information, please get in touch.

PhD candidate, Mr Jia Wei: [email protected]

Dr Nicholas Saner: [email protected]