Acute growth hormone response to concurrent strength–sprint training with different orders in strength-trained men

Purpose The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of the intra-session order of concurrent strength-sprint training on the acute growth hormone response. Methods Nine strength-trained students (age 24.1 ± 4.1) performed two different concurrent exercise orders: strength–sprint (STS) and sprint–strength (SPS). Strength training consisted of three sets of ten repetitions with 10RM for four exercises: bench press, lat pulldown, squat and shoulder press. Sprint exercise consisted of eight repetitions of 30-m maximal sprint running with 45-s rest periods between repetitions. In both exercise orders, the subjects rested for 10 min after the completion of the first part of the concurrent training session. Blood samples were collected before, between exercise modalities, and immediately after the concurrent training sessions. Results A significant increase in growth hormone levels occurred in response to single sessions of concurrent strength–sprint training, but no significant difference was observed between the two different orders of concurrent training (STS vs. SPS) regarding the acute growth hormone response. Conclusions In general, performing sprint training before or after strength training not only imposes no inhibitory effect on the growth hormone response to strength training, but also increases the hormone’s overall response.