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Can High-Intensity Interval Training Promote Skeletal Muscle Anabolism?

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Abstract

Exercise training in combination with optimal nutritional support is an effective strategy to maintain or increase skeletal muscle mass. A single bout of resistance exercise undertaken with adequate protein availability increases rates of muscle protein synthesis and, when repeated over weeks and months, leads to increased muscle fiber size. While resistance-based training is considered the ‘gold standard’ for promoting muscle hypertrophy, other modes of exercise may be able to promote gains in muscle mass. High-intensity interval training (HIIT) comprises short bouts of exercise at or above the power output/speed that elicits individual maximal aerobic capacity, placing high tensile stress on skeletal muscle, and somewhat resembling the demands of resistance exercise. While HIIT induces rapid increases in skeletal muscle oxidative capacity, the anabolic potential of HIIT for promoting concurrent gains in muscle mass and cardiorespiratory fitness has received less scientific inquiry. In this review, we discuss studies that have determined muscle growth responses after HIIT, with a focus on molecular responses, that provide a rationale for HIIT to be implemented among populations who are susceptible to muscle loss (e.g. middle-aged or older adults) and/or in clinical settings (e.g. pre- or post-surgery).

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  1. Exercise and Nutrition Research Program, Mary MacKillop Institute for Health Research, Australian Catholic University, 215 Spring street, Melbourne, VIC, 3000, Australia

    Marcus J. Callahan, Evelyn B. Parr & John A. Hawley

  2. Department of Health and Medical Sciences, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Donny M. Camera

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Marcus Callahan, Evelyn Parr, John Hawley and Donny Camera declare that they have no conflicts of interest relevant to the content of this review.

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MC wrote the first draft of the manuscript. MC, EBP, JH and DMC revised the original manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Callahan, M.J., Parr, E.B., Hawley, J.A. et al. Can High-Intensity Interval Training Promote Skeletal Muscle Anabolism?. Sports Med 51, 405–421 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-020-01397-3

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