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| While alcohol doesn't impair the regeneration and doing HIIT before weights leaves women's gains unchanged while potentially boosting their fat loss, training twice a day, every day appears to be a good idea only for those who are afraid that they could become "too muscular". |
Ok, that was a joke. I hope your real reason to read the following elaborations is to make sure that the way you train is in line with what works according to the latest research - doing HIIT before lifting to shed extra fat without impairing your gains, for example.
Read about exercise- and nutrition-related studies in the SuppVersity Short News
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- Women who HIIT it hard don't risk their weight training gains and may lose extra body fat -- While we do have corresponding evidence from studies in male subjects, it was, until now, not clear, whether doing HIIT and resistance training concurrently would have the same effects in premenopausal women like the sixteen 26–40 year-old ladies who were randomly assigned into two groups that performed either resistance (RT), alone, or concomitant (CT) training in a recent study in the European Journal of Applied Physiology (Gentil 2017). Here's how the authors describe their experimental approach to the question:
"Both groups performed the same RT program; however, CT performed additional high-intensity interval training (HIIT) on a bicycle ergometer before RT. The study lasted 8 weeks and the participants were tested for ten repetition maximum (10RM) load in elbow flexion (barbell biceps curl) and knee extension exercises pre- and post-intervention. RT was performed with 10–12 repetitions to self-determined repetition maximum in the first four weeks and then progressed to 8–10. During CT, HIIT was performed before RT with six 1-min bouts at 7–8 of perceived subjective exertion (RPE) and then progressed to eight bouts at 9–10 RPE" (Gentil 2017).
The researchers' analysis of the data revealed significant increases in upper and lower body strength for both the RT and CT groups.
More specifically, the ladies' biceps barbell curl 10RM load increased from 12.9 ± 3.2 kg to 14 ± 1.5 kg in CT (p < 0.05) and from 13 ± 1.8 kg to 15.9 ± 2.5 kg in RT (p < 0.05), with no significant between-groups differences. Knee extension 10RM increase from 31.9 ± 11.6 kg to 37.5 ± 8.5 kg for CT (p < 0.05) and from 30.6 ± 8.6 kg to 41.2 ± 7.4 kg for RT (p < 0.05).![]()
Figure 1: Rel. changes in markers of body fat (waist and sum of three skinfold measurements) on the left and individual strength gains of the knee extensors on the right (Gentil 2017).
Accordingly, the authors are right to conclude that - within the limits of their study - performing HIIT on a cycle ergometer before resistance training does not seem to impair muscle strength increases in the knee extensors or elbow flexors of pre-menopausal women. This information should be considered when prescribing exercise sessions, since both activities may be combined without negative effects in muscle strength. - Two-a-days would probably completely impair your gains -- While it is only a rodent study, Junya Takegaki's recent paper (2017) clearly indicates that resting only 8h between workouts blunts the hypertrophy response to exercise.
In the study, male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned into three groups: resistance-trained with 18 bouts at an interval of 72h (72H), 24h (24H), and 8h (8H). The resistance exercise consisted of 50 repetitions of maximal isometric contraction of the gastrocnemius muscle. The right gastrocnemius muscle was used as trained muscle, and the left was used as internal control. The muscle contraction was induced by transcutaneous electrical stimulation under anesthesia. Muscle samples were collected 48h after the final exercise session and kept frozen until analysis.
Keep in mind that you can train successfully twice a day with ample rest btw. training days
 |  | |
| Nine Short Workouts (AM+PM) p. Week Yield Extra Strength, Size and Performance Gains Compared to Volume Matched 3-Day Split, All Differences are Non-Significant, Though | If not Done Everyday AM+PM Works | Two-A-Day Training - That's Bogus, Right? No - Increased Fat Oxidation in Endurance, 2.4x Higher Max. Volume, 2.6x Higher Time to Exhaustion in Resistance Training Study | Two-a-Day & HIIT |
- Said analysis showed that the rodents'gastrocnemius wet weight was increased in 72H and 24H, but not in 8H. Similarly, the mitochondrial content was increased in 72H and 24H, but not in 8H.
Against that background, it is interesting to note that the same protein ubiquitination was observed in all groups, and the ubiquitination was increased with shortening of training interval. In other words: human studies will also have to measure real gains, not protein expressions to assess the effect of different training frequency. - Postworkout alcohol consumption ain't a problem for women -- You will remember that, in men, alcohol can actually increase the testosterone response to exercise (I discussed that in a 2013 article). What it does in women was, until now, not clear. Accordingly, scientists from the University of North Texas and the Louisiana State University conducted a study to investigate the effect of acute alcohol consumption on muscular performance recovery, assessed by maximal torque production, and on inflammatory capacity, assessed by lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated cytokine production, following muscle-damaging resistance exercise in women.
"Thirteen recreationally resistance-trained women completed two identical exercise bouts (300 maximal single-leg eccentric leg extensions) followed by alcohol (1.09 g ethanol kg−1 fat-free body mass) or placebo ingestion. Blood was collected before (PRE), and 5 (5 h-POST), 24 (24 h-POST), and 48 (48 h-POST) hours after exercise and analyzed for LPS-stimulated cytokine production (TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, and IL-8 and IL-10). Maximal torque production (concentric, eccentric, isometric) was measured for each leg at PRE, 24 h-POST, and 48 h-POST" (Levitt 2017).
The scientists found that exercise per se increased the LPS-stimulated production of TNF-α (%change from PRE: 5 h-POST 109%; 24 h-POST 49%; 48 h-POST 40%) and decreased LPS-stimulated production of IL-8 (5 h-POST −40%; 24 h-POST −50%; 48 h-POST: −43%) and IL-10 (5 h-POST: −37%; 24 h-POST −32%; 48 h-POST −31%). Consuming alcohol after exercise, however, did not affect this response.
Regardless of drink condition, concentric, eccentric, and isometric torque produced by the exercised leg were lower at 24 h-POST (concentric 106 ± 6 Nm, eccentric 144 ± 9 Nm, isometric 128 ± 8 Nm; M ± SE) compared to PRE (concentric 127 ± 7 Nm, eccentric 175 ± 11 Nm, isometric 148 ± 8 Nm). Eccentric torque production was partially recovered and isometric torque production was fully recovered by 48 h-POST.![]()
Figure 3: LPS-stimulated concentrations of IL-10 (a), IL-8 (b), TNF-α (c), and IL-6 (d) normalized to the pre-exercise (PRE) concentrations at 5 h after exercise (5 h-POST), 24 h after exercise (24 h-POST), and 48 h after exercise (48 h-POST). Asterisk time point means significantly (p < 0.05) different from PRE, dollar symbol time point mean significantly different from 5 h-POST, hash symbol time point mean significantly different from 24 h-POST. Mean ± SE (Levitt 2017).
Only a fool would assume that this implies that you can drink every day and still make the same gains and get the same health benefits from exercise as an alcohol-abstainer. What the study at hand does prove, however, is that the occasional cocktail ain't going to ruin what you've been working so hard for in the gym.
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Reference:
- Gentil, P., de Lira, C.A.B., Filho, S.G.C. et al. "High intensity interval training does not impair strength gains in response to resistance training in premenopausal women." Eur J Appl Physiol (2017) 117: 1257. doi:10.1007/s00421-017-3614-0
- Levitt, D.E., Luk, HY., Duplanty, A.A. et al. "Effect of alcohol after muscle-damaging resistance exercise on muscular performance recovery and inflammatory capacity in women." Eur J Appl Physiol (2017) 117: 1195. doi:10.1007/s00421-017-3606-0
- Takegaki, Junya, et al. "Resistance training with short interval does not induce skeletal muscle hypertrophy in rats." The FASEB Journal 31.1 Supplement (2017): 1021-15.