Catecholamines, growth hormone, cortisol, insulin, and sex hormones in anaerobic and aerobic exercise

Abstract

Seventeen male physical education students performed three types of treadmill exercise: (1) progressive exercise to exhaustion, (2) prolonged exercise of 50 min duration at the anaerobic threshold of 4 mmol·1⁻¹ blood lactate (AE), (3) a single bout of short-term high-intensity exercise at 156% of maximal exercise capacity in the progressive test, leading to exhaustion within 1.5 min (ANE). Immediately before and after ANE and before, during, and after AE adrenalin, noradrenalin, growth hormone, cortisol, insulin, testosterone, and oestradiol were determined in venous blood, and glucose and lactate were determined in arterialized blood from the earlobe. Adrenalin and noradrenalin increased 15 fold during ANE and 3–4 fold and 6–9 fold respectively during AE. The adrenalin/noradrenalin ratio was 1∶3 during ANE and 1∶10 during AE. Cortisol increased by 35% in ANE (12% of which appeared in the postexercise period) and 54% in AE. Insulin increased during ANE but decreased during AE. Testosterone and oestradiol increased by 14% and 16% during ANE and by 22% and 28% during AE. The results point to a markedly higher emotional stress and higher sympatho-adrenal activity in anaerobic exercise. Growth hormone and cortisol appear to be the more affected by intense prolonged exercise. Taking plasma volume changes and changes of metabolic clearance rates into consideration, neither of the exercise tests appeared to affect secretion of testosterone and oestradiol.