Reproducibility of acute steroid hormone responses in men to short-duration running

Purpose: Progressively overloading the body to improve physical performance may lead to detrimental states of overreaching/overtraining syndrome. Blunted cycling-induced cortisol and testosterone concentrations have been suggested to indicate overreaching after intensified training periods. However, a running-based protocol is yet to be developed or demonstrated as reproducible. This study developed two 30-min running protocols, (1) 50/70 (based on individualized physical capacity) and (2) RPETP (self-paced), and measured the reproducibility of plasma cortisol and testosterone responses. Methods:Thirteen recreationally active, healthy men completed each protocol (50/70 and RPETP) on 3 occasions. Venous blood was drawn preexercise, postexercise, and 30 min postexercise. Results: Cortisol was unaffected (both P > .05; 50/70, η2p = .090; RPETP, η2p = .252), while testosterone was elevated (both P < .05; 50/70, 35%, η2p = .714; RPETP, 42%, η2p = .892) with low intraindividual coefficients of variation (CVi) as mean (SD) (50/70, 7% [5%]; RPETP, 12% [9%]). Heart rate (50/70, effect size [ES] = 0.39; RPETP, ES = −0.03), speed (RPETP, ES = −0.09), and rating of perceived exertion (50/70 ES = −0.06) were unchanged across trials (all CVi < 5%, P < .05). RPETP showed greater physiological strain (P < .01). Conclusions: Both tests elicited reproducible physiological and testosterone responses, but RPETP induced greater testosterone changes (likely due to increased physiological strain) and could therefore be considered a more sensitive tool to potentially detect overtraining syndrome. Advantageously for the practitioner, RPETP does not require a priori exercise-intensity determination, unlike the 50/70, enhancing its integration into practice.