Last year Japanese researchers showed that if you do a heavy low-rep set of an exercise followed by a set with a weight equal to 50 percent of your one-rep maximum for that exercise, you will induce a substantial increase in growth hormone release. That same group of researchers returned to the 2003 American College of Sports Medicine meeting with a follow-up study of nine male subjects who did leg extensions using four different protocols:
- The heavy/light system described above—five sets using 90 percent of one-rep-max resistance with three minutes’ rest after each set.
- Protocol 1 plus one set using 50 percent of maximum weight after each.
- Protocol 1 plus one set using 30 percent of maximum weight after each set.
- Protocol 1 plus one set of 20 percent of maximum weight after each set.
The additional sets were done within 30 seconds of the heavy set, and every set was performed to failure. The highest levels of GH release occurred after the 50 and 30 percent sets—higher than doing protocol 1 alone and also higher than the 20 percent set. No changes occurred in testosterone levels during any of the sets. The main point of the study was that if the light set involves too little resistance, the GH-releasing effect is greatly blunted.
©,2013 Jerry Brainum. Any reprinting in any type of media, including electronic and foreign is expressly prohibited.
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