Acute response to hematological biomarkers in athletes after a short-term high-intensity exercise: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background: Exercise offers significant health benefits, promoting normal body system functioning, healthy growth, development, and overall well-being. Aims and Objectives: Therefore, the objective of the present study was to determine the effect of short-term high-intensity exercise (HIE) on hematological biomarkers and acute responses in athletes, as well as changes in these biomarkers immediately after 10 and 20 min of HIE. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out in the Department of Physical Education, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi (UP). A total of 20 healthy male athletes with an age range of 22 to 26 years were randomly selected. All participants performed HIE for 5 min with maximal effort. Blood samples for selected hematological biomarkers were collected before exercise, immediately after exercise, and 10 and 20 min after the HIE. Results: A repeated measures analysis of variance with a Greenhouse-Geisser correction revealed that red blood corpuscles (F = 58.447; P < 0.05.), white blood cells (F = 59.778; P < 0.05), platelets (F = 23.794; P < 0.05), and hemoglobin (F = 46.853; P < 0.05) responses differed statistically significantly between time points. Post hoc analysis with a Bonferroni adjustment revealed that their response was significantly increased immediately after the HIE, reduced 10 min after the exercise, and closely returned to baseline levels after 20 min of exercise. Conclusion: HIE causes an inflammatory response in the blood by elevating the hematological biomarkers. These findings can be taken into consideration to develop high-intensity training programs for athletes.