HIIT is superior than MICT on cardiometabolic health during training and detraining

• Published in: European journal of applied physiology Vol. 121; no. 1; pp. 159 - 172
• Main Authors: Gripp, Fernando, Nava, Roberto Carlos, Cassilhas, Ricardo Cardoso, Esteves, Elizabethe Adriana, Magalhães, Caíque Olegário Diniz, Dias-Peixoto, Marco Fabrício, de Castro Magalhães, Flávio, Amorim, Fabiano Trigueiro
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.01.2021; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adaptation; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Blood pressure; Body composition; Body fat; Body weight; Cardiorespiratory fitness; Cholesterol; Glucose metabolism; Human Physiology; Lipid metabolism; Obesity; Occupational Medicine/Industrial Medicine; Original Article; Overweight; Sports Medicine; Triglycerides; High-intensity interval training; Obesity; Cardiorespiratory fitness; Blood pressure; Detraining; Moderate-intensity continuous training
• ISSN: 1439-6319; 1439-6327; 1439-6327
• DOI: 10.1007/s00421-020-04502-6

Purpose This study investigated the cardiometabolic health of overweight/obese untrained individuals in response to 8 weeks of HIIT and MICT using a field approach, and to 4 weeks of training cessation (TC). Methods Twenty-two subjects performed 8 weeks of moderate intensity continuous training (MICT— n  = 11) or high-intensity interval training (HIIT— n  = 11) (outdoor running), followed by 4 weeks of TC. Cardiorespiratory fitness, body composition, arterial blood pressure, glucose metabolism and blood lipids were measured pre-training (PRE), post-training (POST) and TC. Results HIIT improved eight indicators of cardiometabolic health ( V O 2 max , BMI, body fat, visceral fat, systolic blood pressure, total cholesterol, fasting glucose and triglycerides— p  < 0.05) while MICT only three ( V O 2 max , BMI, and visceral fat— p  < 0.05). After 4 weeks of TC, four positive adaptations from HIIT were negatively affected ( V O 2 max , visceral fat, systolic blood pressure and total cholesterol— p  < 0.05) and three in the MICT group ( V O 2 max , BMI and visceral fat, p  < 0.05). Conclusion Eight weeks of HIIT performed in a real-world setting promoted a greater number of positive adaptations in cardiometabolic health of individuals with overweight/obese compared to MICT. Most of the positive effects of the HIIT protocol were also found to be longer lasting and maintained after the suspension of high-intensity interval running for 4 weeks. Conversely, all positive effects of MICT protocols were reversed after TC.