High Intensity Interval- vs Moderate Intensity- Training for Improving Cardiometabolic Health in Overweight or Obese Males: A Randomized Controlled Trial.
OBJECTIVE
To compare the effects of six weeks of high intensity interval training (HIIT) vs continuous moderate intensity training (MIT) for improving body composition, insulin sensitivity (SI), blood pressure, blood lipids, and cardiovascular fitness in a cohort of sedentary overweight or obese young men. We hypothesized that HIIT would result in similar improvements in body composition, cardiovascular fitness, blood lipids, and SI as compared to the MIT group, despite requiring only one hour of activity per week compared to five hours per week for the MIT group.


METHODS
28 sedentary overweight or obese men (age, 20 ± 1.5 years, body mass index 29.5 ± 3.3 kg/m2) participated in a six week exercise treatment. Participants were randomly assigned to HIIT or MIT and evaluated at baseline and post-training. DXA was used to assess body composition, graded treadmill exercise test to measure cardiovascular fitness, oral glucose tolerance to measure SI, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy to assess lipoprotein particles, and automatic auscultation to measure blood pressure.


RESULTS
A greater improvement in VO2peak was observed in MIT compared to HIIT (11.1% vs 2.83%, P = 0.0185) in the complete-case analysis. No differences were seen in the intention to treat analysis, and no other group differences were observed. Both exercise conditions were associated with temporal improvements in % body fat, total cholesterol, medium VLDL, medium HDL, triglycerides, SI, and VO2peak (P < 0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
Participation in HIIT or MIT exercise training displayed: 1) improved SI, 2) reduced blood lipids, 3) decreased % body fat, and 4) improved cardiovascular fitness. While both exercise groups led to similar improvements for most cardiometabolic risk factors assessed, MIT led to a greater improvement in overall cardiovascular fitness. Overall, these observations suggest that a relatively short duration of either HIIT or MIT training may improve cardiometabolic risk factors in previously sedentary overweight or obese young men, with no clear advantage between these two specific regimes (Clinical Trial Registry number NCT01935323).


BACKGROUND
ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01935323.
Department of Human Studies, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, United States of America; Nutrition and Obesity Research Center, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, United States of America; Department of Nutrition Sciences, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, United States of America.
Gordon
G
Fisher
Nutrition and Obesity Research Center, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, United States of America; Office of Energetics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, United States of America.
Andrew W
AW
Brown
Department of Nutrition Sciences, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, United States of America; Department of Food, Nutrition, and Packaging Sciences, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, United States of America.
Michelle M
MM
Bohan Brown
Nutrition and Obesity Research Center, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, United States of America; Office of Energetics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, United States of America.
Amy
A
Alcorn
Department of Human Studies, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, United States of America.
Corey
C
Noles
Department of Human Studies, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, United States of America.
Leah
L
Winwood
Nutrition and Obesity Research Center, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, United States of America; Department of Nutrition Sciences, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, United States of America.
Holly
H
Resuehr
Nutrition and Obesity Research Center, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, United States of America; Office of Energetics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, United States of America.
Brandon
B
George
Nutrition and Obesity Research Center, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, United States of America; Office of Energetics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, United States of America.
Madeline M
MM
Jeansonne
Nutrition and Obesity Research Center, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, United States of America; Office of Energetics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, United States of America; Department of Nutrition Sciences, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, United States of America.
David B
DB
Allison
D000273:Adipose Tissue; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001794:Blood Pressure; D001823:Body Composition; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005081:Exercise Therapy; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy*; D050177:Overweight / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy*; D010101:Oxygen Consumption; D010807:Physical Endurance; D012307:Risk Factors; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult