Effect of HIIT on cognitive and physical performance

Abstract

There is a lot of evidence indicating that exercise has a short-term positive effect on cognitive performance. Results have found contrasting findings as whether what is the optimal intensity to maximise this effect. High-intensity interval training (HIIT) has increased as a choice for both sport and health benefits. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of HIIT on physical, reaction time and cognitive performance. Forty-four recreationally active university students (aged 18–25 years) performed the following tests before and immediately after an acute high-intensity interval training bout: the Victoria Stroop test, Reaction Time test and Countermovement Jump test. A dependent sample t-test was conducted with statistical significance set at p ≤ 0.05. The results of the study was that there were significant improvements in Stroop test timing (p = 0.001) and a significant decrease in the number of errors (p = 0.040). Counter movement jump performance decreased slightly but not significantly (P = 0.170). Performance in both reaction time tests improved but not significantly (visual: p = 0.100; auditory: p = 0.16) To conclude, researchers found that HIIT had a positive effect on cognitive performance without significantly compromising physical performance in the short-term.