Effects of Eight-Week High-Intensity Interval Training on Aerobic Performance, Lipid Profile, and Hematological Indices in Overweight Adolescents

Abstract

Background: Research on the effects of interval training on lipid profile and hematological indices is limited. Objectives: Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the effects of eight weeks of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT) on aerobic performance, body composition, lipid profile, and hematological indices in overweight adolescents. Methods: Thirty overweight boys (13 - 16 years) participated in this study and were randomly divided into three groups, including the control (n = 10), HIIT (n = 10), and MICT (n = 10) groups. HIIT training (4 × 4-minute) was performed with an intensity of 95 - 85% of maximum heart rate, and MICT training (35-minute) was performed with an intensity of 70 - 60% of maximum heart rate, three sessions per week for eight weeks. Beep test and ELISA technique were used to measure aerobic performance, lipid profile, and hematological indices, respectively. The two-way repeated-measures ANOVA was used to determine the differences with a confidence interval of 95% (α = 0.05). Results: The results showed that except for the variables of glucose, triglyceride (TG), and low-density lipoprotein (LDL), all other variables in the HIIT group had a significant change compared to the pre-test (P < 0.05). Also, the results showed that there was a significant difference between the HIIT and control groups in fat percentage, VO2Max, high-density lipoprotein (HDL), iron, and hemoglobin value (P < 0.05). Conclusions: The results suggest that HIIT training can be as effective as continuous strategy training to reduce the risk factors associated with cardiovascular disease in overweight adolescents.