Abstract
To determine the effect of a 12-week high intensity intermittent exercise (HIIE) intervention on total body, abdominal, trunk, visceral fat mass, and fat free mass of young overweight males. Participants were randomly assigned to either exercise or control group. The intervention group received HIIE three times per week, 20 min per session, for 12 weeks. Aerobic power improved significantly (P < 0.001) by 15% for the exercising group. Exercisers compared to controls experienced significant weight loss of 1.5 kg (P < 0.005) and a significant reduction in total fat mass of 2 kg (P < 0.001). Abdominal and trunk adiposity was also significantly reduced in the exercising group by 0.1 kg (P < 0.05) and 1.5 kg (P < 0.001). Also the exercise group had a significant (P < 0.01) 17% reduction in visceral fat after 12 weeks of HIIE, whereas waist circumference was significantly decreased by week six (P < 0.001). Fat free mass was significantly increased (P < 0.05) in the exercising group by 0.4 kg for the leg and 0.7 kg for the trunk. No significant change (P > 0.05) occurred in levels of insulin, HOMA-IR, and blood lipids. Twelve weeks of HIIE resulted in significant reductions in total, abdominal, trunk, and visceral fat and significant increases in fat free mass and aerobic power.
Highlights
Obesity levels continue to increase in both developed and developing countries [1]
The average heart rate (HR) during the high-intensity intermittent exercise (HIIE) training sessions for the exercise group was 160 ± 9 beats min−1 which corresponded to 88% of HR peak and the average rating of perceived exertion [13] (RPE) was 13.6 ± 0.5
HIIE resulted in a significant increase in both absolute and relative V O2peak (P < 0.005) with absolute V O2peak being increased by 13% and relative V O2peak by 15% (Table 1)
Summary
Obesity levels continue to increase in both developed and developing countries [1]. As being overweight is associated with numerous health problems, effective fat loss strategies are required [2]. Most aerobic exercise interventions have consisted of moderate-intensity steady-state exercise, for about 30 to 40 min for 3 to 4 days per week, over a four- to six-month period. These kinds of exercise programs have resulted in minimal fat loss [5, 6]. HIIE consisted of an 8 s sprint followed by 12 s of low intensity cycling, repeated for 20 min Another group of women carried out an aerobic cycling protocol for 40 min each session. The women in this study showed a significant 0.6 kg increase in fat-free mass (FFM) after HIIE, whereas FFM of the steady state exercise group was unchanged. The lack of increase in FFM accompanying steady-state exercise is in agreement with prior research in this area [9]
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