Tag: HIIT: High-Intensity Interval Training

Can Participation in HIIT Improve Cognitive Function & Mental Health in Children & Adolescents?

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Research Paper Title

Review of High-Intensity Interval Training for Cognitive and Mental Health in Youth.

Background

High-intensity interval training (HIIT) has emerged as a time-efficient strategy to improve children’s and adolescents’ health-related fitness in comparison to traditional training methods. However, little is known regarding the effects on cognitive function and mental health.

Therefore, the aim of this systematic review was to evaluate the effect of HIIT on cognitive function (basic information processing, executive function) and mental health (well-being, ill-being) outcomes for children and adolescents.

Methods

A systematic search was conducted, and studies were eligible if they:

  1. Included a HIIT protocol;
  2. Examined cognitive function or mental health outcomes; and
  3. Examined children or adolescents (5-18 years) old.

Separate meta-analyses were conducted for acute and chronic studies, with potential moderators (i.e. study duration, risk of bias, participant age, cognitive demand, and study population) also explored.

Results

A total of 22 studies were included in the review. In acute studies, small to moderate effects were found for executive function (standardised mean difference [SMD], 0.50, 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.03-0.98; P = 0.038) and affect (SMD, 0.33; 95% CI, 0.05-0.62; P = 0.020), respectively. For chronic studies, small significant effects were found for executive function (SMD, 0.31; 95% CI, 0.15-0.76, P < 0.001), well-being (SMD, 0.22; 95% CI, 0.02-0.41; P = 0.029), and ill-being (SMD, -0.35; 95% CI, -0.68 to -0.03; P = 0.035).

Conclusions

The review provides preliminary review evidence suggesting that participation in HIIT can improve cognitive function and mental health in children and adolescents.

Because of the small number of studies and large heterogeneity, more high-quality research is needed to confirm these findings.

Reference

Leahy, A.A., Mavilidi, M.F., Smith, J.J., Hillman, C.H., Eather, N., Barker, D. & Lubans, D.R. (2020) Review of High-Intensity Interval Training for Cognitive and Mental Health in Youth.

Can High-Intensity Interval Training Improve Physical & Mental Health Outcomes?

Published on by Andrew Marshall1 Comment

Research Paper Title

Can high-intensity interval training improve physical and mental health outcomes? A meta-review of 33 systematic reviews across the lifespan.

Background

High-intensity-interval-training (HIIT) has been suggested to have beneficial effects in multiple populations across individual systematic reviews, although there is a lack of clarity in the totality of the evidence whether HIIT is effective and safe across different populations and outcomes.

The aim of this meta-review was to establish the benefits, safety and adherence of HIIT interventions across all populations from systematic reviews and meta-analyses.

Methods

Major databases were searched for systematic reviews (with/without meta-analyses) of randomised & non-randomised trials that compared HIIT to a control.

Thirty-three systematic reviews (including 25 meta-analyses) were retrieved encompassing healthy subjects and people with physical health complications.

Results

Evidence suggested HIIT improved cardiorespiratory fitness, anthropometric measures, blood glucose and glycaemic control, arterial compliance and vascular function, cardiac function, heart rate, some inflammatory markers, exercise capacity and muscle mass, versus non-active controls.

Compared to active controls, HIIT improved cardiorespiratory fitness, some inflammatory markers and muscle structure.

Improvements in anxiety and depression were seen compared to pre-training.

Additionally, no acute injuries were reported, and mean adherence rates surpassed 80% in most systematic reviews.

Conclusions

Thus, HIIT is associated with multiple benefits.

Further large-scale high-quality studies are needed to reaffirm and expand these findings.

Reference

Martland, R., Mondelli, V., Gaughran, F. & Stubbs, B. (2020) Can high-intensity interval training improve physical and mental health outcomes? A meta-review of 33 systematic reviews across the lifespan. Journal of Sports Sciences. 38(4), pp.430-469. doi: 10.1080/02640414.2019.1706829. Epub 2019 Dec 31.