Effect of High-Intensity and Concurrent Training in Body Composition in Costa Rican Overweight and Obese Women

Abstract

This study was designed to determine the changes in body composition, Body Weight (BW), Fat Mass (FM), Body Fat Percentage (BF%) and, Skeletal Muscle Mass (SMM) of High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) and Concurrent Training (CT), comparing them to a Control Group (CG) for four months of intervention in overweight and obese women.Methodology: 67 obese and overweight women (37.54 ± 8.8 years, BMI = 28.49 ± 4.9, BF% = 43.63 ± 5.6%) were randomly assigned to three groups, HIIT (n = 26, mean age = 37.9 ± 7.3 years, BF% = 42.36 ± 4.3%), CT (n = 20, mean age = 38.0 ± 8.5 years, BF% = 45.98 ± 5.4%) and CG (n = 21, mean age = 36.6 ± 11.0 years, BF% = 42.97 ± 6.8%). Before and after 16 weeks of HIIT (intervals at ≥ 80% Maximal Heart Rate) and CT (strength training, 65%-75% 1RM + endurance training, 60%-80% Maximal Heart Rate), participants underwent Dual-Energy X-Ray Densitometry (DEXA). The CG did not exercise at all.Results: There were no changes in BW among the experimental groups (p > 0.05). Compared to CG, the HIIT and CT groups decreased FM, BF% and increased SMM (p < 0.05). CT was better than HIIT on FM (relative change, Δ%, HIIT = -3.4% vs. CT = -4.5%), BF% (HIIT = -2.6% vs. CT = -4.3%) and SMM (HIIT = +1.7% Vs. CT = +5.4%). Conclusion:Findings show improvements of body composition in overweight and obese women. In this context, although the results were not highly marked, CT seems to be a better approach for the prevention and management of the women overweight and obesity than HIIT.

Effects of HIIT training and HIIT combined with circuit resistance training on measures of physical fitness, miRNA expression, and metabolic risk factors in overweight/obese middle-aged women

“…There is evidence that high-intensity interval training (HIIT) improves metabolic adaptations, and HIIT combined with resistance training improves lipid profiles and decreases fasting glucose, insulin, and insulin resistance in overweight or obese women [16][17][18]. However, according to the recommendations of the American Sports Medicine Association for middle-aged people, combined training (endurance and resistance) is more effective in maintaining or improving the health of overweight/obese individuals, suggesting that this training method has beneficial effects on the metabolic status by increasing muscle mass [16,[18][19][20].…”