Short-Term Psychological and Physiological Effects of Varying the Volume of High-Intensity Interval Training in Healthy Men

Abstract

We assessed the short-term effects of varying the volume of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) on psychological and physiological responses of 23 healthy adult males ( M = 21 years; M peak oxygen uptake [VO2peak] = 47.2 ml·kg−1·min−1). Participants were randomly assigned to low- and very-low-volume HIIT groups and engaged in nine supervised exercise sessions over three weeks. The low-volume HIIT group performed 8-12 60-second work bouts on a cycle ergometer at the peak power output achieved during the incremental test, interspersed by 75 seconds of low-intensity active recovery. The very-low-volume HIIT performed 4-6 work bouts with the same intensity, duration, and rest intervals. During training, participants’ ratings of perceived exertion (Borg Category Ratio-10 scale) and their affective responses (Feeling Scale −5/+5) during the last 15 seconds of each work bout were recorded. Physiological data were VO2peak, endurance, and anaerobic performance before and after the intervention. Throughout training, participants in the very-low-volume group (relative to the low-volume group) reported lower ratings of perceived exertion in Week 1 ( M = 4.1 vs. M = 6.3; p < .01) and Week 3 ( M = 4.0 vs. M = 6.2; p < .01), and higher affective response in these same two weeks (Week 1: M = 1.9 vs. M = 0.3; p = .04; Week 3: M = 2.1 vs. M = 0.9; p = .06). Regarding physical fitness, Wingate peak power increased significantly after training in the very-low-volume HIIT group ( M = 1,049 W vs. M = 1,222 W; p < .05), but not in the low-volume HIIT group ( M = 1,050 W vs. M = 1,076 W). No significant change was found after training in physiological variables of peak power output, VO2peak, and endurance performance. In summary, in this short-term training period, the very-low-volume HIIT enhanced anaerobic capacity and was perceived as less strenuous and more pleasurable than low-volume HIIT.

Might High-Intensity Interval Exercise Be Remembered as More Pleasurable? An Attempt to Test the Peak-End Rule in the Exercise Context

“…Although our hypothesis of a favoring the long trial HIIE was rejected, our protocol was designed with support from a study that evaluated the peak-end rule in other context such as an aversion experience (Kahneman et al, 1993). Specifically, we followed Kahneman et al (1993) design and kept the same intensity over the short-trial because the effort accumulated over time induces an increase in RPE and a decrease in affect (Da Silva Machado et al, 2019;Frazão et al, 2016;Kellogg et al, 2019;Marques et al, 2020;Olney et al, 2018); thus, generating the worst values of psychological responses at the end of the trial (peak of intensity). Indeed, we added 50% duration with a gradual decrease in intensity in the long-trial, and although we did not find statistical differences for the global scales, 63.3% of participants found the shortest protocol the most intense protocol.…”

“…There are studies in which researchers manipulated different HIIE variables (Martinez et al, 2015;Townsend et al, 2017;Da Silva Machado et al, 2019;Kellogg et al, 2019). Some reported higher enjoyment and affect with shorter duration intervals (Martinez et al, 2015;Townsend et al, 2017), others found that low-volume HIIE led to higher enjoyment and affect (Da Silva Machado et al, 2019), and one showed that imposed intensity induced higher affect than self-selected HIIE intensity (Kellogg et al, 2019). After further research has enhanced our understanding of affect and RPE during HIIE protocols (i.e., the experiencing self), a second future advance would be to evaluate how memories of the peak and end sessions are formed (i.e., the remembering self).…”

“…Different combinations of these variables elicited different psychological responses. For example, shorter effort time showed more positive affect and enjoyment than longer effort time (Martinez et al, 2015;Townsend et al, 2017) and sessions with fewer bouts showed more positive affect and enjoyment than sessions with more bouts (Da Silva Machado et al, 2019). Perhaps manipulating HIIE variables (particularly recency of aversiveness) would influence memories invoking the heuristic affective peak-end rule to raise participants' affective perceptions of HIIE and improve long term exercise adherence.…”

Physiological, perceptual and affective responses to high-intensity interval training using two work-matched programs with different bout duration in obese males

“… 29 , 46 , 47 Two studies in untrained adults have examined changes in RPE with HIIT and both have found reductions. 29 , 48 In the present study RPE responses to HIIT were modulated by bout duration. Our findings of a reduction in perceptual and affective responses to HIIT10 only suggest that these may be mostly driven by metabolic, rather than cardiovascular, adaptations.…”

Reflexión crítica sobre los términos “aeróbico y anaeróbico” utilizados en fisiología del ejercicio

“…Por otro lado, en una prueba incremental MART (Maximal Anaerobic Running Test) se identificó que en los períodos de esfuerzo (20 seg) existe un mayor aporte energético anaeróbico (62,6 % aláctico y 10,9 % láctico) que el aeróbico (26,5 %), mientras que, al evaluar la prueba total, el componente aeróbico (65,4 %) fue más alto que el anaeróbico (29,5 % aláctico y 5,1 % láctico) (16). Al comparar un protocolo interválico corto (8x20 seg) y largo (4x4 min) se evidenció una velocidad de carrera más alta significativamente en el trabajo corto (17), esto se debe a que el entrenamiento HIIT de muy bajo volumen es percibido como menos extenuante y más placentero con respecto al de bajo volumen, además que permite mejorar la capacidad anaeróbica (18).…”