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 [VO 2peak ] = 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 VO 2peak , 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