Abstract:
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of high-intensity interval training on body composition, pulmonary function and respiratory muscles strength in obesity. Thirty-one aged 18-45 years were randomized into 2 groups: high-intensity interval training group (HIIT; n=15) and control group (CON; n=16). The experimental group was administered high-intensity interval training (HIIT), 3 days a week for a period of 12-weeks while normal activities of daily living for control group. Physiological, body composition, lung function, and respiratory muscle strength variables were analyzed during pre-test and post-test. The dependent variables between pre-test and post-test were analyzed by a paired t-test. The dependent variables between groups were analyzed by independent t-test. Differences were considered to be significant at p < .05. The results showed that after 12 weeks body weight, body mass index, fat mass, percent body fat, resting heart rate, systolic blood pressure, and diastolic blood pressure in HIIT group were decreased significantly when compared with pre-test (p < .05). Moreover, lean body mass, muscle mass, VO2peak, FVC, FEV1, MVV, MIP, and MEP in HIIT group were increased significantly when compared with pre-test (p < .05). In addition, after 12 weeks, the HITT group had significantly lower in body weight, resting heart rate, and percent body fat and had significantly higher in VO2peak, MIP, and MEP when compare with CON group (p < .05). In conclusion, the present findings demonstrated that twelve weeks of HIIT resulted in improvements in body composition measures, pulmonary function and respiratory muscles strength.