THE EFFECT OF HIGH-INTENSITY INTERVAL TRAINING ON POST-EXERCISE OXYGEN CONSUMPTION: A META-ANALYSIS

Introduction:The objective of this study was to present a systematic review and meta-analysis to compare total excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC) for two training intervention models in healthy individuals, and the secondary objective was to understand whether oxygen consumption after exercise could really promote a meaningful help. Design:To design a meta-analysis review to compare two training intervention models (experimental: high-intensity interval training; and control: continuous moderate-intensity) and their effects on total EPOC in healthy individuals. Participants: Seventeen studies were considered to be of good methodological quality and with a low risk of bias. Methods: Literature searches were performed using the electronic databases with no restriction on year of publication. The keywords used were obtained by consulting Mesh Terms (PubMed) and DeCS (BIREME Health Science Descriptors). Results:The present study findings showed a tendency (random-effects model: 0.87, 95%-CI (0.35,1.381,12=73%, p<0.01) to increase EPOC when measured following high-intensity interval training. Conclusions: Our study focused on the analysis of high- and moderate-intensity oxygen uptake results following exercise. Despite the growing popularity of high-intensity interval training, we found that the acute and chronic benefits remain limited. We understand that the lack of a standard protocol and standard training variables provides limited consensus to determine the magnitude of the EPOC. We suggest that longitudinal experimental studies may provide more robust conclusions. Another confounding factor in the studies investigated was the magnitude (time in minutes) of VO2 measurements when assessing EPOC. Measurement times ranged from 60 min to 720 min. Longitudinal studies and controlled experimental designs would facilitate more precise measurements and correct subject numbers would provide accurate effect sizes.