The Effect of Novel High-intensity Interval Training on Physical Fitness in Older Adults

Teesside University

Status: Completed

Conditions: High-intensity Interval Training

Treatments: Other: Novel high-intensity interval training

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT02714088

TEES-CH170216-SSSBL

Details and patient eligibility

About

High-intensity interval training (HIT) has been demonstrated to be an effective strategy to improve markers of health and fitness across a wide range of healthy and clinical populations. Currently however, there is only limited evidence which has examined the effectiveness of HIT in older adults (>50 years). HIT is an appealing strategy in this group as it has the potential to impact both cardiorespiratory and muscular fitness, which both play an important role in maintaining functional fitness and quality of life in a time-efficient manner. Developing an understanding of novel strategies for delivering this type of exercise training may ultimately provide a viable alternative to traditional modes of exercise training for a broader range of participants. As such, the purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of a novel, high-intensity interval training exercise protocol to improve physical fitness in adults aged over 50 years. This research also aims to evaluate if this type of training intervention is feasible in this population, through analysis of adherence and intervention fidelity.

Enrollment: 36 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 50 to 85 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

1. Must be aged 50-85 years
2. Must be able to provide informed consent to participate
3. Must be free from all exclusion criteria

Exclusion criteria

1. Symptoms of or known presence of heart disease of major atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease
2. Early family history of sudden cardiac death
3. Condition or injury or co-morbidity affecting the ability to undertake exercise
4. Diabetes mellitus
5. Pregnancy or likelihood of pregnancy

Trial design

Primary purpose: Prevention

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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36 participants in 2 patient groups

Intervention

Experimental group

Description:

Participants will undertake a high-intensity interval training intervention, completing two exercise sessions per week for 12 weeks. The exercise sessions will consist of 4 sets of 4-6 repetitions of 60s (45s high-intensity exercise, followed by 15s rest), interspersed with 3 minutes rest. During each exercise repetition participants will be encouraged to reach \>90% of their maximal heart rate.

Treatment:

Other: Novel high-intensity interval training

Control

No Intervention group

Description:

Participants will not undertake any formal intervention and will be asked to maintain their usual physical activity habits and diet.