Cardiorespiratory Fitness, Cardiovascular Function
Conditions
Keywords
Exercise Snacks, Sprint Interval Training, Overweight Adults, Cardiovascular Function
Brief summary
Exploring the efficacy and acceptability of exercise snacks (ES) and sprint interval training (SIT) could provide time-efficient, low-barrier alternatives for individuals, especially those who, due to 'lack of time, environment, and equipment,' struggle to meet traditional physical activity recommendations. This research aims to investigate the effects of ES and SIT, of equal exercise volume, on overweight adults.
Detailed description
Engaging in regular physical activity has been shown to induce a range of beneficial physiological and psychological adaptations, including improved cardiorespiratory fitness, body composition, cardiovascular function, and reductions in negative emotions. However, global participation rates in physical activity remain suboptimal, with little significant improvement. Interviews and surveys have identified several potential barriers to low physical activity levels, with limitations such as 'lack of time, equipment, and facilities' often cited as the main perceived obstacles. Therefore, exploring the minimum effective dose of exercise in real-world settings is essential. This study will employ a randomized clinical trial to examine the effectiveness and acceptability of two low-volume, high-intensity stair climbing exercises in overweight adults. It adopts a single-blind, parallel randomized design, with the intervention commencing immediately after the initial evaluation and randomization, following a pre-treatment/post-test framework. Eligible participants were recruited via convenience sampling and randomly assigned to one of three groups (one control group and two experimental groups): 1. A control group that will not receive any treatment. 2. Two experimental groups (ES and SIT), which will undergo a stair climbing-based physical training program following the initial evaluation. The two exercise interventions are designed with equal exercise volume, with the only difference being the rest (recovery) time between stair sprints. All exercise sessions are conducted under the supervision of professionals. The aim of this study is twofold: First, to explore the impact of ES and SIT on cardiorespiratory fitness, body composition, and cardiovascular function in overweight adults. Second, to examine the acceptability of two low-volume, high-intensity stair climbing exercises by assessing participants' (1) acceptability, (2) reactions during the interventions, (3) enjoyment and affective valence during exercise, and (4) intentions at the end.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALExercise snacks group
Exercise snacks on the stairs for 8 weeks.
BEHAVIORALSprint interval training group
Sprint interval training on the stairs for 8 weeks.
Sponsors
Beijing Sport University
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
SINGLE (Outcomes Assessor)
Masking description
Due to the nature of exercise interventions, it is difficult to blind study caregivers and participants.
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 35 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* Men and women aged between 18 and 35 years; * Overweight but not obese (BMI ≥24 and ≤ 28 kg/m2); * Physically inactive (3 or less bouts of purposeful exercise per week); * Ability to understand the research details and voluntarily sign the informed consent form; * Non-smoker (for \>5 years); * Body weight has been stable over the past six months, with no recent weight gain or loss behaviors; * Healthy (see
Exclusion criteria
).
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Cardiorespiratory fitness | 8 weeks | The change of maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) before and after intervention. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Lipid profile | 8 weeks | The changes in concentrations of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, total cholesterol, and triglyceride before and after intervention. |
| Body composition | 8 weeks | The change of body composition indexes (including fat mas, lean body mass, percentage of body fat) before and after intervention. |
| Endothelial function | 8 weeks | The change of brachial Flow-Mediated Dilation (FMD) before and after intervention. Endothelial function will be assessed by FMD. |
| Arterial stiffness | 8 weeks | The changes of brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity and ankle brachial index before and after intervention. |
| Resting blood pressure | 8 weeks | The change of blood pressure (including systolic and diastolic blood pressure) before and after intervention. |
| Resting heart rate | 8 weeks | The change of resting heart rate before and after intervention. |
| Waist Circumference | 8 weeks | The change of waist circumference before and after intervention. |
| Hip Circumference | 8 weeks | The change of hip circumference before and after intervention. |
| Body Mass Index (BMI ) | 8 weeks | The change of BMI before and after intervention. BMI is calculated from the formula, Weight (kg) / Height2 (m2). |
Other
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Intention Questionnaire | 8 weeks | Intention questionnaire will be used after the 8 weeks intervention by a seven-point scale ranging from Most likely never do this form of physical activity again (1) to Will likely do this three times per week every week (7). |
| Exercise Enjoyment Scale | 4 weeks and 8 weeks | Exercise enjoyment scale will be measured before, middle, and after intervention. The form will be presented to participants on a scale of 1 = 'not at all' to 7 = 'extremely,' and they will be asked, 'How much did you enjoy this exercise session?' |
| Feeling Scale | 4 weeks and 8 weeks | Feeling scale will be measured before, middle, and after intervention. The one-item Feeling Scale will be used to measure general affective valence (i.e., pleasure and displeasure), participants will respond to the question 'How are you feeling right now?' (-5 = very bad to +5 = very good) |
| Rating of perceived exertion (RPE) | 4 weeks and 8 weeks | Participants' RPE will be immediately assessed by Borg's Category-Ratio 10 scale after training sessions before, middle, and after intervention. The scale scores range from 0 to 10, with higher scores indicating greater perceived exertion. |
| Heart rate | 4 weeks and 8 weeks | Mean and maximum heart rate of the intervention group will be monitored during each sprint. |
| Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) | 8 weeks | DASS-21 will be used before and after intervention. The scale has 21 questions, each question required participants to rate their experiences on a 4-point scale, where 0 indicated did not apply to me at all, 1 indicated applied to me to some degree or some of the time, 2 indicated applied to me to a considerable degree or a good part of the time, and 3 indicated applied to me very much or most of the time. The total scale scores range from 0 to 63, with higher scores indicating worse outcomes. |
| Physical Activity Enjoyment Scale (PACES) | 8 weeks | A modified version of the PACES will be used, the PACES scale was modified by removing 1 irrelevant item ('I was very/not at all absorbed in the activity'). The 17 items are scored on a 7-point Likert scale, resulting in an overall enjoyment score between 17 (not enjoyable), 68 (neutral), and 119 (enjoyable). |
| Acceptability of the intervention | 8 weeks | Intervention acceptability will be assessed using a theoretical framework of acceptability (TFA) questionnaire, completed only at the follow-up assessment. The seven domains of the TFA, along with overall acceptability, are measured using an 8-item questionnaire. The scale scores range from 0 to 5 with high scores indicating greater acceptability, and the total score representing the mean average of 7 individual domains of acceptability (each also rated 0-5). |
Countries
China
Contacts
Primary ContactPeizhen Zhang
Outcome results
None listed