Objectives: Prediabetes is characterized by elevated blood glucose levels associated with insulin resistance, increasing the risk of progression to type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and cardiovascular disease. High-intensity interval training (HIIT) has emerged as an effective non-pharmacological strategy to improve insulin sensitivity and cardiorespiratory fitness. This study aimed to analyze the effects of HIIT alone or combined with a hypocaloric diet on metabolic and cardiorespiratory parameters in individuals with prediabetes. Methods: A controlled, longitudinal, single-blind intervention study enrolled 68 adults with prediabetes (mean age 42.22–46.60 years; 73.5% women) and randomized them to HIIT plus hypocaloric diet (n = 23), HIIT only (n = 23), or hypocaloric diet only (n = 22) for 13 weeks, with pre/post assessments of glucose, VO2max, blood pressure, FINDRISC. Results: Significant post-intervention differences were observed among groups in body mass index (p = 0.049), VO2max (p < 0.001), fasting glucose (p < 0.001), systolic blood pressure (p < 0.001), and diabetes risk (p = 0.038), with the greatest improvements consistently observed in Group A. In Group A, fasting glucose decreased from 111.94 to 91.28 mg/dL (−20.66 mg/dL; −18.5%), VO2max increased from 21.27 to 24.02 mL·kg−1·min−1 (+2.75; +12.9%), and systolic blood pressure decreased from 163.56 to 150.13 mmHg (−13.43 mmHg; −8.2%). No significant between-group differences were found for body weight (p = 0.271) or waist circumference (p = 0.174). Conclusions: HIIT combined with a hypocaloric diet is an effective and safe strategy for managing prediabetes, producing superior improvements in cardiorespiratory fitness, glycemic control, and reduction in diabetes risk compared with either intervention alone.
Tene et al. (Thu,) studied this question.