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BACKGROUND: High intensity interval training (HIIT) has become increasingly popular exercise due to its potentially large effects and short time requirement. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of two HIIT protocols vs steady-state training on aerobic and anaerobic capacity following 8-weeks training. METHODS: Fifty-five untrained college-aged subjects (17 male, 38 female), randomly assigned to three training groups (Steady-state (n=19) completed 20 minutes at 90% of ventilatory threshold (VT); Tabata (n=21) completed eight intervals of 20s @ 170% VO2max/10 s rest; Meyer (n=15) completed 13 sets of 30s @ 100% PVO2max/ 60s recovery, average PO=90% VT. Each subject did 24 training sessions. RESULTS: There were significant (p<0.05)increases in VO2max and PPO for each training group, as well as significant increases in peak & mean power during Wingate testing but no differences between groups. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that steady-state, Tabata, and Meyer protocols elicit similar increases in aerobic and anaerobic capacity.
Farland et al. (Fri,) studied this question.