What question did this study set out to answer?

This study evaluates the impacts of a six-week HIIT program on fitness and sleep in sedentary male students.

April 12, 2026BMC Public Health0 citationsOpen Access

Effects of unsupervised campus HIIT on fitness and sleep in sedentary male students: a randomized controlled trial

DTDi TangChinese University of Hong Kong PGPengpeng GouWuhan Sports University SLS.-H. LiuSouth China Normal University

Key Points

This study evaluates the impacts of a six-week HIIT program on fitness and sleep in sedentary male students.
Randomized controlled trial design
Participants: 56 sedentary male university students
Intervention: Six-week unsupervised HIIT program with three sessions per week
Assessments included VO2max, balance, sleep quality, and body composition
Statistical analyses used t-tests and generalized estimating equations.
Significant improvements in VO2max (19.24%) and balance (49.64%) in the HIIT group
No significant change in sleep quality but a trend toward improvement in the HIIT group
Control group showed no significant changes in physical fitness or sleep quality.

Abstract

Sedentary behavior and poor sleep quality are prevalent among university students and are associated with reduced cardiorespiratory fitness. This randomized controlled trial evaluated the effects of a six-week, campus-based running high-intensity interval training (HIIT) program on physical fitness, sleep quality, and body composition in sedentary male university students. Fifty-six participants (age 21.6 ± 2.4 years) completed the study and were analyzed (HIIT group, n = 28; control group, n = 28). The unsupervised six-week intervention consisted of three weekly sessions of repeated 1-min high-intensity running bouts with recovery periods. Physical fitness, sleep quality, and body composition were assessed. Within- and between-group comparisons were conducted using t-tests, the Wilcoxon signed-rank test, or the Mann–Whitney U test, depending on data normality. Group-by-time interactions were examined using generalized estimating equations. Significant group-by-time interactions were observed for VO2max (β = − 6.63, 95% CI − 8.77 to − 4.49, p < 0.001, d = 1.019) and balance (β = − 23.11, 95% CI − 41.16 to − 5.06, p = 0.012, d = 0.544), with the HIIT group showing significant improvements (19.24% and 49.64%, respectively), whereas controls did not. While the group-by-time interaction for sleep quality was not significant, a favorable trend toward within-group improvement was observed in the HIIT group (− 0.57 points, − 12.15%, p = 0.082, d = 0.270), whereas no such trend occurred in the control group (0.07 points, 1.28%, p = 0.892, d = 0.029). No significant changes were observed for the remaining physical fitness indicators or body composition. A six-week, unsupervised campus-based HIIT running program improved cardiorespiratory fitness and balance while showing good adherence and safety in sedentary male university students, confirming its feasibility in a real-world setting. Potential benefits for sleep quality warrant validation in larger randomized trials. ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT07256847).

Perguntar à IA

Bookmark

View Full Paper