Ambulatory heart rate variability in overweight and obese men after high‐intensity interval exercise versus moderate‐intensity continuous exercise

Despite the growing evidence for the beneficial effects of high‐intensity interval exercise (HIIE) on vascular health of overweight and obese individuals, it is not clear whether the autonomic stress promoted by HIIE during the ambulatory period is higher than that by moderate‐intensity continuous exercise (MICE). Therefore, this study compares the 24 hour (h) ambulatory heart rate variability (HRV) following HIIE and MICE in young overweight and obese men. Eleven untrained men aged 23.2 ± 1.9 years, with average body mass index (BMI) of 31.6 ± 3.9 kg/m² (three overweight and eight obese), underwent three exercise sessions: HIIE, MICE and Control (CT). HRV was recorded in the laboratory and for the next 24 h following laboratory recovery. There were no differences in HRV indices in the rest period between the sessions ( p > .05). During the ambulatory period, the area under the curve (AUC) of the low‐frequency band transformed into natural logarithm (Ln‐LF) during sleep was higher after HIIE than after CT (43.31 ± 8.59 vs. 41.11 ± 7.28 ms²*h, p = .034). The HRV followed by MICE did not differ from other sessions ( p > .05). In conclusion, the 24 h ambulatory HRV did not differ after HIIE and MICE. However, despite the small effect, HIIE increased the cardiac autonomic modulation during the sleep period, as a protector of cardiovascular system. Highlights 24 h ambulatory HRV could add important information about the cardiovascular safety of the exercise protocols in overweight and obese individuals. There was no disturbances in the cardiac autonomic modulation during the awake period, regardless of the exercise protocol. LnLF index was higher in HIIE compared to CT in the sleep period. 24 h ambulatory HRV did not differ between the HIIE and MICE sessions.