Effects of High Intensity Interval Training on Physiological Variables of University Students

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) on university students’ physiological variables. 40 male sports science students with an age range between 18-25 years were randomly assigned to the HIIT group (n=20) and control (C) group (n=20). The experiment group underwent eight weeks of HIIT, whereas, C group do not. Pre and posttest measurements of physiological variables like resting heart rate (RHR), respiratory rate (RR), recovery heart rate (RcHR), breath holding time (BHT), VO2 max and blood pressure BP) were made for all subjects before and after the intervention. To compare the mean physiological variables between the experiment and control groups, an independent sample t-test was employed. The statistical significance was set at p<0.05. Following the exercise intervention, the experiment group shows significantly better improvements than the control group in, RHR, RR, BHT, VO2 max, and systolic blood pressure (p<0.05). Thus, it was concluded that eight weeks of HIIT show a significant improvement in the physiological variables of university students.