Prevalence of Positive Effects on Body Fat Percentage, Cardiovascular Parameters, and Cardiorespiratory Fitness after 10-Week High-Intensity Interval Training in Adolescents

Abstract

Analysis of the interventions on cardiovascular disease risk factors focuses on quantitative changes, omitting assessment of positive effect frequency in individuals. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of positive effects of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) on body composition, cardiovascular parameters, and cardiorespiratory fitness among adolescents. A total of 52 boys and 89 girls from a secondary school were separated into an experimental group (EG) with HIIT and a control group (CG). Body fat % (BFP), resting systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), and fitness index (FI) changes were calculated. We assessed the influence and interaction of three factors: intervention (INT), sex (SEX), and body mass index (BMIstatus) on the ratio of individuals with and without positive changes. We used log-linear models for interactions and multivariate correspondence analysis (MCA). The results indicate that HIIT affects the prevalence of positive changes in SBP, DBP, and FI. Interactions between factors suggest boys with low BMI get more benefit from the intervention than girls. The MCA indicates a relationship between FI and BFP and between BP parameters. The effectiveness of HIIT was confirmed concerning the prevalence of the positive changes in measured parameters. We suggest that HIIT should be implemented in PE lessons, although there is a need to look for a more efficient method for girls.