Cardiovascular response of postmenopausal women to 8 weeks of sprint interval training.
Level 2 - randomized trial
Individual randomized controlled trial.
PubMed 30739167 · doi:10.1007/s00421-019-04087-9
What was done
Thirty overweight postmenopausal women were randomized to an exercise group (n = 15) or a control group (n = 15). The exercise group completed 8 weeks of sprint interval training (SIT) at 3 sessions per week (each session: 20 minutes of alternating 8-second sprints and 12-second light pedaling). Resting cardiovascular measures and responses during an 8-minute light aerobic cycling bout—including heart rate, stroke volume (SV), diastolic filling time (DFT), and predicted maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max)—were measured pre- and post-intervention.
What was found
In the SIT group, resting SV increased from 77.5 ± 17.0 mL to 81.3 ± 17.0 mL (p = 0.001), and SV during light exercise increased from 97.8 ± 1.6 mL to 103.5 ± 17.8 mL (p = 0.000). Resting DFT increased from 333.4 ± 94.4 to 357.4 ± 88.2 (p = 0.010; units labeled mL in abstract), and exercise DFT increased from 480.1 ± 99.5 to 527.2 ± 123.0 (p = 0.000). Predicted VO2max increased from 19.5 ± 5.87 to 21.4 ± 7.02 mL·kg⁻¹·min⁻¹ (p = 0.016). Numerical results and between-group comparisons for the control group were not reported in the abstract.
Why it matters
Sprint interval training offers a time-efficient strategy to improve central hemodynamic parameters and predicted aerobic fitness in overweight postmenopausal women.
Limits
The trial had a small sample size (n = 30 total, 15 per arm) and a short 8-week intervention period. VO2max was predicted rather than measured directly, and the abstract does not report control group data or between-group statistical analyses.
Cited by
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