Abstract:

The purpose of the study was to explore the combination of ICR with High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) or continuous training over a 8-weeks on inflammatory and lipid profile indexes in overweight women. In the current quasi-experimental study, 36 overweight and obese women were randomly grouped in four groups (n = 9/group) for an additional 8 weeks as follows: 1) intermittent caloric restriction (N=9) (20% lower energy intake), 2) continuous training+ICR (N=11) (20% energy deficit created by 10% CR and 10% EE through CT), 3) High-Intensity Interval Training+ICR (N=9) (20% energy deficit created by 10% CR and 10% EE through HIIT) and 4) control (N=9) (remain on diet). Blood samples were collected to measure the inflammatory indexes (the number of environmental blood leukocytes and C-reactive protein) as well as lipid profile (total cholesterol, triglyceride, HDL and LDL). Data were analyzed using Shapiro–Wilk tests to investigate the natural distribution of the data repetitive variance was also used to investigate the mean difference between phases and the interactive effect between phases and groups Bonferroni post-hoc test was also used for comparing intergroup changes in the significance level of α < 0.05. Eight weeks of HIIT and continuous training with ICR led to significant changes in all indexes including lipid profile (HDL, LDL, total cholesterol, triglyceride), VO2max, CRP compared to the pre-test phase. Moreover, there was a significant intergroup difference in the indexes of lipid profile and CRP among control group and ICR, HIIT+ICR and ICR+ continuous groups, lastly, there was also an intergroup cholesterol index (ICR) and HIIT+ICR and ICR+continuous groups (p<0.05). Regarding VO2max, there was a significant intergroup difference between the control group and HIIT+ICR and ICR+ continuous groups (p<0.05). Due to the marked and noticeable effects of eight weeks of HIIT and continuous training along with ICR on inflammatory and lipid profile indexes in overweight women, it can be concluded that the combination of these interventions can be effective in controlling the weight and obesity.

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