Effects of 10 Weeks of Outdoor-Based High-Intensity Interval Exercise on Perceptual Responses, Health Parameters, and Cortisol Levels in Overweight-to-Obese Adults

Background.Previous high-intensity interval exercise (HIIE) studies on perceptual responses and health parameters in overweight and obese adults have mainly focused on laboratory-based settings, which could limit the effectiveness of the HIIE protocol in a real-world setting.Objectives.We examined the changes in affective, enjoyment, cardiorespiratory fitness, body composition, and cortisol levels during outdoor-based HIIE over a 10-week intervention in overweight and obese adults.Methods.Thirty-two physically inactive overweight or obese adults (men =12 and women =20; age 28.34.9years) performed an outdoor-based HIIE protocol across a 10-week intervention (3x/week, 30 sessions).Perceptual responses and changes in cortisol levels observed in sessions 1 (S1), 15 (S15), and 30 (S30) were analyzed using two-way repeated-measures analysis of variance.Health parameters were measured before and after the 10-week HIIE intervention.Results.HIIE elicited lower affect responses across all selected work intervals (all P<0.02, all ES>1.19) in S1 compared to S15 and S30.HIIE participation also generated greater post-enjoyment from S1 to S30 (all P<0.04, all ES>43).HIIE also improved cardiorespiratory fitness and decreased body fat percentage following the 10-week intervention (all P<0.001, all ES>0.78).Finally, changes in affect responses induced by HIIE were negatively correlated with the changes in cortisol levels (all P<0.03, all r>-0.71).Conclusion.The 10-week outdoor-based HIIE protocol improved perceptual responses, cardiorespiratory fitness, and body fat percentage in overweight and obese adults.Additionally, changes in cortisol levels may influence HIIE-induced affective responses across the 10-week intervention in overweight and obese adults. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) USENo specific AI and AI-assisted technologies were used in the manuscript.