THE EFFECTIVENESS OF HIGH-INTENSITY INTERVAL TRAINING (HIIT) ON WEIGHT LOSS AND METABOLIC PARAMETERS: A SCOPING REVIEW

Obesity is a growing global health concern, with a significantly increasing prevalence in Indonesia. High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) has emerged as an efficient exercise method for weight reduction and the improvement of metabolic health. This scoping review aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of HIIT in reducing body weight among individuals who are overweight or obese. Literature searches were conducted across five major databases (PubMed, ScienceDirect, Google Scholar, ProQuest, and EBSCO), yielding 20 interventional studies involving a total of 1,184 participants. The synthesized findings indicate that HIIT significantly reduces body fat mass, improves VO₂max, enhances body mass index (BMI), and improves the fat-free mass-to-fat ratio. Effective HIIT protocols typically range between 80% and 95% of VO₂max, with session durations of 10–45 minutes, and are performed 2–5 times per week. In addition to its metabolic benefits, HIIT demonstrates higher adherence rates due to its time efficiency and intensity. However, the heterogeneity of protocols, such as differences in frequency, intensity, and sample characteristics, as well as interindividual variability, limits the generalizability of the results. HIIT is recommended as a non-pharmacological exercise strategy for weight management and the prevention of metabolic diseases, with potential for broad application when individualised based on intensity, frequency, and health status.