Enhancing Fitness and Body Composition: The Impact of High-Intensity Interval Training Combined With Specific Sports in Collegiate Students With Normal Weight Obesity

ABSTRACT: Duan, X, Gao, Q, Yang, R, Ji, L, Ma, Y, and Zhang, M. Enhancing fitness and body composition: The impact of high-intensity interval training combined with specific sports in collegiate students with normal weight obesity. J Strength Cond Res XX(X): 000-000, 2026-Normal weight obesity (NWO) is a widespread condition that poses a significant risk to public health. High-intensity interval training (HIIT) has been widely applied to address NWO, but it has certain limitations. Combining HIIT with specific sports offers a promising and more personalized intervention approach. The aim of this study was to compare the effects of HIIT combined with specific sports and HIIT alone in collegiate students with NWO. In total, 81 collegiate students with NWO participated in a 12-week intervention and were assigned to 3 groups: HIIT combined with basketball training (HIIT + BT), HIIT combined with sports dance training (HIIT + SDT), and HIIT alone. Body composition, cardiovascular fitness, and physical fitness indicators were assessed at baseline, midintervention, and postintervention. A 2-way mixed-design analysis of variance was used to examine time × group interaction effects. A significant time × group interaction was observed for body fat percentage (F = 5.650, p = 0.001, η2p = 0.127), with the HIIT + SDT group showing greater reductions than the HIIT group (p = 0.002). A significant interaction effect was found for countermovement jump (F = 6.276; p < 0.001; η2p = 0.139), T-test (F = 5.334; p < 0.001; η2p = 0.120), and hexagon test (F = 5.372; p = 0.002; η2p = 0.121). Post hoc analyses revealed that T-test performance significantly improved in both the HIIT + BT group (p < 0.001) and the HIIT + SDT group (p < 0.001), whereas no significant change was observed in the HIIT group. Results indicated that combining HIIT with specific sports may provide greater benefits for body composition and physical fitness than HIIT alone in collegiate students with NWO.