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Updated: May 7, 2026

Short Session High Intensity Interval Training and Treadmill Assessment in Aged Mice
Published on: February 2, 2019
The impact of high-intensity intermittent exercise on resting metabolic rate in healthy males
Benjamin Kelly1, James A King, Jonas Goerlach
1School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences, Loughborough University, Loughborough, Leicestershire, LE11 3TU, UK.
Introduction:
High-intensity intermittent exercise training (HIT) may favourably alter body composition despite low training volumes and predicted energy expenditure (EE).
Purpose:
To characterise the acute impact of two common HIT protocols on EE and post-exercise oxygen consumption (11 h EPOC).
Methods:
Oxygen consumption (l min(-1)), respiratory exchange ratio (RER) and EE were measured in nine healthy, lean males over 12 h under three conditions: control (CON), HIT1 (10 × 1 min high-intensity cycling bouts followed by 1 min rest) and HIT2 (10 × 4 min high-intensity cycling bouts followed by 2 min rest).
Results:
Total exercise period EE during HIT1 (1,151 ± 205 kJ) (mean ± SD) was significantly lower than HIT2 (2,788 ± 322 kJ; p < 0.001). EE within the 60 min after exercise was significantly albeit marginally higher after HIT1 (388 ± 44 kJ; p = 0.02) and HIT2 (389 ± 39 kJ; p = 0.01) compared with CON (329 ± 39 kJ), with no difference between exercise conditions (p = 0.778). RER during this period was significantly lower in HIT1 (0.78 ± 0.06; p = 0.011) and HIT2 (0.76 ± 0.04; p = 0.004) compared with CON (0.87 ± 0.06). During the 'slow phase' of EPOC (1.25-9.75 h), there were no significant differences in EE (p = 0.07) or RER (p = 0.173) between trials.
Conclusions:
Single HIT sessions notably increases EE during exertion; however, the influence on metabolic rate post-exercise is transient and relatively minor.
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