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. 2022 Jun 21:13:904283.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.904283. eCollection 2022.

Feasibility of Online High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) on Psychological Symptoms in Students in Lockdown During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Arnaud Philippot  1   2 , Pauline Moulin  3 , Marie-Hélène Charon  3 , Costantino Balestra  3 , Vincent Dubois  2 , Philippe de Timary  1   4 , Anne De Volder  1 , Yannick Bleyenheuft  1 , Kate Lambrechts  3
Affiliations

Feasibility of Online High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) on Psychological Symptoms in Students in Lockdown During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Arnaud Philippot et al. Front Psychiatry. .

Abstract

Objective: We aimed to evaluate the feasibility of an online High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) program on clinical psychological symptoms in higher education students in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown.

Materials and methods: During the lockdown, 30 students aged 18-25 years, who had been screened previously with a cut-off score ≥5 in the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) questionnaire, were randomly assigned to either the 4-week HIIT program with three sessions per week conducted through online videos, or a no-intervention control group. The primary outcome was the feasibility assessment. The secondary outcome was a psychological self-report with the 21-items Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21). Assessment and intervention were performed in compliance with social distancing rules.

Results: Two participants in the HIIT were lost to follow-up, leaving 13 participants vs. 15 in the control group. We observed high adherence (87%) and complete safety for mental and physical status with the HIIT intervention delivered by online videos. The Mann-Whitney test demonstrated a significant (group × time, P-Value = 0.046) reduction of clinical stress symptoms and a trend (group × time, P-Value = 0.08) toward reduction of clinical depression symptoms, both favoring the HIIT group. No significant (group × time, P-Value = 0.118) interaction was found for anxiety symptoms.

Conclusion: The online HIIT program was found to be feasible and safe in a clinical sample of young adults, who were experiencing social and physical restrictions due to COVID-19. HIIT reduced stress and depressive symptoms and thus these preliminary results show promise for broader application among higher education students during the present lockdown necessitated by the global COVID-19 health crisis.

Keywords: COVID-19; High-Intensity Interval Training; anxiety; depression; exercise; lockdown; stress; students.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Consort flow-chart.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Graphs of depression, anxiety, and stress scales from DASS-21.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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