Research

Mixed

Moderate-Intensity Continuous Training (MICT) increases resting brachial artery diameter and enhances low flow-mediated constriction (L-FMC) in obese adults, despite not improving flow-mediated dilation (FMD).

If you prefer moderate continuous exercise (like steady-state cycling), you can still improve your blood vessel structure (diameter) and constriction function (L-FMC) even if your dilation (FMD) doesn't improve. This suggests MICT is not 'ineffective' for vascular health, just different in its benefits compared to HIIT.

GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
MICT had a significant increase in preocclusion baseline diameter ... MICT showing a significant decrease in L-FMC ... HIIT and MICT produced different vascular adaptations ... with MICT increasing resting artery diameter and enhancing L-FMC.
Brandon J. Sawyer et al. · Journal of Applied Physiology · 2016

Why this rating

Statistically significant findings for MICT group on diameter and L-FMC.

Source

Effects of high-intensity interval training and moderate-intensity continuous training on endothelial function and cardiometabolic risk markers in obese adults

Brandon J. Sawyer et al. · Journal of Applied Physiology · 2016

DOI 10.1152/japplphysiol.00024.2016

rct · n=18Cited 175×
Read the paper
DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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