Research
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Both HIIT and MICT improve maximum oxygen uptake (VO2 max) similarly in obese adults, regardless of the different vascular adaptations produced by each training mode.
You can improve your cardiovascular fitness (VO2 max) with either HIIT or moderate continuous exercise. You don't need to do HIIT to get better at aerobic exercise; moderate exercise works just as well for this specific metric.
GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
VO2 max increased (P < 0.01) similarly after HIIT ... and MICT ... There was no group x time interaction (P = 0.53).
Why this rating
Statistically significant improvements in both groups with no difference between them.
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
More from this paper
- High-intensity interval training (HIIT) improves brachial artery flow-mediated dilation (FMD) in obese adults, whereas moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT) increases resting brachial artery diameter and enhances low flow-mediated constriction (L-FMC).Good
- 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).Good
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