High-intensity Interval Training Combined with Muscle-strength Training in Older Women

NCT06825130 | Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: FMHS 34-1124
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 20
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Women generally live longer than men but often experience a faster muscle mass loss due to inactivity, which can lead to weakness and disability. Despite these risks, women, particularly older women, are less active than men. In England, less than one-third of women engage in sufficient aerobic activity, and less than 5% do enough muscle strength training. Common reasons for not exercising include lack of time and enjoyment. High-intensity interval training (HIIT) is an efficient and effective way to exercise that many women find more enjoyable than longer workouts. HIIT has been shown to be effective in older women, helping them improve their fitness with less time commitment. Because HIIT is time-efficient, it can be combined with muscle strength training without significantly increasing the duration of the exercise session, which may lead to even better fitness results. This study will assess how practical it is for older women to do HIIT and strength exercise combined training. It will also investigate whether this combined approach can improve overall fitness, muscle strength, aerobic fitness, and quality of life more than HIIT alone.

Conditions

Older Adult

Keywords

Women; HIIT; Resistance exercise; Combined exercise

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Feasibility of high-intensity interval training combined with muscle strength training

  will be assessed from recruitment, adherence, compliance, safety, subjective exercise experiences and self-efficacy. Recruitment will be assessed by the proportion of patients remained interested and randomized after being informed of the requirements of the study; adherence will be assessed by the attendance to the prescribed exercise sessions; and compliance will be assessed by the proportion of participants adhering to prescribed exercise intensity. For safety, all mild, moderate, and severe symptoms and adverse events throughout this study will be recorded.

  From recruitment to week-12

Secondary Outcomes (5)

• functional capacity

  From baseline to week-12

• muscle function

  From baseline to week-12

• cardiorespiratory fitness

  From baseline to week-12

• muscle mass

  From baseline to week-12

• QoL

  From baseline to week-12

Study Arms (2)

aerobic training + muscle strength training

EXPERIMENTAL

3 days/week -- 3-min warm up at 60% of HR@VT2 on a bike ergometer -- 6 x 1-min machine-base muscle strength exercises: leg press, chest press, knee extension, lat pull down, knee flexion, and shoulder raise -- 6 x 1-min high-intensity interval bouts at 80% HR@VT2 interspersed by 1-min active recovery will be performed.

Behavioral: Exercise

aerobic training

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

3 days/week -- 3-min warm up at 60% of HR@VT2 on a bike ergometer -- 2 blocks of 6 x 1-min high-intensity interval bouts at 70% HR@VT2 interspersed by 1-min active recovery

Behavioral: Exercise

Interventions

Exercise BEHAVIORAL

Participants will attend 30-min training sessions 3 times a week for 12 weeks. The intensity of HIIT will be at 80% HR@VT2 measured in the first week and will increase to 90% in the second week. By week 3, the intensity will reach HR@VT2.

aerobic training; aerobic training + muscle strength training

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 60 Years+
• Sex: female
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Females (biologically at birth)
• At least 60 years of age at the time of signing the informed consent
• Non-smoker, including electronic cigarettes
• Not participating in routine high-intensity aerobic or muscle strength exercise training (≥ 75 min/week of structured vigorous aerobic exercise, or 2 times /week of structured muscle strength training)
• Able to perform a cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) to exhaustion
• willing to complete baseline and follow-up measures, and attend prescribed exercise sessions at the University of Nottingham
• willing and able to give informed consent for participation in the study

You may not qualify if:

• Diagnosed with cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, diabetes, obstructive pulmonary disease, or uncontrolled hypertension
• History or current neurological or psychiatric illness, or motor or cognitive restrictions
• Contraindications to symptom-limited cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET), including resting hypertension with systolic blood pressure \>200 mmHg or diastolic blood pressure \> 110 mmHg, uncorrected medical conditions, such as significant anemia, important electrolyte imbalance, and hyperthyroidism, mental impairment with limited ability to cooperate, physical disability that precludes safe and adequate testing.
• Having taken part in a research study in the last 3 months involving invasive procedures or an inconvenience allowance.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Nottingham: lead

Study Sites (1)

David Greenfield Humnn Physiology Unit (DGHPU), University of Nottingham

Nottingham, Nottingham, NG72UH, United Kingdom

RECRUITING

MeSH Terms

Interventions

Exercise

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Motor Activity; Movement; Musculoskeletal Physiological Phenomena; Musculoskeletal and Neural Physiological Phenomena

Central Study Contacts

Tasuku Terada, PhD

CONTACT

441158230141; tasuku.terada@nottingham.ac.uk

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Dr

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: February 3, 2025
• First Posted: February 13, 2025
• Study Start: February 1, 2025
• Primary Completion (Estimated): August 31, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): December 31, 2026
• Last Updated: February 13, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-02

Locations

GB (1)