Effectiveness of Sprint Interval Training on Anthropometric Measures Among Obese and Overweight Young Adults: A Systematic Review

Due to the rising problem of overweight and obesity, many strategies are implemented to combat this issue and one of the most common ways is exercise training. Aerobic exercise is a popular and effective conservative strategy for weight and adiposity management and commonly used exercise protocols are moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT) and interval training (IT). MICT is typically defined as continuous effort that elicits 55%-70% of the maximal heart rate or promotes oxygen consumption equivalent to 40%-60% of the maximum oxygen intake. IT involves repeated exercise with periods of recovery, which includes high intensity interval training (HIIT) and Sprint interval training (SIT). HIIT is exercising at 80% to 100% of maximal heart rate while SIT involves "all-out" or "supramaximal" effort at the intensity of 100% of maximal oxygen uptake. Multiple systematic reviews on the effect of SIT on aerobic capacity or comparisons between other forms of exercise protocols to reduce body adiposity has been conducted, but so far no systematic review has been carried out to evaluate the efficacy of this protocol solely on anthropometric measures on young obese and overweight adults alone. Hence, in this study, a systematic review of the effect of SIT on anthropometric measurements in young obese or overweight adults will be reviewed, filtered and assembled.