Research project Physical activity has important effects on various health factors for the growing older population. Despite this, a large proportion of older adults are insufficiently physically active. High-Intensity Interval Training (HIT) with very short interval duration is a new training method with the potential to have important effects on health.
Despite promising results among young and middle-aged adults, studies with high quality are lacking among older people. Our interdisciplinary project group has through pilot studies developed a group-based HIT protocol adapted for older adults This training program is evaluated in a randomized controlled trial, and in two studies aiming at facilitating the implementation of the training.
the Swedish Research Council
Forte- Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare
Kamprad Family Foundation
Seniorhusen Foundation
the Swedish Dementia Association
the Erik and Anne Marie Detlof’s Foundation
the Umeå University Foundation for Medical Research
Strategic Research Grants 2021 funded by the Faculty of Medicine at Umeå University
Strategic Research Area Health Care Science (SFO-V)
The Umeå High-Intensity Training Study (The Umeå HIT Study)
Background
Physical activity has important effects on various health factors for the growing older population. Despite this, a large proportion of older adults are insufficiently physically active. High-Intensity Interval Training (HIT) with very short interval duration is a new training method with the potential to have important effects on health. Despite promising results among young and middle-aged adults, studies with high quality are lacking among older people. Our interdisciplinary project group has through pilot studies developed a group-based HIT protocol adapted for older adults This training program is evaluated in a randomized controlled trial, and in two studies aiming at facilitating the implementation of the training. The research group collaborate with representatives from, for example, senior and sports organizations. This project thus has the potential to provide evidence of whether HIT is safe and effective for older people and to contribute to a broad implementation.
Study evaluating the applicability and effects
Our training program is evaluated in a randomized controlled trial (RCT). The aim was to evaluate the applicability and in connection to the RCT evaluate older people´s experiences by interviews. We will also evaluate the effects on cardiorespiratory fitness, cognitive, cardiovascular, and muscular function, as well as quality-of-life.
Sixty-eight non-exercising older adults were included. They were randomized to HIT (20-minute session including 10x6-second intervals) or Moderate-intensity Training, MIT (40-minute session including 3x8-minute intervals). The training was performed on stationary bicycles in an ordinary gym-setting, two times each week in 2 weeks.
Applicability (attendance, achieved intensity, and adverse events) was registered at each training session. Outcomes were assessed at baseline, at 3 months, and at 9 months. Interviews were performed after the training period. The study protocol is published (NCT03765385).
Studies to facilitate future implementation
With-in the study, two other projects are performed to facilitate the future implementation of the study: HIT-Home and HIT-Group. The aim of HIT-Home is to investigate whether the HIT program can be further developed to be implemented in the home environment among older people. This project is divided in two parts, of which one involves participants with experience training with the HIT-protocol in our previous RCT to partake in workshops. In the workshops, they will discuss and explore their ideas on how the HIT-protocol could be implemented in a home environment using other exercise modalities than stationary bicycles. The same participants will also partake in co-creation workshops that aim to develop training instructions needed to understand and use the HIT-protocol for the new training modality. These instructions are aimed to be used in a mobile app and/or website. The other part of the study is performed in a lab, and aims to study whether the exercise modalities suggested elicit the same or similar acute physiological effects as training on a stationary bicycle.
The aim of HIT-Group is to develop and evaluate implementation strategies for the HIT program using stationary bicycles as group training in a public training facility for older people. Study participants will be both participants performing exercise sessions and the instructors of the exercise sessions. Instructor participants will be recruited through the training facility’s current staff. The instructors will be asked to participate in a co-creation workshop to further develop the program. The intention is to make the program as feasible and applicable as possible within the context of the specific training facility as well as other, future, training facilities. Individual interviews with instructors will be used to explore how the intervention is accepted and fit into the context of a group training program at the local training facility. The interviews will explore barriers and facilitators at both individual and organizational levels. Exercising participants will be recruited with local advertising. Interviews will also explore the participant’s experiences and attitudes toward the program. The fidelity of the program will be investigated through observations of sessions and analysis of each participant’s individualized training program after the training period. In addition, the efficacy of the supramaximal HIT program will be estimated with a simple test of aerobic capacity and questionnaires about attitudes to physical activity and exercise.
